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| Criterion |  UX Research Affinity Diagramming |  UX Research Customer Journey Mapping |  Systems Thinking Behavior Over Time Graph |  Systems Thinking Current Reality 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 a user journey falls apart across many touchpoints, customer journey mapping makes the experience visible as a coherent arc. Phases, emotions, and breaks become legible enough to prioritize critical moments deliberately. | A Behavior Over Time Graph shows how a metric or observation develops over time. The method makes trends, breaks, and recurring patterns visible that get lost in snapshots. | A Current Reality Tree condenses many symptoms into a few causal chains. The method makes visible which core problems drive several negative effects at once. |
Complexitydifferent | Low | Medium | Low | High |
Timedifferent | 45–90 min | 2-4 h | 20-45 min | 2-6 h |
Participantsdifferent | 3-10 | 4-10 | 1-10 | 3-8 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop | Workshop | Workshop + async | Workshop |
Outputdifferent | Theme clusters, Insight statements, Opportunity areas | Journey Map, Pain-point List, Opportunity Backlog | Behavior Over Time Graph, Trend Hypotheses, Key Events | Current Reality Tree, Core Problems, Intervention Ideas |
Tagsno overlap | SynthesisQualitativeRoot cause | JourneyServiceService design | Systems thinkingPatternsDynamics | Systems thinkingRoot causeConstraintsCausality |