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Criterion
Paper illustration for Contextual Inquiry.
UX Research
Contextual Inquiry
Paper illustration for Knowledge Mapping.
Knowledge Modeling
Knowledge Mapping
A hypothetical failure makes concrete risks, signals, and fitting mitigations visible.
Decision Making
Pre-Mortem
Paper illustration for Failure Scenario Analysis.
Engineering
Failure Scenario 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.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.In early initiatives with many uncertainties, planning quickly turns too optimistic. A pre-mortem makes the expected failure visible in advance and sharpens the view of causes, gaps, and countermeasures.In critical processes, it is not enough to plan only for the normal case. Failure Scenario Analysis looks at the path into failure and shows which failures, chains, and control gaps cause the most damage.
Complexitydifferent
MediumMediumLowMedium
Timedifferent
1-3 Wochen1-3 h20–45 min1-3 h
Participantsdifferent
4-12 Beobachtungen3-12Small cross-functional group3-8
Formatdifferent
Workshop + asyncWorkshopWorkshopWorkshop
Outputdifferent
Field Notes, Workflow Insights, Pain PointsKnowledge Map, Critical Knowledge Areas, Transfer PlanRisk list, Mitigation plan, Assumption logFailure Scenarios, Risk Notes, Control Gaps, Test and Response Actions
Tagsno overlap
UX researchObservationContext
KnowledgeMappingRisk
RiskDecisionFailurePlanning
FailureResilienceRisk
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