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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 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.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
MediumLowMedium
Timedifferent
1-3 Wochen20–45 min1-3 h
Participantsdifferent
4-12 BeobachtungenSmall cross-functional group3-8
Formatdifferent
Workshop + asyncWorkshopWorkshop
Outputdifferent
Field Notes, Workflow Insights, Pain PointsRisk list, Mitigation plan, Assumption logFailure Scenarios, Risk Notes, Control Gaps, Test and Response Actions
Tagsno overlap
UX researchObservationContext
RiskDecisionFailurePlanning
FailureResilienceRisk
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Paper illustration of an assumption matrix with prioritized test cards
Decision Making
Assumption Surfacing
Paper illustration for Constraint Analysis.
Decision Making
Constraint Analysis
Red Teaming method illustration showing its working structure
Decision Making
Red Teaming
Paper illustration of a calibrated five-by-five risk matrix with response cards.
Decision Making
Risk Matrix