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Criterion
Visual Management workspace showing the question, observations, and next decision.
Operations
Visual Management
Paper illustration for Contextual Inquiry.
UX Research
Contextual Inquiry
Paper illustration of MORT Analysis with its method-specific working model.
Operations
MORT Analysis
Paper illustration for Causal Factor 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 safety-relevant event or a system with high protection requirements, the method examines where controls failed. It exposes both technical and organizational gaps.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
LowMediumHighHigh
Timedifferent
Ongoing1-3 WochenMehrere Tage bis Wochen2-6 h
Participantsdifferent
1-204-12 Beobachtungen2-63-10
Formatsame
Workshop + asyncWorkshop + asyncWorkshop + asyncWorkshop + async
Outputdifferent
Visual Board, Status Indicators, Exception CuesField Notes, Workflow Insights, Pain PointsMORT Worksheets, Findings per Branch, Corrective Actions, Systemic RecommendationsEvent Timeline, Causal Factor Chart, Cause List, Corrective Actions
Tagsno overlap
SignalsOperationsVisual management
UX researchObservationContext
Root causeSafetySystemicIncident
CausalityIncidentRoot causeTimeline
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