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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: scenarios and architectural decisions are connected to identified risks.
Architecture
ATAM (Architecture Tradeoff Analysis Method)
Paper illustration for Alignment Mapping.
Facilitation
Alignment Mapping
Paper illustration for Problem Framing Workshop.
Facilitation
Problem Framing Workshop
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.ATAM helps teams weigh architecture decisions when quality goals compete. The team considers business goals, stakeholder expectations, and technical decisions together. The evaluation shows which risks need further investigation.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.When a team works on symptoms but the real question stays fuzzy, a Problem Framing Workshop sharpens the view of the right problem. It separates observation, interpretation, and target picture from each other.
Complexitydifferent
LowHighMediumLow
Timedifferent
30–60 min per interviewSeveral meetings plus preparation and analysis; total effort depends on scope1-2 h60-120 min
Participantsdifferent
1 participant per interviewEvaluation team, architects, and relevant stakeholders4-124-10
Formatdifferent
Workshop + asyncWorkshop + asyncWorkshopWorkshop
Outputdifferent
Interview Notes, Themes, Insight SummaryPrioritized quality scenarios in a utility tree, Architecture risks with reasoning and assumptions, Sensitivity and trade-off points, Findings report with open investigationsAlignment Map, Open Issues, Decision QuestionsProblem Statement, Scope Boundaries, Assumption List, Next Analysis Questions
Tagsno overlap
QualitativeResearchCustomerDiscovery
ArchitectureQualityRiskTradeoffsStakeholders
AlignmentStakeholdersStrategyFacilitation
FacilitationAlignmentDiscovery
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