methodatlas
Session Builder

Plan my session

Plan a concrete work block with agenda, roles, preparation, and a copyable result artifact.

Method session1-2 weeks per experiment, up to three in parallelWorkshop or asyncExperiment card

Session: Growth Experiment

The plan translates the method into a concrete facilitated work block. Your inputs flow directly into the session brief and work artifact.

Derived automatically

Method session with 1-6. The plan uses the existing method logic and the runsheet.

Runsheet
Participation logic
Team round, shared work and alignment

Use the session for shared understanding. Contributions are collected visibly, assumptions are aligned, and open differences remain traceable in the artifact.

Outcome logic
Finish artifact

The session works directly toward Experiment card. After the session, the artifact should be shareable, reviewable, or reusable.

  1. 1

    Phase 1: Hypothesis and card

    60 min

    Write the hypothesis in the format "If we do X, then Y happens because Z." Add goal metric, secondary metric, minimum effect, sample size, duration, owner, and learning goal to the card. Hint: If the hypothesis contains six sub-changes, it is no longer an experiment but a project. Reduce to one change, otherwise no learning occurs.

    FacilitatorExperiment card
  2. 2

    Phase 2: Build or fake

    1-5 days

    Choose the minimal implementation: feature flag, landing-page variant, manual Wizard of Oz test, or email sequence. Select the fastest setup that still allows learning. Hint: If implementation takes more than five days, the experiment is too large. Consider a spike or fake door in front to test the hypothesis more cheaply.

    FacilitatorResult summary
  3. 3

    Phase 3: Run it

    1-3 weeks

    Run the experiment live. Perform a daily health check (tracking active, no crashes, no support spike). Avoid mid-check decisions on the goal metric before sample size is reached. Hint: A health check is not evaluation. Someone who checks the goal metric daily creates peek bias. Separate strictly: health is whether it works technically; evaluation is whether it works.

    FacilitatorNext bet
  4. 4

    Phase 4: Evaluate

    1 day

    Validate results against goal and counter metrics. Decide: Double Down (scale), Iterate (adjust variant), or Kill (hypothesis rejected). Document lessons learned. Hint: A Kill decision is also valuable. The key point is what we know now that we did not know before. Without a learning entry, the experiment is wasted.

    FacilitatorExperiment card
  5. 5

    Phase 5: Next hypothesis

    30 min

    Store lessons in the knowledge base. Update hypothesis backlog: increase confidence for validated assumptions, reduce it for rejected assumptions. Plan next experiment. Hint: Backlog updates are the bridge to better learning. If lessons do not feed into later confidence scoring, the organization learns almost nothing per quarter.

    OwnerResult summary
  6. 6

    Publish artifact

    10 min

    Check the artifact for completeness, define location, set version or status, and name review recipients.

    OwnerExperiment card
Usable artifact

Session Brief

For invitations, boards, tickets, PR descriptions, or workshop notes.

session-brief.md

Session Brief: Growth Experiment

Goal

Artifact: Experiment card

Working Question

What is the smallest intervention at the bottleneck that produces an interpretable learning result for the hypothesis within one week?

Context

Bottleneck stage and baseline; current knowledge around the hypothesis; available channels; budget per experiment; legal constraints (GDPR, advertising).

Setup

  • Format: Method session
  • Duration: 1-2 weeks per experiment, up to three in parallel
  • Mode: Workshop or async
  • Participants: One growth owner; engineer for implementation (including no-code setup if needed); data analyst for evaluation; marketing or content representative for reach experiments; reviewer for cards.
  • Owner: One growth owner
  • Participation mode: Team round, shared work and alignment
  • Outcome logic: Finish artifact

Participation Logic

Use the session for shared understanding. Contributions are collected visibly, assumptions are aligned, and open differences remain traceable in the artifact.

Outcome Logic

The session works directly toward Experiment card. After the session, the artifact should be shareable, reviewable, or reusable.

Input

Experiment card template (hypothesis, goal metric, setup, duration, sample size, owner, learning goal), hypothesis backlog (Notion, Trello, or Linear), tracking system, Slack channel for updates.

Preparation

Fix the card format. Weekly cadence for kick-off, mid-check, and review. Kanban board with columns Backlog, Ready, Running, Evaluation, Done. Definition of done: lessons learned documented.

Agenda

  1. Phase 1: Hypothesis and card (60 min) Owner: Facilitator Action: Write the hypothesis in the format "If we do X, then Y happens because Z." Add goal metric, secondary metric, minimum effect, sample size, duration, owner, and learning goal to the card. Hint: If the hypothesis contains six sub-changes, it is no longer an experiment but a project. Reduce to one change, otherwise no learning occurs. Output: Experiment card

  2. Phase 2: Build or fake (1-5 days) Owner: Facilitator Action: Choose the minimal implementation: feature flag, landing-page variant, manual Wizard of Oz test, or email sequence. Select the fastest setup that still allows learning. Hint: If implementation takes more than five days, the experiment is too large. Consider a spike or fake door in front to test the hypothesis more cheaply. Output: Result summary

  3. Phase 3: Run it (1-3 weeks) Owner: Facilitator Action: Run the experiment live. Perform a daily health check (tracking active, no crashes, no support spike). Avoid mid-check decisions on the goal metric before sample size is reached. Hint: A health check is not evaluation. Someone who checks the goal metric daily creates peek bias. Separate strictly: health is whether it works technically; evaluation is whether it works. Output: Next bet

  4. Phase 4: Evaluate (1 day) Owner: Facilitator Action: Validate results against goal and counter metrics. Decide: Double Down (scale), Iterate (adjust variant), or Kill (hypothesis rejected). Document lessons learned. Hint: A Kill decision is also valuable. The key point is what we know now that we did not know before. Without a learning entry, the experiment is wasted. Output: Experiment card

  5. Phase 5: Next hypothesis (30 min) Owner: Owner Action: Store lessons in the knowledge base. Update hypothesis backlog: increase confidence for validated assumptions, reduce it for rejected assumptions. Plan next experiment. Hint: Backlog updates are the bridge to better learning. If lessons do not feed into later confidence scoring, the organization learns almost nothing per quarter. Output: Result summary

  6. Publish artifact (10 min) Owner: Owner Action: Check the artifact for completeness, define location, set version or status, and name review recipients. Output: Experiment card

Closeout

  • Update result artifact: Experiment card
  • Define location, version, and review recipients.
  • Define owner, next step, and review date.
Usable artifact

Work artifact

Pre-filled starting point based on the matching template.

work-artifact.md

Experiment card: Growth Experiment

Working Question

What is the smallest intervention at the bottleneck that produces an interpretable learning result for the hypothesis within one week?

Context

Bottleneck stage and baseline; current knowledge around the hypothesis; available channels; budget per experiment; legal constraints (GDPR, advertising).

Participants

  • Owner: One growth owner
  • Participants: One growth owner; engineer for implementation (including no-code setup if needed); data analyst for evaluation; marketing or content representative for reach experiments; reviewer for cards.

Input

Experiment card template (hypothesis, goal metric, setup, duration, sample size, owner, learning goal), hypothesis backlog (Notion, Trello, or Linear), tracking system, Slack channel for updates.

Template

Experiment Plan

Hypothesis

We believe that ...

Target audience

Who are we testing for?

Test design

What exactly will participants or users do?

Success criterion

We count the test as positive if ...

Risks and limits

What can the test not prove?

Decision afterward

If positive: ... If negative: ...

Owner and date

...

Completion Check

  • Experiment card is complete enough for review:
  • Location:
  • Version / status:
  • Review by:
  • Next step:

Next Step

  • Review result
  • Mark open questions
  • Schedule review or decision
Template base

Experiment Plan

View templateShort plan for hypothesis, test design, success criteria, and decision.
markdown

experiment-plan-markdown.md

Short plan for hypothesis, test design, success criteria, and decision.

Experiment Plan

Hypothesis

We believe that ...

Target audience

Who are we testing for?

Test design

What exactly will participants or users do?

Success criterion

We count the test as positive if ...

Risks and limits

What can the test not prove?

Decision afterward

If positive: ... If negative: ...

Owner and date

...

Ready to use when
  • Working question, owner, and target artifact are visible.
  • The result fits Experiment card.
  • Track per experiment ID, date, and bottleneck tag. Store lessons learned in the knowledge base, not in archived cards. Quarterly recap includes win rate, key learning, and follow-up hypotheses.
  • Open questions are noted as follow-ups.
  • The next review or decision point is scheduled.
ProfileRunsheet