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| Criterion |  Operations Fishbone Diagram |  UX Research Card Sorting |  Operations Failure Mode and Effects Analysis |  Operations Fault Tree Analysis |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Purposedifferent | When a problem has several possible contributing factors, the method sorts causes by cause areas. It prevents an initial hunch from blocking the view of other plausible drivers. | When content only makes sense internally and users can't find the structure again, card sorting exposes their mental order. Terms, groups, and naming are then aligned with the target group's expectations. | For a process, product, or service with noticeable failure risks, the method assesses possible failure modes in advance. It directs attention to combinations of occurrence, effect, and detectability. | For a critical top event with several possible triggers, the method logically models failure paths. It makes visible which combinations of conditions can lead to damage. |
Complexitydifferent | Low | Low | High | High |
Timedifferent | 30-60 min | 20-45 min | 2-6 h | 2-6 h |
Participantsdifferent | 2-8 | Based on research question | 3-10 | 3-8 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop | Workshop + async | Workshop | Workshop + async |
Outputdifferent | Fishbone Diagram, Cause Categories, Investigation Backlog | Content groups, Label set, IA hypotheses | FMEA Table, Risk Priority, Mitigation Actions | Fault Tree, Critical Paths, Cause Hypotheses, Control Actions |
Tagsno overlap | Root causeQualityOperations | Information architectureNavigationStructure | RiskQualityOperationsRoot cause | RiskRoot causeSafety |