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| Criterion |  Innovation Design Thinking |  Operations PDCA Cycle |  Product Discovery Test Card |  Product Discovery Fake Door Test |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Purposedifferent | For complex user problems with an uncertain cause, the method connects observation, interpretation, and experiment into a learning cycle. It keeps the focus on real needs and avoids premature solution language. This produces robust decisions for product and service. | For an improvement that still has to prove itself in everyday work, the method runs it through small learning loops. It connects planning, checking, and standardization into a repeatable learning mode. | The Test Card turns a critical assumption into a testable claim and specifies in advance which result counts as success. | 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 | High | Low | Low | Medium |
Timedifferent | 1 Tag bis mehrere Wochen | 1 h bis mehrere Wochen | 20-35 min | 1-5 Tage |
Participantsdifferent | 4-10 | 1-8 | 1-5 | Nutzertraffic |
Formatdifferent | Workshop | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Async |
Outputdifferent | Problem Statement, Prototype, Test Learnings | PDCA Log, Experiment Plan, Learning Outcome, Standard Change | Test Card with a pre-set threshold | Click Data, Interest Signal, Learning Decision |
Tagsno overlap | InnovationPrototypeResearch | Continuous improvementLeanExperiments | ExperimentsValidationDiscoveryHypothesis | ValidationExperimentsDemandDiscovery |