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| Criterion |  UX Research Card Sorting |  Decision Making Constraint Analysis |  Facilitation Six Thinking Hats |  Facilitation Mind Mapping |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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 an initiative stalls, the limit often lies not in the idea but in hard or soft boundary conditions. Constraint Analysis separates these limits and shows which of them can actually be shaped. | When a topic gets stuck too quickly in the same thinking mode, Six Thinking Hats deliberately separates the perspectives. This means facts, risks, creativity, and emotional signals get worked through one after another instead of mixed together. | 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. |
Complexitydifferent | Low | Low | Medium | Low |
Timedifferent | 20-45 min | 30-90 min | 45-90 min | 15-45 min |
Participantsdifferent | Based on research question | 2-8 | 4-12 | 1-10 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Workshop | Workshop + async |
Outputdifferent | Content groups, Label set, IA hypotheses | Constraint List, Hard/Soft Classification, Option Impact Notes, Decision Boundaries | Perspective Notes, Decision Inputs, Action Items | Mind Map, Topic Clusters, Open Questions |
Tagsno overlap | Information architectureNavigationStructure | ConstraintsDecisionPlanningOptions | FacilitationOptionsDecision | BrainstormingIdeasMappingStructureFacilitation |