Design a concept test around a decision

Name the decision and its limits

Consider a fictional indoor herb garden for home cooks without outdoor space. The team is deciding whether automatic watering belongs in a prototype. “Will this business succeed?” is too broad for a short concept questionnaire. “Which concerns should the prototype address?” is a more useful early question.

Write the action that follows each plausible result. If enthusiasm would lead to a prototype and hesitation would lead to a revised description, specify that before the study. If every possible answer would lead to the same action, reconsider whether the question deserves space.

Give alternatives equivalent information

Here are two illustrative descriptions, not tested products:

• Concept A: A countertop garden with space for three herbs, a built-in grow light and a reservoir with a visible water-level indicator. The owner adds water when the indicator is low.
• Concept B: A countertop garden with space for three herbs, a built-in grow light and a reservoir that supplies water automatically. The owner refills the reservoir when it is low.

The intended difference is watering. Do not add “effortless” or “guaranteed healthy herbs” to one description. If dimensions, cleaning or price would affect the judgment, supply that information consistently or explicitly record that it remains unspecified. This pair helps isolate a planning question; it does not establish either design’s engineering performance.

Define who can inform the decision

“Everyone who likes plants” is not a precise audience. A useful starting brief might concern adults who prepare meals at home, want fresh herbs and have limited outdoor growing space. Check whether your chosen research method can actually reach or represent those conditions.

In human research, eligibility is assessed among people. In a simulation, audience descriptions are model inputs, not verified histories of recruited participants. Do not interpret generated answers as evidence that real people used a similar garden.

Choose measures before writing ten questions

Pick one primary judgment, such as perceived usefulness, and a few diagnostic questions about concerns and features. Keep interest in learning more separate from interest in buying at a particular price. Our seven-question concept template supplies wording and response choices for a single concept.

If you need separate ratings for two concepts, each repeated question counts. Two concepts with four questions each use eight questions, before any shared comparison. A standard InstaSights study allows up to ten questions. Confirm exposure and ordering in the actual setup; this guide does not promise randomized or monadic assignment.

Clear wording and pretesting matter before fieldwork. Pew’s questionnaire guidance explains why earlier questions, response choices and wording can affect later answers.

Read the pattern rather than select a flattering score

Suppose, without assigning invented results, usefulness appears favorable but maintenance concerns remain prominent. The next action may be a cleaning and refill prototype test, not a launch. If a concept is liked but seems indistinct, decide whether distinctiveness was actually needed for this decision.

Report the exact stimulus, question, answer base and source of responses. A simulated result is exploratory output, not a measured reaction from customers. A human stated preference is still not an observed purchase. Neither should become a revenue forecast by multiplying a favorable percentage by the size of a market.

Choose the next evidence-gathering step

Match follow-up to what remains unknown: a human concept study for actual stated reactions, a prototype session for physical use, or an appropriately designed commercial test for behavior. Preserve disagreements between methods. They help identify where the initial evidence did not transfer.

Save the brief, questionnaire and decision rationale together. That record makes a later revision understandable without retroactively rewriting what the first study was meant to establish.