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| Criterion |  UX Research Card Sorting |  Decision Making Assumption Surfacing |  Innovation Design Sprint |  Product Discovery Riskiest Assumption Test |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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. | 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. | When the product question is unclear and time pressure is high, the method takes a team from an open idea to a testable solution. It connects problem understanding, decision, and learning in one compact format, lowering the risk of spending a lot of energy on a mere guess. | When an idea hinges on one critical unknown, it prioritizes testing that exact piece of uncertainty first. It separates problem, assumption, solution, and evidence. The result is captured as a prioritized list of assumptions, a test plan, and a result report. |
Complexitydifferent | Low | Low | High | Medium |
Timedifferent | 20-45 min | 45-90 min | 4-5 Tage | 1-2 Wochen pro Iteration |
Participantsdifferent | Based on research question | 2-8 | 5-8 | 2-6 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Workshop | Workshop + async |
Outputdifferent | Content groups, Label set, IA hypotheses | Assumption List, Critical Assumptions, Learning Plan | Prototype, Test Findings, Decision Rationale | Prioritized Assumption List, Test Plan, Results Report |
Tagsno overlap | Information architectureNavigationStructure | AssumptionsRiskDecisionDiscovery | Design sprintPrototypeValidationInnovation | ExperimentsValidationDiscoveryAssumptions |