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| Criterion |  UX Research Contextual Inquiry |  Decision Making Constraint Analysis |  Operations ALPEN Method |  Operations Kepner-Tregoe |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Purposedifferent | When work processes are known only from accounts and the real context stays hidden, Contextual Inquiry makes behavior at the workplace visible. Observation and follow-up questions together show how people actually work, get interrupted, and improvise. | When an initiative stalls, the limit often lies not in the idea but in hard or soft boundary conditions. Constraint Analysis separates these limits and shows which of them can actually be shaped. | With an overloaded day full of too many tasks, a realistic picture of the day emerges. The method connects estimating, deciding, and buffer thinking so planning fits available energy and time. | For a disturbance that's hard to pin down, the method cleanly separates problem, cause, and decision. It reduces mixing when symptoms allow several interpretations. |
Complexitydifferent | Medium | Low | Low | High |
Timedifferent | 1-3 Wochen | 30-90 min | 10-20 min daily | 2-8 h |
Participantsdifferent | 4-12 Beobachtungen | 2-8 | 1 | 2-8 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Async | Workshop + async |
Outputdifferent | Field Notes, Workflow Insights, Pain Points | Constraint List, Hard/Soft Classification, Option Impact Notes, Decision Boundaries | Daily Plan, Time Estimates, Review Notes | Problem Analysis, Decision Analysis, Risk Plan |
Tagsno overlap | UX researchObservationContext | ConstraintsDecisionPlanningOptions | PlanningTime managementProductivityOperations | Problem solvingRoot causeDecisionOperations |