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| Criterion |  UX Research Customer Journey Mapping |  Operations Causal Factor Analysis |  Operations 5 Whys |  Operations Barrier 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. | For an event with a complicated course, the method breaks down the contributing factors along the timeline. It shows how conditions, decisions, and reactions together produce a course of events. | 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 risk that can only be managed through multiple layers of protection, the method examines the effectiveness of each barrier. It shows where safeguards are missing, too weak, or fail under real conditions. |
Complexitydifferent | Medium | High | Low | Medium |
Timedifferent | 2-4 h | 2-6 h | 15-30 min | 2-4 h |
Participantsdifferent | 4-10 | 3-10 | 2-6 | 2-6 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop | Workshop + async | Workshop | Workshop + async |
Outputdifferent | Journey Map, Pain-point List, Opportunity Backlog | Event Timeline, Causal Factor Chart, Cause List, Corrective Actions | Root cause notes, Countermeasures | Barrier Inventory, Failure Analysis per Barrier, Action Backlog |
Tagsno overlap | JourneyServiceService design | CausalityIncidentRoot causeTimeline | Root causeIncidentLeanProblem solving | Root causeSafetyIncident |