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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
Empathy Mapping
UX Research
Empathy Mapping
Paper illustration: scenarios and architectural decisions are connected to identified risks.
Architecture
ATAM (Architecture Tradeoff Analysis Method)
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 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.ATAM helps teams weigh architecture decisions when quality goals compete. The team considers business goals, stakeholder expectations, and technical decisions together. The evaluation shows which risks need further investigation.
Complexitydifferent
MediumLowHigh
Timedifferent
1-3 Tage30–60 minSeveral meetings plus preparation and analysis; total effort depends on scope
Participantsdifferent
Internes Team4-8Evaluation team, architects, and relevant stakeholders
Formatdifferent
Workshop + asyncWorkshopWorkshop + async
Outputdifferent
Persona Profiles, Needs Summary, Scenario NotesEmpathy Map, Assumptions List, Research GapsPrioritized quality scenarios in a utility tree, Architecture risks with reasoning and assumptions, Sensitivity and trade-off points, Findings report with open investigations
Tagsno overlap
ResearchCustomerSynthesis
SynthesisQualitativeWorkshop
ArchitectureQualityRiskTradeoffsStakeholders
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Methods with strong topical overlap with the current selection, not yet in the comparison.

Four paper stations connect system purpose, quality goals, risk cards and focused investigation with a target and gap profile.
Architecture
LASR (Lightweight Approach for Software Reviews)
Paper illustration for Risk Storming.
Architecture
Risk Storming
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