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Criterion
Paper illustration for Causal Factor Analysis.
Operations
Causal Factor Analysis
Paper illustration of two user profile cards with a goal, behavior evidence, and an open research question.
UX Research
Personas
Paper illustration of two people facing each other, speech bubbles and an open interview notebook.
UX Research
User Interviews
Affinity Diagramming
UX Research
Affinity Diagramming
Purposedifferent
For an event with a complicated course, the method breaks down the contributing factors along the timeline. It shows how conditions, decisions, and reactions together produce a course of events.When target groups stay too vague and teams talk about the same people differently, personas create a shared, solid picture of usage. Condensed profiles make needs, contexts, and differences tangible enough for decisions.When teams derive needs only from assumptions and real motives are missing, user interviews give direct access to behavior and meaning. Conversations from the target group's everyday life make patterns, tensions, and open questions solidly visible.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
HighMediumLowLow
Timedifferent
2-6 h1-3 Tage30–60 min per interview45–90 min
Participantsdifferent
3-10Internes Team1 participant per interview3-10
Formatdifferent
Workshop + asyncWorkshop + asyncWorkshop + asyncWorkshop
Outputdifferent
Event Timeline, Causal Factor Chart, Cause List, Corrective ActionsPersona Profiles, Needs Summary, Scenario NotesInterview Notes, Themes, Insight SummaryTheme clusters, Insight statements, Opportunity areas
Tagsno overlap
CausalityIncidentRoot causeTimeline
ResearchCustomerSynthesis
QualitativeResearchCustomerDiscovery
SynthesisQualitativeRoot cause
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