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| Criterion | ![]() UX Research Contextual Inquiry | ![]() Operations Root Cause Analysis | ![]() Operations Barrier Analysis | ![]() Operations MORT 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 problem keeps recurring and the cause stays unclear, the method exposes the underlying mechanism. It separates symptom, guess, and robust explanation from one another. | For a risk that can only be managed through multiple layers of protection, the method examines the effectiveness of each barrier. It shows where safeguards are missing, too weak, or fail under real conditions. | For a safety-relevant event or a system with high protection requirements, the method examines where controls failed. It exposes both technical and organizational gaps. |
Complexitydifferent | Medium | Medium | Medium | High |
Timedifferent | 1-3 Wochen | 1-4 h | 2-4 h | Mehrere Tage bis Wochen |
Participantsdifferent | 4-12 Beobachtungen | 3-8 | 2-6 | 2-6 |
Formatsame | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Workshop + async |
Outputdifferent | Field Notes, Workflow Insights, Pain Points | Problem Statement, Cause Hypotheses, Confirmed Causes, Action Plan | Barrier Inventory, Failure Analysis per Barrier, Action Backlog | MORT Worksheets, Findings per Branch, Corrective Actions, Systemic Recommendations |
Tagsno overlap | UX researchObservationContext | Root causeProblem solvingQualityIncident | Root causeSafetyIncident | Root causeSafetySystemicIncident |



