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| Criterion |  UX Research Card Sorting |  Facilitation 1-2-4-All |  Facilitation Mind Mapping |  Innovation Brainstorming |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Purposedifferent | When content only makes sense internally and users can't find the structure again, card sorting exposes their mental order. Terms, groups, and naming are then aligned with the target group's expectations. | When many people in a group too rarely get to speak, 1-2-4-All distributes thinking time more fairly. The format builds participation step by step and makes quiet or still-unformed thoughts usable faster. | When a topic is still unclear and too many thoughts surface at once, Mind Mapping creates an open surface for ordering them. It makes connections, subtopics, and starting points visible without fixing them too early. | When a team faces an open question with many obvious directions, the method first creates breadth instead of premature commitment. It separates idea flow from evaluation and makes lines of thought visible, creating a pool for selection and further development. |
Complexitysame | Low | Low | Low | Low |
Timedifferent | 20-45 min | 10-20 min | 15-45 min | 30-60 min |
Participantsdifferent | Based on research question | 4-100+ | 1-10 | 4-12 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop + async | Workshop | Workshop + async | Workshop |
Outputdifferent | Content groups, Label set, IA hypotheses | Idea List, Shared Insights, Emergent Themes | Mind Map, Topic Clusters, Open Questions | Idea pool, Theme clusters, Shortlist |
Tagsno overlap | Information architectureNavigationStructure | FacilitationInclusionIdeation | BrainstormingIdeasMappingStructureFacilitation | BrainstormingIdeationCreativityWorkshopDivergence |