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| Criterion |  UX Research Diary Study |  UX Research Card Sorting |  Innovation Design Thinking |  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. | For complex user problems with an uncertain cause, the method connects observation, interpretation, and experiment into a learning cycle. It keeps the focus on real needs and avoids premature solution language. This produces robust decisions for product and service. | 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 | High | Medium |
Timedifferent | 1-4 Wochen | 20-45 min | 1 Tag bis mehrere Wochen | 1-2 Tage |
Participantsdifferent | 5-20 | Based on research question | 4-10 | Based on research question |
Formatdifferent | Async | Workshop + async | Workshop | Async |
Outputdifferent | Diary Entries, Longitudinal Patterns, Experience Timeline | Content groups, Label set, IA hypotheses | Problem Statement, Prototype, Test Learnings | Findability Metrics, Path Analysis, Revised IA |
Tagsno overlap | UX researchTrackingBehavior | Information architectureNavigationStructure | InnovationPrototypeResearch | Information architectureNavigationFindability |