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Criterion
Paper illustration of two people facing each other, speech bubbles and an open interview notebook.
UX Research
User Interviews
Four paper stations connect system purpose, quality goals, risk cards and focused investigation with a target and gap profile.
Architecture
LASR (Lightweight Approach for Software Reviews)
Affinity Diagramming
UX Research
Affinity Diagramming
A 5 Whys working surface connects an observable problem with evidenced causes, marked uncertainty and concrete countermeasures with ownership.
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.LASR helps development teams identify where their software falls short of important quality goals and which improvements to consider. A small group with existing system knowledge can make an initial assessment and investigate open questions in more detail.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.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.
Complexitydifferent
LowMediumLowLow
Timedifferent
30–60 min per interview3–4 h for initial assessment; preparation and deeper analysis additional45–90 min15-30 min
Participantsdifferent
1 participant per interview1 or a small team; particularly suitable for 3–4 people3-102-6
Formatdifferent
Workshop + asyncWorkshop + asyncWorkshopWorkshop
Outputdifferent
Interview Notes, Themes, Insight SummaryLean Mission Statement describing the software’s purpose, Prioritized quality goals and evaluation criteria, Risks and estimated gaps against quality goals, More closely examined findings and open checksTheme clusters, Insight statements, Opportunity areasRoot cause notes, Countermeasures
Tagsno overlap
QualitativeResearchCustomerDiscovery
ArchitectureQualityRiskAssessmentLean
SynthesisQualitativeRoot cause
Root causeIncidentLeanProblem solving
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