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| Criterion |  UX Research Contextual Inquiry |  Agile Example Mapping |  Operations Root Cause Tree Analysis |  Operations Root Cause 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 a story carries business rules and exceptions, it brings clarity before implementation. It makes examples, open questions, and boundaries visible enough that the logic becomes jointly sound. | For a problem with several suspected causes, the method builds a causal structure instead of a mere list. It makes visible how causes connect and where the strongest points of leverage lie. | When a problem keeps recurring and the cause stays unclear, the method exposes the underlying mechanism. It separates symptom, guess, and robust explanation from one another. |
Complexitydifferent | Medium | Low | Medium | Medium |
Timedifferent | 1-3 Wochen | 30-60 min | 1-3 h | 1-4 h |
Participantsdifferent | 4-12 Beobachtungen | 3-7 | 2-8 | 3-8 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop + async | Workshop | Workshop | Workshop + async |
Outputdifferent | Field Notes, Workflow Insights, Pain Points | Example Map, Acceptance Criteria, Open Questions | Cause Tree, Evidence Notes, Countermeasures | Problem Statement, Cause Hypotheses, Confirmed Causes, Action Plan |
Tagsno overlap | UX researchObservationContext | Behavior-Driven DevelopmentRequirementsExamplesRefinement | Root causeTreeIncidentQuality | Root causeProblem solvingQualityIncident |