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| Criterion |  UX Research Diary Study |  UX Research Contextual Inquiry |  Architecture C4 Model |  Architecture Architecture Decision Record |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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 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. | The C4 Model makes a system legible across several resolution levels, from context down to code. It suits situations where different audiences need to understand the same architecture from different altitudes. | An ADR permanently records an architecture decision with context, trade-offs, and consequence. It creates continuity for later changes because the decision path stays traceable. |
Complexitydifferent | Medium | Medium | Low | Low |
Timedifferent | 1-4 Wochen | 1-3 Wochen | 1-4 h | 15-45 min |
Participantsdifferent | 5-20 | 4-12 Beobachtungen | 1-5 | 1-3 |
Formatdifferent | Async | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Async |
Outputdifferent | Diary Entries, Longitudinal Patterns, Experience Timeline | Field Notes, Workflow Insights, Pain Points | Context Diagram, Container Diagram, Component Diagram | ADR File, Decision Log, Rationale |
Tagsno overlap | UX researchTrackingBehavior | UX researchObservationContext | ArchitectureCommunicationVisualization | ArchitectureRationaleDocumentationGovernance |