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| Criterion |  UX Research Customer Journey Mapping |  Operations Bottleneck Analysis |  Operations 5 Whys |  Operations A3 Problem Solving |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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. | For a flow that backs up at one point, the method looks for the capacity limit with the greatest leverage. It explains why extra effort elsewhere barely improves throughput. | For a single, hard-to-explain deviation, the method exposes the causal chain behind the visible symptom. It keeps the cause open until a controllable condition emerges instead of a mere description. | For a complex deviation with several people involved, the method bundles problem, analysis, and decision onto one page. It creates a shared working space where causes, countermeasures, and follow-up fit together. |
Complexitydifferent | Medium | Medium | Low | Medium |
Timedifferent | 2-4 h | 1-3 h | 15-30 min | 45-90 min |
Participantsdifferent | 4-10 | 3-8 | 2-6 | 2-5 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop | Workshop + async | Workshop | Workshop + async |
Outputdifferent | Journey Map, Pain-point List, Opportunity Backlog | Bottleneck Map, Flow Metrics, Improvement Options, Follow-up Measures | Root cause notes, Countermeasures | A3 Report, Action Plan, Root Cause Analysis |
Tagsno overlap | JourneyServiceService design | FlowMeasurementConstraints | Root causeIncidentLeanProblem solving | LeanProblem solvingCoachingOperations |