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Criterion
Paper illustration for Contextual Inquiry.
UX Research
Contextual Inquiry
A paper-based illustration representing Context Canvas with its core stages and visible working result.
Product Discovery
Context Canvas
Paper illustration for Alignment Mapping.
Facilitation
Alignment Mapping
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 environment of users, systems, and constraints is hard to grasp, it puts the context compactly on the table. It creates a clear reading of influence, boundary, and dependency.When several people work toward one goal but hold different mental maps, Alignment Mapping makes the discrepancies visible. It arranges goals, assumptions, and priorities so shared direction becomes verifiable.
Complexitydifferent
MediumLowMedium
Timedifferent
1-3 Wochen45-90 min1-2 h
Participantsdifferent
4-12 Beobachtungen3-104-12
Formatdifferent
Workshop + asyncWorkshopWorkshop
Outputdifferent
Field Notes, Workflow Insights, Pain PointsContext canvas, Open questions, Shared context notesAlignment Map, Open Issues, Decision Questions
Tagsno overlap
UX researchObservationContext
ContextFramingRequirementsCanvas
AlignmentStakeholdersStrategyFacilitation
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Often compared together

Methods with strong topical overlap with the current selection, not yet in the comparison.

Paper illustration of Power-Interest Grid with a method-specific labelled workspace.
Facilitation
Power Interest Grid
Paper illustration of Product Vision Board with its method-specific working model.
Product Strategy
Product Vision Board
Stakeholder Mapping
Facilitation
Stakeholder Mapping
Paper illustration of Stakeholder Salience Model with its method-specific working model.
Facilitation
Stakeholder Salience Model