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| Criterion |  Product Discovery Working Backwards |  Product Discovery Assumption Mapping |  Product Discovery Smoke Test |  Product Discovery Fake Door Test |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Purposedifferent | When the target state and benefit need to be clear first, it thinks backward from the desired outcome into the product logic. It sharpens vision, objections, and value proposition before elaboration. | 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. | When demand is still unclear, it measures interest in a feature before it is built. It separates real behavior from polite agreement and deliberately keeps build effort small. |
Complexitydifferent | Medium | Medium | Low | Medium |
Timedifferent | 4-8 h, mehrere Iterationen | 45-60 min | 1-5 Tage | 1-5 Tage |
Participantsdifferent | 2-6 | 2-8 | Nutzertraffic | Nutzertraffic |
Formatdifferent | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Async | Async |
Outputdifferent | Future Press Release, FAQ, Vision Statement | Assumption map, Test backlog, Risk ranking | Interest Metrics, Conversion Signal, Learning Note | Click Data, Interest Signal, Learning Decision |
Tagsno overlap | VisionNarrativeAlignment | AssumptionsRiskExperimentsValidation | ValidationExperimentsDemandGrowth | ValidationExperimentsDemandDiscovery |