Experiments, testing & rollout · Core
Survivorship bias
Also called: survival bias
ELI5
Looking only at winners hides the failures.
Used in conversation
“Customer interviews showed survivorship bias because churned users were excluded.”
Definition
Distortion caused by focusing on cases that remain visible while ignoring those that failed or disappeared.
Here “Survivorship bias” means: Distortion caused by focusing on cases that remain visible while ignoring those that failed or disappeared.
Pitch context
You will see “Survivorship bias” in product strategy decks, roadmaps, experiments and architecture reviews when the discussion reaches experiments, testing & rollout.
Why it matters: It helps a reader interpret experiments, testing & rollout without confusing the measure, decision, role or evidence being discussed.
Sources & evidence · 2
Supporting source families. This entry is an editorial synthesis rather than a quotation from one canonical glossary.
- Scrum Guides — The Scrum Guide — official current versionSupporting source family · primary · checked 2026-08-16
- National Institute of Standards and Technology — Computer Security Resource Center GlossarySupporting source family · primary · checked 2026-08-16