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| Criterion |  Growth North Star Metric |  Growth A/B Testing |  Product Discovery Smoke Test |  Product Strategy Counter Metrics |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Purposedifferent | When product teams track many metrics, the view of the actual customer outcome easily gets lost. A North Star Metric bundles growth, usage, and value contribution into one signal that makes the system's direction visible. | 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 only needs to be roughly verified, it tests interest with minimal effort. It measures whether people would take a next step at all. | When a headline metric could mask side effects, it adds guardrail signals against unwanted outcomes. It connects customer value, product logic, and decision priorities. The result is captured as a counter-metric list and guardrail definitions. |
Complexitydifferent | Medium | High | Low | Low |
Timedifferent | 1-2 h | 1-4 Wochen | 1-5 Tage | 30-60 min |
Participantsdifferent | 3-8 | 1-6 | Nutzertraffic | 2-6 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop + async | Async | Async | Workshop + async |
Outputdifferent | North Star metric, Input metric tree, Measurement cadence | Experiment results, Decision log, Learning summary | Interest Metrics, Conversion Signal, Learning Note | Counter Metric List, Guardrail Definitions |
Tagsno overlap | GrowthMetricsAlignmentRetention | ExperimentsGrowthAnalyticsValidation | ValidationExperimentsDemandGrowth | MetricsMeasurementStrategyExperiments |