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Criterion
Paper illustration of two people facing each other, speech bubbles and an open interview notebook.
UX Research
User Interviews
Paper illustration for Alignment Mapping.
Facilitation
Alignment Mapping
Paper illustration of an assumption matrix with prioritized test cards
Decision Making
Assumption Surfacing
Stakeholder Mapping
Facilitation
Stakeholder Mapping
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.When several people work toward one goal but hold different mental maps, Alignment Mapping makes the discrepancies visible. It arranges goals, assumptions, and priorities so shared direction becomes verifiable.Plans often contain assumptions that were never openly stated and remain dangerous precisely because of that. Assumption Surfacing makes these silent premises visible and prioritizes which of them carry the initiative or could sink it.When an initiative depends on many people, interests, and power dynamics, Stakeholder Mapping systematically orders the environment. It shows who influences, who is affected, and where relationship management or safeguarding matters first.
Complexitydifferent
LowMediumLowLow
Timedifferent
30–60 min per interview1-2 h45-90 min60–90 min
Participantsdifferent
1 participant per interview4-122-82-8
Formatdifferent
Workshop + asyncWorkshopWorkshop + asyncWorkshop + async
Outputdifferent
Interview Notes, Themes, Insight SummaryAlignment Map, Open Issues, Decision QuestionsAssumption List, Critical Assumptions, Learning PlanStakeholder Map, Engagement Plan, Risk Notes
Tagsno overlap
QualitativeResearchCustomerDiscovery
AlignmentStakeholdersStrategyFacilitation
AssumptionsRiskDecisionDiscovery
StakeholdersAlignmentFacilitationChange
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