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| Criterion |  UX Research Card Sorting |  UX Research Tree Testing |  Architecture Risk Storming |  Architecture ARID (Active Reviews for Intermediate Designs) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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 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. | Helps clarify architecture context, options, and consequences in concrete terms. It organizes technical context, alternatives, and consequences. The result is captured as an Annotated Diagram, a Prioritized Risk List, and an Action Backlog. | ARID examines how well developers can work with a technical design. It focuses on a part of the system that can still be revised, between the architecture overview and the detailed specification. |
Complexitydifferent | Low | Medium | Low | Medium |
Timedifferent | 20-45 min | 1-2 Tage | 60-90 min | 2–4 h review as a planning range; preparation and evaluation additional |
Participantsdifferent | Based on research question | Based on research question | 4-12 | Designers, developers as users, and facilitation |
Formatdifferent | Workshop + async | Async | Workshop | Workshop + async |
Outputdifferent | Content groups, Label set, IA hypotheses | Findability Metrics, Path Analysis, Revised IA | Annotated Diagram, Prioritized Risk List, Action Backlog | Prioritized development tasks, Jointly produced code or pseudocode, Observed difficulties and open design questions, Proposed design revisions |
Tagsno overlap | Information architectureNavigationStructure | Information architectureNavigationFindability | RiskArchitectureWorkshopValidation | ArchitectureEngineeringFeedbackValidationTasks |