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| Criterion |  UX Research Contextual Inquiry |  UX Research Diary Study |  Operations Failure Mode and Effects Analysis |  Operations Fault Tree Analysis |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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 experiences build up over days or weeks and a single session cannot capture them, Diary Study records the course of everyday life. Recurring triggers, moods, and habits become visible this way, beyond the sharpness of memory. | For a process, product, or service with noticeable failure risks, the method assesses possible failure modes in advance. It directs attention to combinations of occurrence, effect, and detectability. | For a critical top event with several possible triggers, the method logically models failure paths. It makes visible which combinations of conditions can lead to damage. |
Complexitydifferent | Medium | Medium | High | High |
Timedifferent | 1-3 Wochen | 1-4 Wochen | 2-6 h | 2-6 h |
Participantsdifferent | 4-12 Beobachtungen | 5-20 | 3-10 | 3-8 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop + async | Async | Workshop | Workshop + async |
Outputdifferent | Field Notes, Workflow Insights, Pain Points | Diary Entries, Longitudinal Patterns, Experience Timeline | FMEA Table, Risk Priority, Mitigation Actions | Fault Tree, Critical Paths, Cause Hypotheses, Control Actions |
Tagsno overlap | UX researchObservationContext | UX researchTrackingBehavior | RiskQualityOperationsRoot cause | RiskRoot causeSafety |