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| Criterion |  UX Research Customer Journey Mapping |  UX Research Affinity Diagramming |  Operations 8D Problem Solving |  Operations Root Cause Analysis |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Purposedifferent | When a user journey falls apart across many touchpoints, customer journey mapping makes the experience visible as a coherent arc. Phases, emotions, and breaks become legible enough to prioritize critical moments deliberately. | When research notes, feedback, or observations sit unconnected side by side, affinity diagramming sorts the raw material into solid themes. Many individual points turn into patterns that make decisions and opportunities clearer. | For an acute quality or delivery problem, the method structures immediate protection and root cause work together. It keeps the situation stable while the actual cause is investigated cleanly. | 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. |
Complexitydifferent | Medium | Low | High | Medium |
Timedifferent | 2-4 h | 45–90 min | 1-6 Wochen | 1-4 h |
Participantsdifferent | 4-10 | 3-10 | 4-10 | 3-8 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop | Workshop | Workshop + async | Workshop + async |
Outputdifferent | Journey Map, Pain-point List, Opportunity Backlog | Theme clusters, Insight statements, Opportunity areas | 8D Report, Containment Plan, Root Cause Evidence, Corrective Action Plan | Problem Statement, Cause Hypotheses, Confirmed Causes, Action Plan |
Tagsno overlap | JourneyServiceService design | SynthesisQualitativeRoot cause | QualityProblem solvingRoot cause | Root causeProblem solvingQualityIncident |