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| Criterion |  UX Research Card Sorting |  UX Research Usability Testing |  Architecture arc42 |  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 product is built but people get stuck on tasks, usability testing shows the friction at concrete points. Observed use instead of self-report makes visible where orientation, understanding, or interaction breaks down. | arc42 structures architecture knowledge so teams can document system, decisions, and risks consistently. The template builds a living understanding of the architecture instead of scattered notes. | 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 h je Session | 1-2 Tage | 2–4 h review as a planning range; preparation and evaluation additional |
Participantsdifferent | Based on research question | Based on research question | 1-4 | Designers, developers as users, and facilitation |
Formatsame | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Workshop + async |
Outputdifferent | Content groups, Label set, IA hypotheses | Usability Issues, Severity List, Recommendations | Architecture Document, Context View, Runtime View, Deployment View | Prioritized development tasks, Jointly produced code or pseudocode, Observed difficulties and open design questions, Proposed design revisions |
Tagsno overlap | Information architectureNavigationStructure | ValidationUXPrototype | ArchitectureDocumentationCommunication | ArchitectureEngineeringFeedbackValidationTasks |