Concept Testing: Build What Matters Most for your Target Audience

$15,000.00

Reduce the risk of building something nobody wants or needs. Get real feedback from your target customers to refine your product, ensure your product is solving a customer problem, and build with confidence.

Please note: Pricing is based on the average time required for these type of studies. Final cost may vary depending on scope, complexity, and specific project needs.

What it is

Concept testing helps to build confidence in early ideas—new product concepts, messaging, features, UX flows—before investing in code. Our approach to Concept Testing is inspired by over 20 years of experience from Google Ventures, helping startups to rapidly evolve their ideas based on feedback from real users. This approach will help you to understand your concept’s perceived value, level of interest, and if it is solving an unmet need, saving you both time and money in the long run.

When to Use It

Pre-MVP / pre-prototype development: Ensure features and overall product concepts align with user priorities and solve actual problems
During pitch or positioning: Data backed ideas to substantiate your value propositions and messaging

Outcomes & Impact

Validate core concepts: Know if your concept(s) resonates before full engineering effort
Clarify messaging & positioning: Learn which version of your idea lands best
Align your team fast: “Watch parties” bring immediate insight and internal buy-in
De-risk roadmap decisions: Prioritize features with evidence, not gut

Why It Matters

Spend a few weeks upfront to save later. Concept testing lets you fail or refine cheap, fast, and early so you only build what users will love and solves an actual problem.

What Concept Testing Is Not

It’s not usability testing. Concept testing focuses on the appeal, value, and clarity of an idea, not how users interact with a finished product or interface.
It’s not a final verdict. Concept testing is meant to guide iteration, not determine absolute success or failure. Strong or weak signals help shape next steps, not end the journey.
It’s not about validating the execution. You're testing the idea, need, or value proposition, not the design details, pixel-perfect mockups, or backend feasibility.
It’s not statistically conclusive. Concept testing is qualitative and directional aimed at uncovering if an idea resonates, makes sense, and solves real problems,. In these early stages, people often say one thing and do another because intentions are easy to voice, but real behavior is shaped by context, habits, and trade-offs such as having skin in the game that may not be realized.
It’s not a pitch. You’re not trying to sell the idea, but =trying to learn how people respond to it, including confusion, resistance, or unmet needs.

What to Expect

Quick alignment (30–45 min): Define your “bullseye customer,” hypotheses, and 1–3 rough concepts
Sprint day (4–6 hrs): Interview ~5 bullseye customers, evaluate up to 3 light prototypes (wireframes, mock-ups, messaging)
Team Watch Party (1 hr): Observe together, discuss key signals live
Debrief & decision session (30–60 min): Discuss insights, themes, and align on next steps

Typical timeline: 1 week from kickoff to insight
Deliverables: Screener guide, prototypes, recorded sessions, summary of top insights, and prioritized recommendations