Five Keys to Successful Online Concept Testing
Online concept testing shares many similarities with face-to-face testing– from the way they’re recruited to the type of concepts shown to participants. Going online also boasts many advantages over face-to-face: You can test more concepts before worrying about burnout, the format works well with iterative concept development and you can test multiple groups simultaneously, not to mention the fact that it’s usually cheaper and faster.
But online concept testing isn’t foolproof. We’ve helped hundreds of clients successfully execute online concept testing projects using QualMeeting, our webcam focus group software, and QualBoard, our bulletin board focus group software. As a result, we’ve learned a lot about what can make or break an online concept testing project. Here are our 5 keys to success:
1. Have concepts ready: Ideally, you’ll have your concepts ready a few days in advance. That will give you plenty of time to convert the concepts to web friendly files (jpgs or gifs work best, even for narrative stimuli) and perform a pre-test so you can see what the participants will see. Realistically, though, concepts will come in at the last minute. If you feel rushed, consider delaying the project until the concepts are ready–just communicate the delay with your participants in advance. In our experience, participation doesn’t drop off when the project is postponed.
2. Create concepts that clearly deliver the message: Of course concepts aren’t going to be as clean as the finished product, but that doesn’t mean they can be sloppy. If your concepts have typos or if they look thrown together, participants will notice–and put the same amount of effort into their feedback to you.
3. Set firm timetable for rework: Online concept testing works great with iterative concept development. Participants can provide feedback on day 1, and you can provide a new concept based on that feedback on day 2–but only if your client and creative understand the deadlines. A firm timetable is important so that you have the right people on hand for reworking.
4. Carefully weigh the downsides of bias with the “creative friction” of groups: Your project can be blind and unbiased–with the use of a bulletin board focus group like QualBoard, you can mask other participants’ responses. Or it can be very open and interactive by using a webcam focus group like QualMeeting. Weigh the pros and cons of each, like you would with any qualitative research project.
5. Consider burnout: You can test more concepts online than face-to-face–but not many more. Keep burnout at bay by limiting your concepts to five or fewer each day. If you have more concepts, it’s better to test across smaller groups than one large one.
