methodatlas
Compare

View methods side by side.

Choose up to four methods. Add them using the search and share the comparison by copying its link.

Criterion
Paper illustration of two people facing each other, speech bubbles and an open interview notebook.
UX Research
User Interviews
Paper illustration for Argument Mapping
Decision Making
Argument Mapping
Affinity Diagramming
UX Research
Affinity Diagramming
Paper illustration of an assumption matrix with prioritized test cards
Decision Making
Assumption Surfacing
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 statements, evidence, and counterarguments get mixed up, a debate quickly loses its structure. Argument Mapping breaks a thesis down into its reasoning and makes visible what it really rests on.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.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.
Complexitydifferent
LowMediumLowLow
Timedifferent
30–60 min per interview1-3 h45–90 min45-90 min
Participantsdifferent
1 participant per interview1-83-102-8
Formatdifferent
Workshop + asyncWorkshop + asyncWorkshopWorkshop + async
Outputdifferent
Interview Notes, Themes, Insight SummaryArgument Map, Evidence Gaps, Decision RationaleTheme clusters, Insight statements, Opportunity areasAssumption List, Critical Assumptions, Learning Plan
Tagsno overlap
QualitativeResearchCustomerDiscovery
SensemakingDecisionRationale
SynthesisQualitativeRoot cause
AssumptionsRiskDecisionDiscovery
Add more methods