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| Criterion |  UX Research Card Sorting |  UX Research Diary Study |  UX Research HEART Framework |  Engineering Goal Question Metric |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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 experiences build up over days or weeks and a single session cannot capture them, Diary Study records the course of everyday life. Recurring triggers, moods, and habits become visible this way, beyond the sharpness of memory. | Helps clarify observations, needs, and patterns in concrete terms. It groups observations into patterns, questions, and decisions. The result is captured as a HEART-GSM table and dashboard. | Helps clarify technical problems, hypotheses, and next steps in concrete terms. It breaks a technical problem into testable parts. The result is captured as a GQM table and metric briefs. |
Complexitydifferent | Low | Medium | Medium | Medium |
Timedifferent | 20-45 min | 1-4 Wochen | 120 min initial, dann laufend | 90-180 min |
Participantsdifferent | Based on research question | 5-20 | 3-6 | 3-6 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop + async | Async | Workshop + async | Workshop |
Outputdifferent | Content groups, Label set, IA hypotheses | Diary Entries, Longitudinal Patterns, Experience Timeline | HEART-GSM Table, Dashboard | GQM Table, Metric Profiles |
Tagsno overlap | Information architectureNavigationStructure | UX researchTrackingBehavior | MetricsUX researchMeasurementSatisfaction | MetricsMeasurementEngineeringAlignment |