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| Criterion |  UX Research User Interviews |  Operations 5 Whys |  Operations Change Analysis |  Operations Root Cause Analysis |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Purposedifferent | When teams derive needs only from assumptions and real motives are missing, user interviews give direct access to behavior and meaning. Conversations from the target group's everyday life make patterns, tensions, and open questions solidly visible. | 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 deviation after a change, the method isolates the influence of the altered condition. It narrows down which differences are relevant and which are just accompanying noise. | When a problem keeps recurring and the cause stays unclear, the method exposes the underlying mechanism. It separates symptom, guess, and robust explanation from one another. |
Complexitydifferent | Low | Low | Medium | Medium |
Timedifferent | 30–60 min per interview | 15-30 min | 45-120 min | 1-4 h |
Participantsdifferent | 1 participant per interview | 2-6 | 2-6 | 3-8 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop + async | Workshop | Workshop + async | Workshop + async |
Outputdifferent | Interview Notes, Themes, Insight Summary | Root cause notes, Countermeasures | Change Matrix, Cause Hypotheses, Validation Questions, Action List | Problem Statement, Cause Hypotheses, Confirmed Causes, Action Plan |
Tagsno overlap | QualitativeResearchCustomerDiscovery | Root causeIncidentLeanProblem solving | ChangeRoot causeTroubleshootingComparison | Root causeProblem solvingQualityIncident |