View methods side by side.
Choose up to four methods. Add them using the search and share the comparison by copying its link.
| Criterion |  UX Research Diary Study |  Innovation Lean Startup |  UX Research Contextual Inquiry |  Product Discovery Pretotyping |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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. | For uncertain business assumptions, the method forces the idea into contact with real market reactions early. It separates wishful picture, assumption, and observable behavior, so that learning becomes faster than planning. This translates uncertainty into measurable insight. | 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. | Pretotyping clarifies whether a customer problem and solution idea create enough real demand. It separates problem, assumption, solution, and evidence, and captures the result as a pretotyping sketch, test setup, and conversion data. |
Complexitydifferent | Medium | Medium | Medium | Low |
Timedifferent | 1-4 Wochen | Wochen bis Monate je Lernzyklus | 1-3 Wochen | Stunden bis wenige Tage |
Participantsdifferent | 5-20 | 2-8 | 4-12 Beobachtungen | 1-4 |
Formatdifferent | Async | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Workshop + async |
Outputdifferent | Diary Entries, Longitudinal Patterns, Experience Timeline | Hypothesis list, MVPs, Learning reports, Pivot or persevere decision | Field Notes, Workflow Insights, Pain Points | Pretotyping sketch, Test setup, Conversion data, Go or no-go decision |
Tagsno overlap | UX researchTrackingBehavior | LeanStartupValidationMVP | UX researchObservationContext | ValidationDemandMVP |