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Criterion
Empathy Mapping
UX Research
Empathy Mapping
Paper illustration of two people facing each other, speech bubbles and an open interview notebook.
UX Research
User Interviews
Paper illustration for Root Cause Analysis.
Operations
Root Cause Analysis
Purposedifferent
When a lot is assumed about a target group but little is seen jointly, empathy mapping makes knowledge and gaps directly comparable. The picture also shows which assumptions hold up and where evidence is missing.When teams derive needs only from assumptions and real motives are missing, user interviews give direct access to behavior and meaning. Conversations from the target group's everyday life make patterns, tensions, and open questions solidly visible.When a problem keeps recurring and the cause stays unclear, the method exposes the underlying mechanism. It separates symptom, guess, and robust explanation from one another.
Complexitydifferent
LowLowMedium
Timedifferent
30–60 min30–60 min per interview1-4 h
Participantsdifferent
4-81 participant per interview3-8
Formatdifferent
WorkshopWorkshop + asyncWorkshop + async
Outputdifferent
Empathy Map, Assumptions List, Research GapsInterview Notes, Themes, Insight SummaryProblem Statement, Cause Hypotheses, Confirmed Causes, Action Plan
Tagsno overlap
SynthesisQualitativeWorkshop
QualitativeResearchCustomerDiscovery
Root causeProblem solvingQualityIncident
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Often compared together

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

Paper illustration for 8D Problem Solving.
Operations
8D Problem Solving
Affinity Diagramming
UX Research
Affinity Diagramming