Summary
Learn about the concept testing methodology and various approaches available, when to use them, the types of decisions they can support, and the process to conduct good concept testing with mixed methodologies in mind.
Key Insights
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Concept testing is crucial before product development to validate market need but is underutilized in UX research.
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Three types of concept testing address different questions: what a product does, why users should care, and how to communicate benefits.
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Monadic, sequential, and trade-off testing methods offer varying cost, complexity, and discrimination power trade-offs.
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Trade-off techniques like MaxDiff and conjoint analysis provide stronger discrimination and work well across cultures.
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Combining qualitative research before and after quantitative concept testing improves hypothesis formulation and insights interpretation.
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Including pricing in concept tests impacts user responses and business decisions significantly.
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Brand presence in tests alters multiple metrics, requiring strategic decisions on branded vs. blind studies.
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Online scrappy tests like A/B experiments capture behavior but lack insight into motivations and messaging impact.
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Concept testing helps bridge the gap between UX discovery and business outcomes, strengthening business cases for UX research.
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Expertise is needed to design and analyze complex trade-off tests; partnering with specialized researchers can maximize value.
Notable Quotes
"Concept testing is about testing ideas before development to confirm there is a real need for the product."
"UX researchers tend to focus on the experience after features are approved, missing the chance to validate earlier."
"People care not about product features but what these features do for them."
"Showing several concepts side by side and forcing choices yields better discrimination than rating scales."
"Qualitative research is excellent for discovering needs but poor at quantifying their scale or priority."
"If you have limited resources, start with a simple monadic test using low-cost survey tools."
"MaxDiff is great for prioritizing feature backlogs, especially when you have long lists to evaluate."
"Testing price effects requires careful design because user behavior can be irrational when prices are shown or hidden."
"No research method is perfect; use a mix and triangulate results depending on whether you want to predict or explain."
"When you start concept testing, be clear about what parts of the concept describe the what, the why, and the how."
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