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| Criterion |  Operations After-Action Review |  Operations Process Mapping |  Product Discovery Smoke Test |  Growth Growth Experiment |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Purposedifferent | After missions or project phases with unclear outcomes, the method makes visible what actually happened and what can be learned from it. It separates course, effect, and causes so experience turns into solid improvement. | With a confusing workflow that has many handoffs, the method makes the actual process visible. It shows where work is passed on, delayed, or duplicated, so improvement targets the right spots. | 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. | When growth ideas surface quickly, the temptation to build immediately instead of learning is high. A Growth Experiment frames an assumption so target group, lever, and measurement are clear before the first deployment. |
Complexitydifferent | Low | Medium | Low | Medium |
Timedifferent | 20-45 min | 1-3 h | 1-5 Tage | 1-2 Wochen |
Participantsdifferent | 3-12 | 3-10 | Nutzertraffic | 1-6 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop + async | Workshop | Async | Workshop + async |
Outputdifferent | Lessons learned, Action items, Event summary | Process Map, Handoff List, Improvement Backlog | Interest Metrics, Conversion Signal, Learning Note | Experiment card, Result summary, Next bet |
Tagsno overlap | LearningOperationsImprovement | ProcessOperationsImprovement | ValidationExperimentsDemandGrowth | MarketingGrowthExperimentsLearning |