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Criterion
Affinity Diagramming
UX Research
Affinity Diagramming
Paper illustration of two people facing each other, speech bubbles and an open interview notebook.
UX Research
User Interviews
Paper illustration for Causal Factor Analysis.
Operations
Causal Factor Analysis
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 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.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
LowLowHigh
Timedifferent
45–90 min30–60 min per interview2-6 h
Participantsdifferent
3-101 participant per interview3-10
Formatdifferent
WorkshopWorkshop + asyncWorkshop + async
Outputdifferent
Theme clusters, Insight statements, Opportunity areasInterview Notes, Themes, Insight SummaryEvent Timeline, Causal Factor Chart, Cause List, Corrective Actions
Tagsno overlap
SynthesisQualitativeRoot cause
QualitativeResearchCustomerDiscovery
CausalityIncidentRoot causeTimeline
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Often compared together

Methods with strong topical overlap with the current selection, not yet in the comparison.

Paper illustration of Barrier Analysis with its method-specific working model.
Operations
Barrier Analysis
Paper illustration for Current Reality Tree
Systems Thinking
Current Reality Tree