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| Criterion |  Operations Gemba Walk |  Product Discovery Smoke Test |  Business Strategy 5-Minuten VC-Check |  Operations A3 Problem Solving |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Purposedifferent | When there is uncertainty about the real course of a process, the method brings observation to the place where work happens. It combines perception, follow-up questions, and process knowledge so decisions rest on actual workflows instead of assumptions. | 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. | The 5-Minute VC Check clarifies opportunities and strategic options at the earliest idea stage. It compares problem quality, customer willingness to pay, alternatives, differentiation, and market potential, and captures the result as a VC-check note, go/sharpen/park decision, and risk list. | For a complex deviation with several people involved, the method bundles problem, analysis, and decision onto one page. It creates a shared working space where causes, countermeasures, and follow-up fit together. |
Complexitydifferent | Low | Low | Low | Medium |
Timedifferent | 30-120 min | 1-5 Tage | 5-15 min | 45-90 min |
Participantsdifferent | 2-6 | Nutzertraffic | 1-5 | 2-5 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop | Async | Workshop + async | Workshop + async |
Outputdifferent | Observation Notes, Improvement Ideas | Interest Metrics, Conversion Signal, Learning Note | VC-check note, Go/sharpen/park decision, Risk and assumption list, Next validation step | A3 Report, Action Plan, Root Cause Analysis |
Tagsno overlap | LeanObservationProcessOperations | ValidationExperimentsDemandGrowth | StartupValidationCompetition | LeanProblem solvingCoachingOperations |