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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
Process Mapping method illustration showing its working structure
Operations
Process 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.With a confusing workflow that has many handoffs, the method makes the actual process visible. It shows where work is passed on, delayed, or duplicated, so improvement targets the right spots.
Complexitydifferent
MediumLowMedium
Timedifferent
1-3 Wochen45-90 min1-3 h
Participantsdifferent
4-12 Beobachtungen3-103-10
Formatdifferent
Workshop + asyncWorkshopWorkshop
Outputdifferent
Field Notes, Workflow Insights, Pain PointsContext canvas, Open questions, Shared context notesProcess Map, Handoff List, Improvement Backlog
Tagsno overlap
UX researchObservationContext
ContextFramingRequirementsCanvas
ProcessOperationsImprovement
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Often compared together

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

Gemba Walk workspace showing the question, observations, and next decision.
Operations
Gemba Walk
Paper illustration of a review with planned work, actual event sequence, comparison, and assigned improvement actions.
Operations
After-Action Review
Paper illustration for Theory of Constraints.
Operations
Theory of Constraints
A3 Problem-Solving workspace showing the question, observations, and next decision.
Operations
A3 Problem Solving