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| Criterion |  Operations Visual Management |  UX Research Contextual Inquiry |  Operations Barrier Analysis |  Operations Causal Factor Analysis |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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. | For a risk that can only be managed through multiple layers of protection, the method examines the effectiveness of each barrier. It shows where safeguards are missing, too weak, or fail under real conditions. | For an event with a complicated course, the method breaks down the contributing factors along the timeline. It shows how conditions, decisions, and reactions together produce a course of events. |
Complexitydifferent | Low | Medium | Medium | High |
Timedifferent | Ongoing | 1-3 Wochen | 2-4 h | 2-6 h |
Participantsdifferent | 1-20 | 4-12 Beobachtungen | 2-6 | 3-10 |
Formatsame | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Workshop + async |
Outputdifferent | Visual Board, Status Indicators, Exception Cues | Field Notes, Workflow Insights, Pain Points | Barrier Inventory, Failure Analysis per Barrier, Action Backlog | Event Timeline, Causal Factor Chart, Cause List, Corrective Actions |
Tagsno overlap | SignalsOperationsVisual management | UX researchObservationContext | Root causeSafetyIncident | CausalityIncidentRoot causeTimeline |