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| Criterion |  UX Research Diary Study |  Systems Thinking Rich Picture |  Architecture arc42 |  Architecture C4 Model |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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. | A Rich Picture brings an unclear situation onto a shared drawing. It captures actors, tensions, information flows, and blind spots before the team jumps to solutions too early. | arc42 structures architecture knowledge so teams can document system, decisions, and risks consistently. The template builds a living understanding of the architecture instead of scattered notes. | 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. |
Complexitydifferent | Medium | Low | Low | Low |
Timedifferent | 1-4 Wochen | 30-90 min | 1-2 Tage | 1-4 h |
Participantsdifferent | 5-20 | 2-10 | 1-4 | 1-5 |
Formatdifferent | Async | Workshop | Workshop + async | Workshop + async |
Outputdifferent | Diary Entries, Longitudinal Patterns, Experience Timeline | Rich Picture, Problem Framing Notes | Architecture Document, Context View, Runtime View, Deployment View | Context Diagram, Container Diagram, Component Diagram |
Tagsno overlap | UX researchTrackingBehavior | Systems thinkingSoft systemsFramingVisualization | ArchitectureDocumentationCommunication | ArchitectureCommunicationVisualization |