Test ladder
Every way to grade a Hypothesis, cheapest first, and the rule that sends each one to the lowest rung that can settle it.
The test ladder lists every way to grade a Hypothesis, cheapest first. Each Hypothesis goes to the lowest rung that can yield the grade its threshold needs.
The rungs
Each rung has a typical cost, a time to a Readout, and the strongest Evidence grade it can yield.
The cheapest decisive rung
A rung is decisive when its strongest grade meets the threshold. Among decisive rungs, the Hypothesis takes the one with the lowest cost per day to a verdict.
The two rungs that reach no one run first, on every Hypothesis. They grade Opinion, so they prune weak candidates and never pass a gate. A Prior lookup that finds the question settled across the Portfolio opens the Hypothesis at Testing, not Open.
Where each slot starts
| Slot | Grade it needs | Cheapest decisive rung |
|---|---|---|
| customer | Commitment | Interview: introductions and time offered |
| problem | Commitment | Interview: the last time the Problem hit |
| approach | Behavior | Smoke page at the real Price |
| switch | Commitment | Pre-sale: a reserve-first deposit |
| differentiation | Behavior | Fake door, one per axis |
Before Live, the ladder settles most questions in days. A Flag split waits for a built thing and the traffic to read it.
Lines fixed before the first exposure
Every test states its pass and kill lines before anyone sees it: the Metric, the window and the minimum sample. A line can tighten after launch and never loosen. Test demand runs the rung and records the verdict.
Next
Experimentation explains why every run is a test, and what no test varies.