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| Criterion |  UX Research Usability Testing |  Operations Failure Mode and Effects Analysis |  Growth A/B Testing |  Product Discovery Smoke Test |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Purposedifferent | When a product is built but people get stuck on tasks, usability testing shows the friction at concrete points. Observed use instead of self-report makes visible where orientation, understanding, or interaction breaks down. | For a process, product, or service with noticeable failure risks, the method assesses possible failure modes in advance. It directs attention to combinations of occurrence, effect, and detectability. | 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. |
Complexitydifferent | Medium | High | High | Low |
Timedifferent | 1-2 h je Session | 2-6 h | 1-4 Wochen | 1-5 Tage |
Participantsdifferent | Based on research question | 3-10 | 1-6 | Nutzertraffic |
Formatdifferent | Workshop + async | Workshop | Async | Async |
Outputdifferent | Usability Issues, Severity List, Recommendations | FMEA Table, Risk Priority, Mitigation Actions | Experiment results, Decision log, Learning summary | Interest Metrics, Conversion Signal, Learning Note |
Tagsno overlap | ValidationUXPrototype | RiskQualityOperationsRoot cause | ExperimentsGrowthAnalyticsValidation | ValidationExperimentsDemandGrowth |