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| Criterion |  Operations Gemba Walk |  UX Research Contextual Inquiry |  Engineering Kanban |  Operations Kaizen Event |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Purposedifferent | When there is uncertainty about the real course of a process, the method brings observation to the place where work happens. It combines perception, follow-up questions, and process knowledge so decisions rest on actual workflows instead of assumptions. | 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 work sits in too many parallel streams, throughput suffers and no one sees the bottlenecks. Kanban makes the flow of work visible and limits overload so a system becomes calmer and more predictable. | For a tightly scoped process segment with noticeable waste, the method bundles shared energy for change. It suits situations that call for fast learning loops and visible adjustments. |
Complexitydifferent | Low | Medium | Medium | Medium |
Timedifferent | 30-120 min | 1-3 Wochen | Ongoing | 0.5-5 Tage |
Participantsdifferent | 2-6 | 4-12 Beobachtungen | 2-12 | 4-10 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Workshop |
Outputdifferent | Observation Notes, Improvement Ideas | Field Notes, Workflow Insights, Pain Points | Kanban board, WIP policies, Flow metrics | Kaizen Charter, Waste List, Improvement Experiments, Standard Work Update |
Tagsno overlap | LeanObservationProcessOperations | UX researchObservationContext | FlowVisual managementDelivery | LeanContinuous improvementOperations |