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Criterion
Paper illustration of two user profile cards with a goal, behavior evidence, and an open research question.
UX Research
Personas
Paper illustration showing three sorted card stacks and an open question about a possible group.
UX Research
Card Sorting
Paper illustration of two people facing each other, speech bubbles and an open interview notebook.
UX Research
User Interviews
Affinity Diagramming
UX Research
Affinity Diagramming
Purposedifferent
When target groups stay too vague and teams talk about the same people differently, personas create a shared, solid picture of usage. Condensed profiles make needs, contexts, and differences tangible enough for decisions.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 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 research notes, feedback, or observations sit unconnected side by side, affinity diagramming sorts the raw material into solid themes. Many individual points turn into patterns that make decisions and opportunities clearer.
Complexitydifferent
MediumLowLowLow
Timedifferent
1-3 Tage20-45 min30–60 min per interview45–90 min
Participantsdifferent
Internes TeamBased on research question1 participant per interview3-10
Formatdifferent
Workshop + asyncWorkshop + asyncWorkshop + asyncWorkshop
Outputdifferent
Persona Profiles, Needs Summary, Scenario NotesContent groups, Label set, IA hypothesesInterview Notes, Themes, Insight SummaryTheme clusters, Insight statements, Opportunity areas
Tagsno overlap
ResearchCustomerSynthesis
Information architectureNavigationStructure
QualitativeResearchCustomerDiscovery
SynthesisQualitativeRoot cause
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