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| Criterion |  Operations Process Mapping |  Product Discovery Outcome-Driven Innovation |  Innovation Design Thinking |  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. | 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. | 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. | 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 | Mehrere Wochen | 1 Tag bis mehrere Wochen | 30-120 min |
Participantsdifferent | 3-10 | 2-6 researchers plus sample | 4-10 | 2-6 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop | Workshop + async | Workshop | Workshop |
Outputdifferent | Process Map, Handoff List, Improvement Backlog | Desired outcome statements, Opportunity landscape, Segmentation by underserved needs, Innovation hypotheses | Problem Statement, Prototype, Test Learnings | Observation Notes, Improvement Ideas |
Tagsno overlap | ProcessOperationsImprovement | OutcomesInnovationResearchQuantitative | InnovationPrototypeResearch | LeanObservationProcessOperations |