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| Criterion |  Architecture Architecture Decision Record |  Growth A/B Testing |  Product Discovery Fake Door Test |  Product Discovery Smoke Test |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Purposedifferent | 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. | When two variants compete, discussions quickly decide by taste rather than effect. A/B Testing checks behavior under controlled conditions and separates real improvement from chance or expectation effects. | When demand is still unclear, it measures interest in a feature before it is built. It separates real behavior from polite agreement and deliberately keeps build effort small. | When demand only needs to be roughly verified, it tests interest with minimal effort. It measures whether people would take a next step at all. |
Complexitydifferent | Low | High | Medium | Low |
Timedifferent | 15-45 min | 1-4 Wochen | 1-5 Tage | 1-5 Tage |
Participantsdifferent | 1-3 | 1-6 | Nutzertraffic | Nutzertraffic |
Formatsame | Async | Async | Async | Async |
Outputdifferent | ADR File, Decision Log, Rationale | Experiment results, Decision log, Learning summary | Click Data, Interest Signal, Learning Decision | Interest Metrics, Conversion Signal, Learning Note |
Tagsno overlap | ArchitectureRationaleDocumentationGovernance | ExperimentsGrowthAnalyticsValidation | ValidationExperimentsDemandDiscovery | ValidationExperimentsDemandGrowth |