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| Criterion | ![]() Facilitation Mind Mapping | ![]() UX Research Card Sorting | ![]() Innovation Lotus Blossom |
|---|---|---|---|
Purposedifferent | When a topic is still unclear and too many thoughts surface at once, Mind Mapping creates an open surface for ordering them. It makes connections, subtopics, and starting points visible without fixing them too early. | 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 central question feels too large, the method breaks it into neighboring topic fields with their own depth of ideation. It holds structure and openness at the same time, so adjacent perspectives don't get lost. This grows an idea space out of a core problem. |
Complexitysame | Low | Low | Low |
Timedifferent | 15-45 min | 20-45 min | 45-90 min |
Participantsdifferent | 1-10 | Based on research question | 3-10 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Workshop |
Outputdifferent | Mind Map, Topic Clusters, Open Questions | Content groups, Label set, IA hypotheses | Lotus Diagram, Idea Themes, Shortlist |
Tagsno overlap | BrainstormingIdeasMappingStructureFacilitation | Information architectureNavigationStructure | BrainstormingIdeationCreativityDivergenceWorkshop |
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