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Criterion
Paper illustration for Root Cause Analysis.
Operations
Root Cause Analysis
Affinity Diagramming
UX Research
Affinity Diagramming
Paper illustration of two people facing each other, speech bubbles and an open interview notebook.
UX Research
User Interviews
Purposedifferent
When a problem keeps recurring and the cause stays unclear, the method exposes the underlying mechanism. It separates symptom, guess, and robust explanation from one another.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.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.
Complexitydifferent
MediumLowLow
Timedifferent
1-4 h45–90 min30–60 min per interview
Participantsdifferent
3-83-101 participant per interview
Formatdifferent
Workshop + asyncWorkshopWorkshop + async
Outputdifferent
Problem Statement, Cause Hypotheses, Confirmed Causes, Action PlanTheme clusters, Insight statements, Opportunity areasInterview Notes, Themes, Insight Summary
Tagsno overlap
Root causeProblem solvingQualityIncident
SynthesisQualitativeRoot cause
QualitativeResearchCustomerDiscovery
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Often compared together

Methods with strong topical overlap with the current selection, not yet in the comparison.

Paper illustration for 8D Problem Solving.
Operations
8D Problem Solving
Paper illustration for Root Cause Tree Analysis
Operations
Root Cause Tree Analysis