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| Criterion |  Operations Barrier Analysis |  Operations 5 Whys |  Product Discovery Smoke Test |  Product Discovery Fake Door Test |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Purposedifferent | For a risk that can only be managed through multiple layers of protection, the method examines the effectiveness of each barrier. It shows where safeguards are missing, too weak, or fail under real conditions. | 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. | 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 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. |
Complexitydifferent | Medium | Low | Low | Medium |
Timedifferent | 2-4 h | 15-30 min | 1-5 Tage | 1-5 Tage |
Participantsdifferent | 2-6 | 2-6 | Nutzertraffic | Nutzertraffic |
Formatdifferent | Workshop + async | Workshop | Async | Async |
Outputdifferent | Barrier Inventory, Failure Analysis per Barrier, Action Backlog | Root cause notes, Countermeasures | Interest Metrics, Conversion Signal, Learning Note | Click Data, Interest Signal, Learning Decision |
Tagsno overlap | Root causeSafetyIncident | Root causeIncidentLeanProblem solving | ValidationExperimentsDemandGrowth | ValidationExperimentsDemandDiscovery |