Small-scale means done at a modest size. A small-scale trial.
It is often chosen deliberately, since something small can be changed and something large cannot. A small-scale success does not prove a large one will work, which is the standard mistake.
1adjectivesmall-scaleDone at a modest size.
“The small-scale version worked and the national one did not.”
small-scale is a quality.
Small plus scale; the pairing became common with industrial production in the nineteenth century.
From small + scale.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA