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| Criterion | ![]() Operations Gemba Walk | ![]() Product Discovery Outcome-Driven Innovation | ![]() Operations Root Cause Analysis | ![]() Operations Failure Mode and Effects Analysis |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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. | 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 problem keeps recurring and the cause stays unclear, the method exposes the underlying mechanism. It separates symptom, guess, and robust explanation from one another. | 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. |
Complexitydifferent | Low | High | Medium | High |
Timedifferent | 30-120 min | Mehrere Wochen | 1-4 h | 2-6 h |
Participantsdifferent | 2-6 | 2-6 researchers plus sample | 3-8 | 3-10 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Workshop |
Outputdifferent | Observation Notes, Improvement Ideas | Desired outcome statements, Opportunity landscape, Segmentation by underserved needs, Innovation hypotheses | Problem Statement, Cause Hypotheses, Confirmed Causes, Action Plan | FMEA Table, Risk Priority, Mitigation Actions |
Tagsno overlap | LeanObservationProcessOperations | OutcomesInnovationResearchQuantitative | Root causeProblem solvingQualityIncident | RiskQualityOperationsRoot cause |



