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Experiment is a stage in the development of some changes to Wikipedia policies and processes in which an idea is being tried on a temporary basis, perhaps with a limited scope of application. Many current policies, such as limiting page creation to logged-in users, began ostensibly on an experimental basis. Proposed deletion began as an experiment. Consensus had not fully formed to accept those changes, but consensus had formed to implement them on a trial basis.
Experiments can be useful for determining how an idea would work in practice. In other cases, existing knowledge may make the results of an experiment a foregone conclusion, or the risks and costs involved may outweigh the potential benefits. As Tim Vickers said in reference to restoring anonymous users' rights to create new pages, "Sticking your finger into an electric shredder is not a sensible experiment, we know exactly what the result will be and confirming the prediction will be painful."