Tests
What kinds of test are there?
Checked on 6 Oct 20263 min read
Why it works this way
All fourteen kinds of test are one press away in the Test library, and a test you write from it waits until you put it on your road.
A short road is easier to start, and it should not box you in. So the road holds the riskiest few tests, and the library holds every kind, grouped under the four questions a test can answer.
What we gave up: showing every kind at once on the road. It was too much to read.
What it is
Discover Agents knows fourteen kinds of test. Your tests start with three of them. The Test library, a button on the Tests page, holds all fourteen, grouped under the four questions a test can answer, so you can add any other kind to your own road.
Do they want it?
- Customer interview: short, open conversations with people in your segment. A day or two.
- Fake door test: a button for something that does not exist yet, and a count of clicks. A day or two.
- Landing-page smoke test: one page for the whole offer, to see who signs up. A day or two.
- Ad smoke test: a small paid ad, to see if the pitch pulls strangers. A day or two.
- Prototype test: watch a few people try a task on a rough prototype. A day or two.
- Concierge: do the job by hand for a few real customers. About a week.
Can we build it?
- Wizard of Oz: it looks finished, and a person does the work behind it. About a week.
- Reliability check: run the riskiest step on real, messy inputs and count how often it lands alone. A day or two.
Will they pay?
- Pre-sale / letter of intent: ask people to commit before it exists. A day or two.
- Pricing test: show real prices and see what people accept. A day or two.
- Existing-data analysis: answer the question from data that already exists. Hours.
- Cost-per-run check: what one run costs you, held against a price someone would pay. Hours.
Will it last?
- Expert interview: pressure-test the idea with someone who knows the field. A day or two.
- Scenario stress test: walk the idea through the futures that could break it. Hours.
How to use it
- On the Tests page, press Test library.
- Find the question you are stuck on. Each row says what the test is and about how long it takes.
- Press Write this test. One test is written for your board and lands under the road, not on it. While it is written the card says "Writing a fake door test for this board…" (or the kind you picked).
- When you want it among your tests, drag it onto the road, or use Put it on the road. Take it off the road puts it back under.
- A kind that is already on the road shows "On the road · test 2", and its button reads Open.
What it will never do
- Put a test on your road for you. A test you write from the library waits under the road until you move it.
- Leave a kind out of the library. All fourteen are always listed.
If something looks off
- No Test library button. Boards made before the road of tests do not have one. A shared board opened as a viewer shows the tests without it, because a viewer cannot write tests.
- The card still says "Writing…". Give it a moment.
- You cannot drag. Use Put it on the road, or the grip on the card with Enter or Space. It works from a keyboard and on a phone.