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| Criterion |  Operations Kaizen Event |  UX Research Contextual Inquiry |  Product Discovery Smoke Test |  Growth A/B Testing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Purposedifferent | 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. | 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 demand only needs to be roughly verified, it tests interest with minimal effort. It measures whether people would take a next step at all. | When two variants compete, discussions quickly decide by taste rather than effect. A/B Testing checks behavior under controlled conditions and separates real improvement from chance or expectation effects. |
Complexitydifferent | Medium | Medium | Low | High |
Timedifferent | 0.5-5 Tage | 1-3 Wochen | 1-5 Tage | 1-4 Wochen |
Participantsdifferent | 4-10 | 4-12 Beobachtungen | Nutzertraffic | 1-6 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop | Workshop + async | Async | Async |
Outputdifferent | Kaizen Charter, Waste List, Improvement Experiments, Standard Work Update | Field Notes, Workflow Insights, Pain Points | Interest Metrics, Conversion Signal, Learning Note | Experiment results, Decision log, Learning summary |
Tagsno overlap | LeanContinuous improvementOperations | UX researchObservationContext | ValidationExperimentsDemandGrowth | ExperimentsGrowthAnalyticsValidation |