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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 Knowledge Mapping.
Knowledge Modeling
Knowledge Mapping
Paper illustration of an assumption matrix with prioritized test cards
Decision Making
Assumption Surfacing
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.Knowledge Mapping makes knowledge, gaps, and transfer paths visible across a field. It fits when expertise should not just exist but also be findable and transferable.Plans often contain assumptions that were never openly stated and remain dangerous precisely because of that. Assumption Surfacing makes these silent premises visible and prioritizes which of them carry the initiative or could sink it.
Complexitydifferent
LowLowMediumLow
Timedifferent
45–90 min30–60 min per interview1-3 h45-90 min
Participantsdifferent
3-101 participant per interview3-122-8
Formatdifferent
WorkshopWorkshop + asyncWorkshopWorkshop + async
Outputdifferent
Theme clusters, Insight statements, Opportunity areasInterview Notes, Themes, Insight SummaryKnowledge Map, Critical Knowledge Areas, Transfer PlanAssumption List, Critical Assumptions, Learning Plan
Tagsno overlap
SynthesisQualitativeRoot cause
QualitativeResearchCustomerDiscovery
KnowledgeMappingRisk
AssumptionsRiskDecisionDiscovery
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