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Selected:Usability TestingDesign SprintLASR (Lightweight Approach for Software Reviews)ARID (Active Reviews for Intermediate Designs)
| Criterion | ![]() UX Research Usability Testing | ![]() Innovation Design Sprint | ![]() Architecture LASR (Lightweight Approach for Software Reviews) | ![]() Architecture ARID (Active Reviews for Intermediate Designs) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Purposedifferent | When a product is built but people get stuck on tasks, usability testing shows the friction at concrete points. Observed use instead of self-report makes visible where orientation, understanding, or interaction breaks down. | When the product question is unclear and time pressure is high, the method takes a team from an open idea to a testable solution. It connects problem understanding, decision, and learning in one compact format, lowering the risk of spending a lot of energy on a mere guess. | LASR helps development teams identify where their software falls short of important quality goals and which improvements to consider. A small group with existing system knowledge can make an initial assessment and investigate open questions in more detail. | ARID examines how well developers can work with a technical design. It focuses on a part of the system that can still be revised, between the architecture overview and the detailed specification. |
Complexitydifferent | Medium | High | Medium | Medium |
Timedifferent | 1-2 h je Session | 4-5 Tage | 3–4 h for initial assessment; preparation and deeper analysis additional | 2–4 h review as a planning range; preparation and evaluation additional |
Participantsdifferent | Based on research question | 5-8 | 1 or a small team; particularly suitable for 3–4 people | Designers, developers as users, and facilitation |
Formatdifferent | Workshop + async | Workshop | Workshop + async | Workshop + async |
Outputdifferent | Usability Issues, Severity List, Recommendations | Prototype, Test Findings, Decision Rationale | Lean Mission Statement describing the software’s purpose, Prioritized quality goals and evaluation criteria, Risks and estimated gaps against quality goals, More closely examined findings and open checks | Prioritized development tasks, Jointly produced code or pseudocode, Observed difficulties and open design questions, Proposed design revisions |
Tagsno overlap | ValidationUXPrototype | Design sprintPrototypeValidationInnovation | ArchitectureQualityRiskAssessmentLean | ArchitectureEngineeringFeedbackValidationTasks |



