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Criterion
Paper illustration for Contextual Inquiry.
UX Research
Contextual Inquiry
Paper illustration for Time Blocking
Operations
Time Blocking
Decision Tree method illustration showing its working structure
Decision Making
Decision Tree
Paper illustration for Constraint Analysis.
Decision Making
Constraint 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.With a calendar that grows on request, the method makes available time explicit again. It combines appointments, focus work, and buffer into a more realistic day structure.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.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.
Complexitydifferent
MediumLowMediumLow
Timedifferent
1-3 Wochen15-30 min Planung, laufend30-90 min30-90 min
Participantsdifferent
4-12 Beobachtungen11-62-8
Formatdifferent
Workshop + asyncAsyncWorkshop + asyncWorkshop + async
Outputdifferent
Field Notes, Workflow Insights, Pain PointsBlocked Calendar, Capacity View, Focus PlanDecision Tree, Option Map, Assumption ListConstraint List, Hard/Soft Classification, Option Impact Notes, Decision Boundaries
Tagsno overlap
UX researchObservationContext
PlanningTime managementFocus
DecisionTreeOptions
ConstraintsDecisionPlanningOptions
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