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| Criterion |  UX Research User Interviews |  Architecture Architecture Decision Record |  Operations 5 Whys |
|---|---|---|---|
Purposedifferent | 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. | An ADR permanently records an architecture decision with context, trade-offs, and consequence. It creates continuity for later changes because the decision path stays traceable. | For a single, hard-to-explain deviation, the method exposes the causal chain behind the visible symptom. It keeps the cause open until a controllable condition emerges instead of a mere description. |
Complexitysame | Low | Low | Low |
Timedifferent | 30–60 min per interview | 15-45 min | 15-30 min |
Participantsdifferent | 1 participant per interview | 1-3 | 2-6 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop + async | Async | Workshop |
Outputdifferent | Interview Notes, Themes, Insight Summary | ADR File, Decision Log, Rationale | Root cause notes, Countermeasures |
Tagsno overlap | QualitativeResearchCustomerDiscovery | ArchitectureRationaleDocumentationGovernance | Root causeIncidentLeanProblem solving |
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