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Criterion
Paper illustration for Contextual Inquiry.
UX Research
Contextual Inquiry
Paper illustration for Knowledge Mapping.
Knowledge Modeling
Knowledge Mapping
Paper illustration for Constraint Analysis.
Decision Making
Constraint Analysis
Decision Tree method illustration showing its working structure
Decision Making
Decision Tree
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.Knowledge Mapping makes knowledge, gaps, and transfer paths visible across a field. It fits when expertise should not just exist but also be findable and transferable.When an initiative stalls, the limit often lies not in the idea but in hard or soft boundary conditions. Constraint Analysis separates these limits and shows which of them can actually be shaped.For decisions with follow-on paths and dependencies, a linear comparison is often not enough. A Decision Tree shows how options branch under conditions and which consequences hang on each branch.
Complexitydifferent
MediumMediumLowMedium
Timedifferent
1-3 Wochen1-3 h30-90 min30-90 min
Participantsdifferent
4-12 Beobachtungen3-122-81-6
Formatdifferent
Workshop + asyncWorkshopWorkshop + asyncWorkshop + async
Outputdifferent
Field Notes, Workflow Insights, Pain PointsKnowledge Map, Critical Knowledge Areas, Transfer PlanConstraint List, Hard/Soft Classification, Option Impact Notes, Decision BoundariesDecision Tree, Option Map, Assumption List
Tagsno overlap
UX researchObservationContext
KnowledgeMappingRisk
ConstraintsDecisionPlanningOptions
DecisionTreeOptions
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