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| Criterion |  UX Research Diary Study |  UX Research Card Sorting |  Product Discovery Context Canvas |  UX Research Tree Testing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Purposedifferent | 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. | 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 an environment of users, systems, and constraints is hard to grasp, it puts the context compactly on the table. It creates a clear reading of influence, boundary, and dependency. | 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. |
Complexitydifferent | Medium | Low | Low | Medium |
Timedifferent | 1-4 Wochen | 20-45 min | 45-90 min | 1-2 Tage |
Participantsdifferent | 5-20 | Based on research question | 3-10 | Based on research question |
Formatdifferent | Async | Workshop + async | Workshop | Async |
Outputdifferent | Diary Entries, Longitudinal Patterns, Experience Timeline | Content groups, Label set, IA hypotheses | Context canvas, Open questions, Shared context notes | Findability Metrics, Path Analysis, Revised IA |
Tagsno overlap | UX researchTrackingBehavior | Information architectureNavigationStructure | ContextFramingRequirementsCanvas | Information architectureNavigationFindability |