View methods side by side.
Choose up to four methods. Add them using the search and share the comparison by copying its link.
| Criterion | ![]() UX Research Contextual Inquiry | ![]() Decision Making Constraint Analysis | ![]() Operations Getting Things Done | ![]() Decision Making Decision Tree |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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 many open commitments and ideas in daily life, a reliable external storage system emerges. The method relieves the mind so priority and context don't have to compete in memory. | For decisions with follow-on paths and dependencies, a linear comparison is often not enough. A Decision Tree shows how options branch under conditions and which consequences hang on each branch. |
Complexitydifferent | Medium | Low | Medium | Medium |
Timedifferent | 1-3 Wochen | 30-90 min | 1-2 h Setup, laufend | 30-90 min |
Participantsdifferent | 4-12 Beobachtungen | 2-8 | 1 | 1-6 |
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 | Action Lists, Project List, Review Routine | Decision Tree, Option Map, Assumption List |
Tagsno overlap | UX researchObservationContext | ConstraintsDecisionPlanningOptions | ProductivityPlanningTasksExecution | DecisionTreeOptions |



