Concept Validation: Definition, Benefits, Examples, and How to Validate Product Ideas

What is concept validation?

Concept validation, also known as concept testing, is the process of evaluating product ideas with your target audience before investing in development. It tells you whether your idea resonates, which features or claims are most compelling, and how your concept compares to existing alternatives.

Put simply: concept validation helps you avoid wasting time and resources on ideas that won’t succeed in market.

Why Concept Validation is Important in Product Development

Every great innovation starts with an idea. But not every idea deserves to make it to launch. Concept validation ensures that only the strongest, most relevant ideas move forward.

Here’s why it matters:

1. You’ll minimize risk

Validating your concepts helps to reduce the risk of investing time and resources into ideas that may not resonate with your target audience.

2. You’ll save money

Concept validation will save you money and make you more money because you’re minimizing risk and optimizing for success when the concept comes to life in-market.

3. You’ll develop proof points

Persuading team members and key stakeholders of the potential of your product innovation becomes easier when your concept validation metrics quantify that exact potential.

4. Competitive Advantage

By validating your concepts, you can identify unique selling points and differentiate your offerings from competitors in the market.

4. You’ll build confidence

Concept validation will get rid of the guesswork and give you the confidence to choose ideas with a better product-market fit. 

Read more: 7 Reasons to Do Concept Testing in Marketing Research

Success Story: How McDonald’s Found Its Winning Chicken Innovation

McDonald’s is famous for staples like the Big Mac and McNuggets, but as consumer demand for chicken surged, the brand needed to define its place in the QSR chicken market. The challenge was clear: identify a chicken menu item that could succeed globally without cannibalizing existing offerings.

To solve this, McDonald’s partnered with Dig Insights and used our innovation testing platform, Upsiide, to run a concept test. Together, we tested more than 50 current and potential menu items, evaluating performance, appeal, and incremental growth potential.

The research revealed valuable insights:

• Some formats, like grilled or bone-in chicken, didn’t align with McDonald’s brand.
• Others, like the Chicken Big Mac, generated strong enthusiasm but only among a niche group.
• The breakthrough came with the McCrispy. Testing showed it had broad appeal, was clearly positioned as a premium chicken sandwich, and could drive growth without undermining core menu items.

McDonald’s moved forward with confidence, launching the McCrispy as a global permanent innovation. Today, it is already a multi-billion-dollar menu item, proving that rigorous concept testing can uncover the ideas that transform categories.

We had the opportunity to partner [with Dig Insights] on global menu research that supported a unified, global perspective on our chicken portfolio of products. They were critical partners in helping us craft a compelling story, grounded in data and human truths, to support our recommendations to our Senior Leaders.

Dana Grinshpan

Customer Experience Insights Manager, McDonald’s

How to Validate Product Concepts (Step-by-Step Guide)

Step 1. Gather and organize your ideas

Start by listing everything you might test—functionality, appearance, positioning, flavors, or packaging. Group them into clusters so they can be compared in surveys.

Step 2. Plan your concept validation survey

Decide what you want to learn. Ask yourself:

1. What are the main objectives of your concept testing study?
   • Think of what you want to achieve by the end of the concept validation process. It’s good to have a few hypotheses about your consumer personas so the study could show you if you were right. 
   • Hot tip: testing your concept ideas against existing products or offers in the market is a great way to benchmark the actual potential of your new idea or ideas. 
2. How should you test the ideas?
   • Depending on your objectives, the format in which you validate your concepts will vary. For instance, if you have some visual product mock-ups, include these images in your test and see how people react.
   • Hot tip: You might want to do a usage & attitudes questionnaire to learn more about your target market prior to launching a concept validation survey. This will allow you to tailor the survey more specifically to the demographics and psychographics that are most relevant – which makes the process of writing a concept much easier.

Step 3. Design and launch your study

With platforms like Upsiide (build by Dig Insights), you can quickly program surveys, set up demographic targets, and get results in hours. Visual mockups, product claims, and concept descriptions can all be tested.

Step 4. Analyze and prioritize concepts

Don’t just look at the top-performing idea. Dig into demographic filters to see if certain concepts perform better with niche groups.

Have a look at the goals you made in Step 1 and come up with criteria that you will use to prioritize your ideas efficiently. Some things you could look at are:

• Revenue potential
• Consumers’ purchase intent
• Market appeal
• Competitive potential

All of these things will help you determine which ideas are worth pursuing and which ones are not.

Step 5. Iterate and repeat

Concept validation isn’t a one-time task. Consumer preferences shift, so the strongest innovators validate continuously—refining, relaunching, and testing again.

Example Concept Validation Survey Questions

Here are some questions you might include in your concept validation study:

• How do you feel about this product?
• How likely are you to buy it?
• Is the product clear and easy to understand?
• Is it believable?
• What do you like or dislike most?
• Who do you think this product is for?

FAQs on Concept Validation

Q: What is the difference between concept validation and concept testing?
A: They’re often used interchangeably. Concept validation usually refers to confirming the viability of an idea, while concept testing can cover a broader range of evaluations, including ads, features, and messaging.

Q: How do you run a concept validation survey?
A: Define objectives, gather concepts, build a questionnaire with clear metrics (e.g. purchase intent, clarity, believability), test with your target audience, and analyze results to prioritize ideas.

Q: When should you use concept validation?
A: During early product development, before investing heavily in R&D, design, or manufacturing.

Q: What are the best tools for concept validation?
A: Platforms like Upsiide, built by Dig Insights, streamline testing with survey templates, benchmarking tools, and visual reporting, making it possible to run studies quickly and iteratively.

Final Thoughts: Why Concept Validation Matters

Innovation doesn’t have to be a guessing game. Concept validation brings clarity, confidence, and data to the product development process, helping brands get to market faster, with stronger concepts that truly resonate with consumers.