The one-page brief exists to improve decisions before work begins. It prevents a tactic from masquerading as a hypothesis and gives the team a shared contract for interpreting evidence.

The decision

Start with the decision the experiment will inform. Examples include whether to prioritize a segment, adopt a message, change onboarding, or increase investment. If no realistic result would change a decision, the test is unlikely to be worth running.

The hypothesis

Use: “We believe [audience] will [behavior] when [change], because [evidence or insight]. We will be more confident when [measure] reaches [threshold] within [period].”

  • Name one audience and behavior.
  • State the mechanism, not just the expected uplift.
  • Use a threshold decided before results arrive.
  • Add guardrails for quality, cost, or customer harm.

The smallest credible test

Choose the least expensive design that can distinguish the belief from a plausible alternative. Document sample limits, dependencies, instrumentation, owner, launch date, and review date.

The decision record

At review, capture the outcome, confidence, surprises, segment differences, and next action. Use adopt, iterate, stop, or investigate. An inconclusive result still has value when it clarifies what evidence is missing.

The useful part

What to take into your next growth conversation

  1. 01State the belief before the tactic.
  2. 02Define the smallest test that can change a decision.
  3. 03Record the next action even when the result is inconclusive.
Turn the idea into action

Bring us the growth decision your team is circling.

We’ll help you expose the real tradeoff and identify a useful next move.

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