The Learning Loop
Phase 5: Decide
Decide what to do based on what you learned.
What: Decide what to do based on what you learned.
Thinking mode: Strategic thinking. Connecting the evidence to what comes next. On a team, this is a shared decision. The best "decide" conversations happen when engineers, PMs, and designers all look at the same evidence and bring their different perspectives. Nobody has a monopoly on good judgment. Solo builders: be explicit about this step. Write down your decision and why. It's easy to skip straight to the next build; the discipline of deciding forces you to actually learn.
Options:
- Double down: The hypothesis was right. Expand this slice into a feature.
- Pivot: The hypothesis was partially right; adjust and run another loop.
- Abandon: The hypothesis was wrong. Kill it and move on.
Output: The next framed hypothesis, or a decision to ship what you've validated so far.