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| Criterion |  Operations Waste Analysis |  Innovation Lean Startup |  Growth A/B Testing |  Product Discovery Smoke Test |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Purposedifferent | For a process that keeps people busy but creates little value, the method exposes waste. It directs attention to unnecessary movement, waiting times, rework, and overdelivery. | For uncertain business assumptions, the method forces the idea into contact with real market reactions early. It separates wishful picture, assumption, and observable behavior, so that learning becomes faster than planning. This translates uncertainty into measurable insight. | 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 | Low | Medium | High | Low |
Timedifferent | 45-120 min | Wochen bis Monate je Lernzyklus | 1-4 Wochen | 1-5 Tage |
Participantsdifferent | 2-8 | 2-8 | 1-6 | Nutzertraffic |
Formatdifferent | Workshop | Workshop + async | Async | Async |
Outputdifferent | Waste Map, Prioritized Waste, Improvement Backlog | Hypothesis list, MVPs, Learning reports, Pivot or persevere decision | Experiment results, Decision log, Learning summary | Interest Metrics, Conversion Signal, Learning Note |
Tagsno overlap | WasteLeanProcess improvement | LeanStartupValidationMVP | ExperimentsGrowthAnalyticsValidation | ValidationExperimentsDemandGrowth |