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| Criterion |  Engineering Failure Scenario Analysis |  UX Research Card Sorting |  UX Research Tree Testing |  Product Discovery Assumption Mapping |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Purposedifferent | In critical processes, it is not enough to plan only for the normal case. Failure Scenario Analysis looks at the path into failure and shows which failures, chains, and control gaps cause the most damage. | When content only makes sense internally and users can't find the structure again, card sorting exposes their mental order. Terms, groups, and naming are then aligned with the target group's expectations. | When a navigation exists but search paths still fail, tree testing checks findability without visual distraction. The method shows whether labels, levels, and paths really lead to the intended destination. | When assumptions still sit unordered in the room, it weighs uncertainty against leverage. It makes visible which hypotheses should be checked first. |
Complexitydifferent | Medium | Low | Medium | Medium |
Timedifferent | 1-3 h | 20-45 min | 1-2 Tage | 45-60 min |
Participantsdifferent | 3-8 | Based on research question | Based on research question | 2-8 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop | Workshop + async | Async | Workshop + async |
Outputdifferent | Failure Scenarios, Risk Notes, Control Gaps, Test and Response Actions | Content groups, Label set, IA hypotheses | Findability Metrics, Path Analysis, Revised IA | Assumption map, Test backlog, Risk ranking |
Tagsno overlap | FailureResilienceRisk | Information architectureNavigationStructure | Information architectureNavigationFindability | AssumptionsRiskExperimentsValidation |