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| Criterion |  UX Research Tree Testing |  UX Research Diary Study |  Product Discovery Context Canvas |  UX Research Card Sorting |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Purposedifferent | When a navigation exists but search paths still fail, tree testing checks findability without visual distraction. The method shows whether labels, levels, and paths really lead to the intended destination. | When experiences build up over days or weeks and a single session cannot capture them, Diary Study records the course of everyday life. Recurring triggers, moods, and habits become visible this way, beyond the sharpness of memory. | When an environment of users, systems, and constraints is hard to grasp, it puts the context compactly on the table. It creates a clear reading of influence, boundary, and dependency. | 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. |
Complexitydifferent | Medium | Medium | Low | Low |
Timedifferent | 1-2 Tage | 1-4 Wochen | 45-90 min | 20-45 min |
Participantsdifferent | Based on research question | 5-20 | 3-10 | Based on research question |
Formatdifferent | Async | Async | Workshop | Workshop + async |
Outputdifferent | Findability Metrics, Path Analysis, Revised IA | Diary Entries, Longitudinal Patterns, Experience Timeline | Context canvas, Open questions, Shared context notes | Content groups, Label set, IA hypotheses |
Tagsno overlap | Information architectureNavigationFindability | UX researchTrackingBehavior | ContextFramingRequirementsCanvas | Information architectureNavigationStructure |