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| Criterion | ![]() Innovation Design Thinking | ![]() Product Discovery Outcome-Driven Innovation | ![]() Innovation Contradiction Analysis | ![]() Operations 5 Whys |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Purposedifferent | For complex user problems with an uncertain cause, the method connects observation, interpretation, and experiment into a learning cycle. It keeps the focus on real needs and avoids premature solution language. This produces robust decisions for product and service. | Outcome-Driven Innovation clarifies customer problems, solution opportunities, and evidence. It separates jobs, desired outcomes, importance, satisfaction, and opportunity, and captures results as desired outcome statements, an opportunity landscape, and segments by underserved needs. | When a system should improve while another measure suffers as a result, the method makes the underlying conflict precisely formulable. It separates the desired effect from its side effect. This makes solutions possible that address the contradiction deliberately instead of half-heartedly. | For a single, hard-to-explain deviation, the method exposes the causal chain behind the visible symptom. It keeps the cause open until a controllable condition emerges instead of a mere description. |
Complexitydifferent | High | High | Medium | Low |
Timedifferent | 1 Tag bis mehrere Wochen | Mehrere Wochen | 60-120 min | 15-30 min |
Participantsdifferent | 4-10 | 2-6 researchers plus sample | 2-8 | 2-6 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop | Workshop + async | Workshop | Workshop |
Outputdifferent | Problem Statement, Prototype, Test Learnings | Desired outcome statements, Opportunity landscape, Segmentation by underserved needs, Innovation hypotheses | Contradiction Statement, Abstraction Notes, Solution Principles, Concept Ideas | Root cause notes, Countermeasures |
Tagsno overlap | InnovationPrototypeResearch | OutcomesInnovationResearchQuantitative | ContradictionsInnovationProblem solving | Root causeIncidentLeanProblem solving |



