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| Criterion |  UX Research Card Sorting |  UX Research Empathy Mapping |  Operations Root Cause Analysis |  UX Research Affinity Diagramming |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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 a lot is assumed about a target group but little is seen jointly, empathy mapping makes knowledge and gaps directly comparable. The picture also shows which assumptions hold up and where evidence is missing. | When a problem keeps recurring and the cause stays unclear, the method exposes the underlying mechanism. It separates symptom, guess, and robust explanation from one another. | When research notes, feedback, or observations sit unconnected side by side, affinity diagramming sorts the raw material into solid themes. Many individual points turn into patterns that make decisions and opportunities clearer. |
Complexitydifferent | Low | Low | Medium | Low |
Timedifferent | 20-45 min | 30–60 min | 1-4 h | 45–90 min |
Participantsdifferent | Based on research question | 4-8 | 3-8 | 3-10 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop + async | Workshop | Workshop + async | Workshop |
Outputdifferent | Content groups, Label set, IA hypotheses | Empathy Map, Assumptions List, Research Gaps | Problem Statement, Cause Hypotheses, Confirmed Causes, Action Plan | Theme clusters, Insight statements, Opportunity areas |
Tagsno overlap | Information architectureNavigationStructure | SynthesisQualitativeWorkshop | Root causeProblem solvingQualityIncident | SynthesisQualitativeRoot cause |