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Criterion
Paper illustration of Futures Wheel with its method-specific working model.
Systems Thinking
Futures Wheel
Paper illustration for Contextual Inquiry.
UX Research
Contextual Inquiry
Paper illustration for CATWOE Analysis.
Systems Thinking
CATWOE Analysis
Purposedifferent
The Futures Wheel helps explore the consequences of a decision, a trend, or a strategic move in a structured way. It makes visible which first, second, and third-order effects could arise from an event.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.CATWOE structures a problem from six viewpoints and prevents too narrow a view of the situation. Different experiences of the system become comparably discussable this way.
Complexitysame
MediumMediumMedium
Timedifferent
60-120 min1-3 Wochen45-90 min
Participantsdifferent
3-104-12 Beobachtungen3-8
Formatsame
Workshop + asyncWorkshop + asyncWorkshop + async
Outputdifferent
Futures Wheel, Consequence Chains, Strategic SignalsField Notes, Workflow Insights, Pain PointsCATWOE Canvas, Root Definition, Stakeholder Perspectives, Constraints
Tagsno overlap
ForesightSystems thinkingSignals
UX researchObservationContext
Systems thinkingFramingStakeholders
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Methods with strong topical overlap with the current selection, not yet in the comparison.

A paper-based illustration representing Context Canvas with its core stages and visible working result.
Product Discovery
Context Canvas
Rich Picture workspace showing the question, observations, and next decision.
Systems Thinking
Rich Picture
Paper illustration for Alignment Mapping.
Facilitation
Alignment Mapping
Architecture Communication Canvas method illustration showing its working structure
Architecture
Architecture Communication Canvas