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Criterion
Paper illustration for Contextual Inquiry.
UX Research
Contextual Inquiry
A hypothetical failure makes concrete risks, signals, and fitting mitigations visible.
Decision Making
Pre-Mortem
Paper illustration for Cynefin Workshop.
Decision Making
Cynefin Workshop
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.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.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.
Complexitydifferent
MediumLowMedium
Timedifferent
1-3 Wochen20–45 min60-180 min
Participantsdifferent
4-12 BeobachtungenSmall cross-functional group4-20
Formatdifferent
Workshop + asyncWorkshopWorkshop
Outputdifferent
Field Notes, Workflow Insights, Pain PointsRisk list, Mitigation plan, Assumption logCynefin Map, Domain-specific Actions, Sensemaking Notes
Tagsno overlap
UX researchObservationContext
RiskDecisionFailurePlanning
ComplexitySensemakingDecision
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Methods with strong topical overlap with the current selection, not yet in the comparison.

Red Teaming method illustration showing its working structure
Decision Making
Red Teaming
Paper illustration for Argument Mapping
Decision Making
Argument Mapping
Paper illustration of an assumption matrix with prioritized test cards
Decision Making
Assumption Surfacing
Paper illustration for Constraint Analysis.
Decision Making
Constraint Analysis