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| Criterion |  UX Research Affinity Diagramming |  Decision Making Constraint Analysis |  Operations Causal Factor Analysis |  Decision Making Decision Tree |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Purposedifferent | When research notes, feedback, or observations sit unconnected side by side, affinity diagramming sorts the raw material into solid themes. Many individual points turn into patterns that make decisions and opportunities clearer. | When an initiative stalls, the limit often lies not in the idea but in hard or soft boundary conditions. Constraint Analysis separates these limits and shows which of them can actually be shaped. | 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. | For decisions with follow-on paths and dependencies, a linear comparison is often not enough. A Decision Tree shows how options branch under conditions and which consequences hang on each branch. |
Complexitydifferent | Low | Low | High | Medium |
Timedifferent | 45–90 min | 30-90 min | 2-6 h | 30-90 min |
Participantsdifferent | 3-10 | 2-8 | 3-10 | 1-6 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Workshop + async |
Outputdifferent | Theme clusters, Insight statements, Opportunity areas | Constraint List, Hard/Soft Classification, Option Impact Notes, Decision Boundaries | Event Timeline, Causal Factor Chart, Cause List, Corrective Actions | Decision Tree, Option Map, Assumption List |
Tagsno overlap | SynthesisQualitativeRoot cause | ConstraintsDecisionPlanningOptions | CausalityIncidentRoot causeTimeline | DecisionTreeOptions |