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| Criterion | ![]() UX Research Customer Journey Mapping | ![]() UX Design Customer Journey Canvas | ![]() Architecture arc42 | ![]() Architecture C4 Model |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Purposedifferent | When a user journey falls apart across many touchpoints, customer journey mapping makes the experience visible as a coherent arc. Phases, emotions, and breaks become legible enough to prioritize critical moments deliberately. | When a journey needs to be understood across several phases, it arranges experience, touchpoints, and opportunities into one picture. It makes gaps and friction along the user path clear. | 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 | Medium | Low | Low |
Timedifferent | 2-4 h | 1-3 h | 1-2 Tage | 1-4 h |
Participantsdifferent | 4-10 | 3-10 | 1-4 | 1-5 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop | Workshop | Workshop + async | Workshop + async |
Outputdifferent | Journey Map, Pain-point List, Opportunity Backlog | Customer Journey Canvas, Pain Points, Experience Opportunities | Architecture Document, Context View, Runtime View, Deployment View | Context Diagram, Container Diagram, Component Diagram |
Tagsno overlap | JourneyServiceService design | JourneyCustomerService designCanvas | ArchitectureDocumentationCommunication | ArchitectureCommunicationVisualization |



