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| Criterion |  Operations Visual Management |  UX Research Contextual Inquiry |  Operations After-Action Review |  Operations Learning Review |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Purposedifferent | With high tempo and many parallel topics, the method makes status, deviations, and priorities visible at a glance. It reduces search effort and prevents what matters from getting lost in daily work. | 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. | After missions or project phases with unclear outcomes, the method makes visible what actually happened and what can be learned from it. It separates course, effect, and causes so experience turns into solid improvement. | After a project phase with mixed results, the method makes learning from the individual case reusable. It connects events, decisions, and systemic conditions into robust insights. |
Complexitydifferent | Low | Medium | Low | Medium |
Timedifferent | Ongoing | 1-3 Wochen | 20-45 min | 1-3 h |
Participantsdifferent | 1-20 | 4-12 Beobachtungen | 3-12 | 3-10 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Workshop |
Outputdifferent | Visual Board, Status Indicators, Exception Cues | Field Notes, Workflow Insights, Pain Points | Lessons learned, Action items, Event summary | Learning Review Notes, System Factors, Improvement Actions |
Tagsno overlap | SignalsOperationsVisual management | UX researchObservationContext | LearningOperationsImprovement | LearningRetrospectiveIncidentOperations |