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Selected:ARID (Active Reviews for Intermediate Designs)Design ThinkingAffinity DiagrammingEmpathy Mapping
| Criterion |  Architecture ARID (Active Reviews for Intermediate Designs) |  Innovation Design Thinking |  UX Research Affinity Diagramming |  UX Research Empathy Mapping |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Purposedifferent | ARID examines how well developers can work with a technical design. It focuses on a part of the system that can still be revised, between the architecture overview and the detailed specification. | For complex user problems with an uncertain cause, the method connects observation, interpretation, and experiment into a learning cycle. It keeps the focus on real needs and avoids premature solution language. This produces robust decisions for product and service. | 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 lot is assumed about a target group but little is seen jointly, empathy mapping makes knowledge and gaps directly comparable. The picture also shows which assumptions hold up and where evidence is missing. |
Complexitydifferent | Medium | High | Low | Low |
Timedifferent | 2–4 h review as a planning range; preparation and evaluation additional | 1 Tag bis mehrere Wochen | 45–90 min | 30–60 min |
Participantsdifferent | Designers, developers as users, and facilitation | 4-10 | 3-10 | 4-8 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop + async | Workshop | Workshop | Workshop |
Outputdifferent | Prioritized development tasks, Jointly produced code or pseudocode, Observed difficulties and open design questions, Proposed design revisions | Problem Statement, Prototype, Test Learnings | Theme clusters, Insight statements, Opportunity areas | Empathy Map, Assumptions List, Research Gaps |
Tagsno overlap | ArchitectureEngineeringFeedbackValidationTasks | InnovationPrototypeResearch | SynthesisQualitativeRoot cause | SynthesisQualitativeWorkshop |