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| Criterion |  UX Research Contextual Inquiry |  Decision Making Cynefin Workshop |  Operations Gemba Walk |  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 problems are unclear, chaotic, or only seemingly familiar, standard recipes fall short. A Cynefin Workshop sorts situations by the nature of their problem and connects them with matching action logic. | When there is uncertainty about the real course of a process, the method brings observation to the place where work happens. It combines perception, follow-up questions, and process knowledge so decisions rest on actual workflows instead of assumptions. | 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 | Medium | Low | High |
Timedifferent | 1-3 Wochen | 60-180 min | 30-120 min | 2-8 h |
Participantsdifferent | 4-12 Beobachtungen | 4-20 | 2-6 | 2-8 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop + async | Workshop | Workshop | Workshop + async |
Outputdifferent | Field Notes, Workflow Insights, Pain Points | Cynefin Map, Domain-specific Actions, Sensemaking Notes | Observation Notes, Improvement Ideas | Problem Analysis, Decision Analysis, Risk Plan |
Tagsno overlap | UX researchObservationContext | ComplexitySensemakingDecision | LeanObservationProcessOperations | Problem solvingRoot causeDecisionOperations |