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Criterion
Paper illustration for Diary Study.
UX Research
Diary Study
Paper illustration for Contextual Inquiry.
UX Research
Contextual Inquiry
Decision Tree method illustration showing its working structure
Decision Making
Decision Tree
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.For decisions with follow-on paths and dependencies, a linear comparison is often not enough. A Decision Tree shows how options branch under conditions and which consequences hang on each branch.
Complexitysame
MediumMediumMedium
Timedifferent
1-4 Wochen1-3 Wochen30-90 min
Participantsdifferent
5-204-12 Beobachtungen1-6
Formatdifferent
AsyncWorkshop + asyncWorkshop + async
Outputdifferent
Diary Entries, Longitudinal Patterns, Experience TimelineField Notes, Workflow Insights, Pain PointsDecision Tree, Option Map, Assumption List
Tagsno overlap
UX researchTrackingBehavior
UX researchObservationContext
DecisionTreeOptions
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Often compared together

Methods with strong topical overlap with the current selection, not yet in the comparison.

Paper illustration for Constraint Analysis.
Decision Making
Constraint Analysis
Paper matrix with six colored hat cards for information, feeling, value, caution, ideas and process control.
Facilitation
Six Thinking Hats
Paper illustration for Trade-off Analysis.
Decision Making
Trade-off Analysis
Paper illustration for Argument Mapping
Decision Making
Argument Mapping