Skip to main content

Product solutions

Ideation and Concept Testing

The best concepts are not born fully formed. They are shaped by the people who will use them.

Ideation and concept testing with incling brings your target audience into the development process early, enabling collaborative, iterative refinement that ensures ideas are grounded in genuine consumer need from day one.

The approach

How it works in practice

Bring your target audience into the development process early, with collaborative, iterative refinement that keeps ideas grounded in genuine consumer need from day one.

01

Unmet need exploration

Use early-stage exploratory tasks to identify genuine gaps and frustrations that your concept could address, before you have committed to a direction.

02

Collaborative ideation sessions

Use incling's ideas board, collage, and discussion tools to generate and build on ideas alongside your target audience.

03

Iterative concept refinement

Share evolving concepts with participants across multiple rounds, gathering feedback at each stage and refining based on real reactions.

04

Concept comparison and ranking

Present multiple concept directions and use our concept evaluation tool for detailed feedback, then our survey tool to identify the strongest contenders.

Why incling

Why incling beats traditional research

Single-shot concept tests in artificial settings tell you how people react. Iterative community testing lets them help shape the idea.

Traditional research incling Online Communities
Single-shot concept tests lack depth Iterative rounds build richer insight
Artificial lab environments distort reactions Natural community setting feels authentic
Consumers react but do not co-create Collaborative tools enable genuine co-creation
Limited ability to test across geographies Multi-market testing in a single study

Outcomes

What you will uncover

The insight that turns a promising idea into a confident launch decision.

Concept appeal

Which ideas resonate, why they work, and what emotional and functional needs they address.

Barriers and objections

The concerns, doubts, and deal-breakers that must be addressed before a concept can succeed.

Optimisation opportunities

The specific elements, such as naming, messaging, features, and design, that can be refined to strengthen the concept.

Category differentiation

How your concept compares to existing products in the market and the elements that create genuine distinctiveness.

Success stories

La Mer: evaluating luxury skincare innovation

La Mer constantly explores new territory, from serums to scalp treatments. A four-day US community of loyalists and competitor users showed which concept and branding routes resonated and what needed refining, giving the brand confidence to shape its product roadmap.

Read the full story

Benefit Cosmetics: redefining foundation needs

Ahead of a major foundation launch, Benefit needed to know what makes someone switch, and how much skincare-style benefits matter. A three-day study across the UK and US confirmed the appeal of good-for-your-skin claims and pinpointed the concept elements with the most marketing potential.

Read the full story

Ready to see incling in action?

Talk to the team about your concept and see how iterative testing with incling could work for your project.