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| Criterion |  UX Research User Interviews |  Decision Making Argument Mapping |  Decision Making Decision Rights Mapping |  Architecture Architecture Decision Record |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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. | In organizations with many stakeholders, it often blurs who actually decides and who is merely consulted. It separates options, evaluation criteria, and open risks. The result is captured as a Decision Rights matrix and an agreement. | 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. |
Complexitydifferent | Low | Medium | Medium | Low |
Timedifferent | 30–60 min per interview | 1-3 h | 90-180 min | 15-45 min |
Participantsdifferent | 1 participant per interview | 1-8 | 4-12 | 1-3 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Workshop | Async |
Outputdifferent | Interview Notes, Themes, Insight Summary | Argument Map, Evidence Gaps, Decision Rationale | Decision Rights Matrix, Agreement | ADR File, Decision Log, Rationale |
Tagsno overlap | QualitativeResearchCustomerDiscovery | SensemakingDecisionRationale | DecisionGovernanceAlignmentResponsibility | ArchitectureRationaleDocumentationGovernance |