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| Criterion |  UX Research Card Sorting |  Operations Change Analysis |  Architecture SAAM (Software Architecture Analysis Method) |
|---|---|---|---|
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. | For a deviation after a change, the method isolates the influence of the altered condition. It narrows down which differences are relevant and which are just accompanying noise. | SAAM helps teams judge an architecture’s suitability for selected tasks and changes. It is particularly useful for examining modifiability and comparing architecture alternatives with clear reasoning. |
Complexitydifferent | Low | Medium | High |
Timedifferent | 20-45 min | 45-120 min | Preparation, scenario analysis, and findings review; effort depends on scope |
Participantsdifferent | Based on research question | 2-6 | Architecture experts and stakeholders for scenarios and weighting |
Formatsame | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Workshop + async |
Outputdifferent | Content groups, Label set, IA hypotheses | Change Matrix, Cause Hypotheses, Validation Questions, Action List | Domain functions mapped to components and connections, Quality attributes and evaluation criteria, Typical tasks and their effects on the architecture, Reasoned evaluation or comparison of alternatives |
Tagsno overlap | Information architectureNavigationStructure | ChangeRoot causeTroubleshootingComparison | ArchitectureChangeAnalysisComparisonQuality |
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Methods with strong topical overlap with the current selection, not yet in the comparison.
