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| Criterion |  UX Research Card Sorting |  Operations Root Cause Analysis |  Innovation TRIZ |  Operations 5 Whys |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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 problem keeps recurring and the cause stays unclear, the method exposes the underlying mechanism. It separates symptom, guess, and robust explanation from one another. | For technical contradictions or trade-offs, the method looks for solutions that resolve opposing requirements at the same time. It translates limits into an explicit picture of conflict that becomes workable. This produces not just compromises but more elegant principles. | For a single, hard-to-explain deviation, the method exposes the causal chain behind the visible symptom. It keeps the cause open until a controllable condition emerges instead of a mere description. |
Complexitydifferent | Low | Medium | High | Low |
Timedifferent | 20-45 min | 1-4 h | 1-4 h | 15-30 min |
Participantsdifferent | Based on research question | 3-8 | 2-8 | 2-6 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Workshop |
Outputdifferent | Content groups, Label set, IA hypotheses | Problem Statement, Cause Hypotheses, Confirmed Causes, Action Plan | Contradiction Statement, Inventive Principles, Solution Concepts | Root cause notes, Countermeasures |
Tagsno overlap | Information architectureNavigationStructure | Root causeProblem solvingQualityIncident | InnovationProblem solvingContradictionsCreativity | Root causeIncidentLeanProblem solving |