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| Criterion |  Operations Process Mapping |  Innovation Design Thinking |  Product Discovery Outcome-Driven Innovation |  Operations Gemba Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Purposedifferent | With a confusing workflow that has many handoffs, the method makes the actual process visible. It shows where work is passed on, delayed, or duplicated, so improvement targets the right spots. | For complex user problems with an uncertain cause, the method connects observation, interpretation, and experiment into a learning cycle. It keeps the focus on real needs and avoids premature solution language. This produces robust decisions for product and service. | 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 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. |
Complexitydifferent | Medium | High | High | Low |
Timedifferent | 1-3 h | 1 Tag bis mehrere Wochen | Mehrere Wochen | 30-120 min |
Participantsdifferent | 3-10 | 4-10 | 2-6 researchers plus sample | 2-6 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop | Workshop | Workshop + async | Workshop |
Outputdifferent | Process Map, Handoff List, Improvement Backlog | Problem Statement, Prototype, Test Learnings | Desired outcome statements, Opportunity landscape, Segmentation by underserved needs, Innovation hypotheses | Observation Notes, Improvement Ideas |
Tagsno overlap | ProcessOperationsImprovement | InnovationPrototypeResearch | OutcomesInnovationResearchQuantitative | LeanObservationProcessOperations |