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| Criterion |  Operations PDCA Cycle |  Product Discovery Pretotyping |  Product Discovery Assumption Mapping |  Product Discovery Smoke Test |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Purposedifferent | 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. | Pretotyping clarifies whether a customer problem and solution idea create enough real demand. It separates problem, assumption, solution, and evidence, and captures the result as a pretotyping sketch, test setup, and conversion data. | When assumptions still sit unordered in the room, it weighs uncertainty against leverage. It makes visible which hypotheses should be checked first. | 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. |
Complexitydifferent | Low | Low | Medium | Low |
Timedifferent | 1 h bis mehrere Wochen | Stunden bis wenige Tage | 45-60 min | 1-5 Tage |
Participantsdifferent | 1-8 | 1-4 | 2-8 | Nutzertraffic |
Formatdifferent | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Async |
Outputdifferent | PDCA Log, Experiment Plan, Learning Outcome, Standard Change | Pretotyping sketch, Test setup, Conversion data, Go or no-go decision | Assumption map, Test backlog, Risk ranking | Interest Metrics, Conversion Signal, Learning Note |
Tagsno overlap | Continuous improvementLeanExperiments | ValidationDemandMVP | AssumptionsRiskExperimentsValidation | ValidationExperimentsDemandGrowth |