methodatlas
Compare

View methods side by side.

Choose up to four methods. Add them using the search and share the comparison by copying its link.

Criterion
Paper illustration for Contextual Inquiry.
UX Research
Contextual Inquiry
Paper illustration: scenarios and architectural decisions are connected to identified risks.
Architecture
ATAM (Architecture Tradeoff Analysis Method)
Paper illustration of RAID Log with a method-specific labelled workspace.
Delivery
RAID Log
Paper illustration for Diary Study.
UX Research
Diary Study
Purposedifferent
When work processes are known only from accounts and the real context stays hidden, Contextual Inquiry makes behavior at the workplace visible. Observation and follow-up questions together show how people actually work, get interrupted, and improvise.ATAM helps teams weigh architecture decisions when quality goals compete. The team considers business goals, stakeholder expectations, and technical decisions together. The evaluation shows which risks need further investigation.Helps clarify scope, sequence, and delivery flow in concrete terms. It makes work, boundaries, and order steerable. The result is captured as a RAID Log and a source for status reporting.When experiences build up over days or weeks and a single session cannot capture them, Diary Study records the course of everyday life. Recurring triggers, moods, and habits become visible this way, beyond the sharpness of memory.
Complexitydifferent
MediumHighLowMedium
Timedifferent
1-3 WochenSeveral meetings plus preparation and analysis; total effort depends on scope30 min Setup, dann laufend1-4 Wochen
Participantsdifferent
4-12 BeobachtungenEvaluation team, architects, and relevant stakeholders1-3 maintaining, briefing for everyone5-20
Formatdifferent
Workshop + asyncWorkshop + asyncAsyncAsync
Outputdifferent
Field Notes, Workflow Insights, Pain PointsPrioritized quality scenarios in a utility tree, Architecture risks with reasoning and assumptions, Sensitivity and trade-off points, Findings report with open investigationsRAID Log, Status Report SourceDiary Entries, Longitudinal Patterns, Experience Timeline
Tagsno overlap
UX researchObservationContext
ArchitectureQualityRiskTradeoffsStakeholders
RiskTrackingStakeholdersGovernance
UX researchTrackingBehavior
Add more methods