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Criterion
Affinity Diagramming
UX Research
Affinity Diagramming
Paper illustration for Root Cause Analysis.
Operations
Root Cause Analysis
Paper illustration of two user profile cards with a goal, behavior evidence, and an open research question.
UX Research
Personas
Paper illustration of two people facing each other, speech bubbles and an open interview notebook.
UX Research
User Interviews
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 problem keeps recurring and the cause stays unclear, the method exposes the underlying mechanism. It separates symptom, guess, and robust explanation from one another.When target groups stay too vague and teams talk about the same people differently, personas create a shared, solid picture of usage. Condensed profiles make needs, contexts, and differences tangible enough for decisions.When teams derive needs only from assumptions and real motives are missing, user interviews give direct access to behavior and meaning. Conversations from the target group's everyday life make patterns, tensions, and open questions solidly visible.
Complexitydifferent
LowMediumMediumLow
Timedifferent
45–90 min1-4 h1-3 Tage30–60 min per interview
Participantsdifferent
3-103-8Internes Team1 participant per interview
Formatdifferent
WorkshopWorkshop + asyncWorkshop + asyncWorkshop + async
Outputdifferent
Theme clusters, Insight statements, Opportunity areasProblem Statement, Cause Hypotheses, Confirmed Causes, Action PlanPersona Profiles, Needs Summary, Scenario NotesInterview Notes, Themes, Insight Summary
Tagsno overlap
SynthesisQualitativeRoot cause
Root causeProblem solvingQualityIncident
ResearchCustomerSynthesis
QualitativeResearchCustomerDiscovery
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