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| Criterion |  UX Research Card Sorting |  UX Research Diary Study |  UX Research Tree Testing |  Knowledge Modeling Event Modeling |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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. | When a navigation exists but search paths still fail, tree testing checks findability without visual distraction. The method shows whether labels, levels, and paths really lead to the intended destination. | Event Modeling connects business workflows with commands, events, and views into one coherent mental model. It helps design behavior, UI, and technical slices from the same underlying logic. |
Complexitydifferent | Low | Medium | Medium | Medium |
Timedifferent | 20-45 min | 1-4 Wochen | 1-2 Tage | 2-6 h |
Participantsdifferent | Based on research question | 5-20 | Based on research question | 2-8 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop + async | Async | Async | Workshop + async |
Outputdifferent | Content groups, Label set, IA hypotheses | Diary Entries, Longitudinal Patterns, Experience Timeline | Findability Metrics, Path Analysis, Revised IA | Event Model, UI Flow, Commands, Read Models |
Tagsno overlap | Information architectureNavigationStructure | UX researchTrackingBehavior | Information architectureNavigationFindability | EventsBlueprintDomain-Driven DesignBehavior |