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| Criterion |  UX Research Diary Study |  UX Research Contextual Inquiry |  Product Discovery Solution Interview |  Product Discovery Problem Interview |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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. | When a solution idea is already on the table, it checks how it is understood and evaluated. It looks for resonance, objections, and missing fit early in the conversation. | When the picture of the problem still needs to become solid, it asks about real situations and consequences. It separates genuine suffering from mere interest in a solution. |
Complexitysame | Medium | Medium | Medium | Medium |
Timedifferent | 1-4 Wochen | 1-3 Wochen | 30-60 min je Interview | 30-60 min je Interview |
Participantsdifferent | 5-20 | 4-12 Beobachtungen | 5-10 Interviews | 5-12 Interviews |
Formatdifferent | Async | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Workshop + async |
Outputdifferent | Diary Entries, Longitudinal Patterns, Experience Timeline | Field Notes, Workflow Insights, Pain Points | Solution Feedback, Objection List, Validation Notes | Problem Evidence, Risk Notes, Customer Segments |
Tagsno overlap | UX researchTrackingBehavior | UX researchObservationContext | ValidationInterviewsPrototype | DiscoveryInterviewsValidation |