Validate Concepts with Stakeholders

Concept validation involves sharing ideas and wireframes with stakeholders to gather feedback and ensure alignment. This step confirms that designs meet both user and business needs.

Why it's Important

Builds early stakeholder buy-in.
Identifies potential issues before further development.
Aligns all teams on key priorities.

How to Implement

Present Concepts: Use sketches or wireframes to explain ideas clearly.
Gather Feedback: Encourage open discussions about feasibility and alignment.
Refine Ideas: Incorporate feedback to improve concepts.
Prioritize Solutions: Use frameworks like MoSCoW (Must-have, Should-have, Could-have, Won’t-have) to prioritize.
Validate with Users: Test concepts with end-users for additional feedback.

Available Workshops

Stakeholder Presentation Workshops: Practice presenting concepts clearly and concisely.
Feedback Roundtables: Facilitate open discussions with stakeholders.
Feasibility Check Sessions: Collaborate with developers to assess technical viability.
User Testing Sprints: Test key ideas with small groups of users.
Prioritization Workshops: Use tools like MoSCoW or impact-effort grids to refine ideas.

Deliverables

Refined sketches or wireframes.
Feedback documentation.
Prioritized feature list.

How to Measure

Level of stakeholder alignment and enthusiasm.
Quality of feedback and improvements made.
Validation of key concepts with end-users.

Real-World Examples

Spotify

Spotify Discover Weekly: Early wireframe concepts validated the need for personalized weekly playlists.

Slack

Slack’s Early Interface: Iterative stakeholder feedback refined its intuitive navigation.

Apple

iPhone Home Screen: Concepts for app layout were validated with internal and external feedback before launch.

Get It Right

Clearly communicate the rationale behind concepts.
Actively listen to feedback without defensiveness.
Prioritize changes based on impact.
Keep users involved in the validation process.
Iterate frequently based on new input.

Don't Make These Mistakes

Ignoring stakeholder or user feedback.
Overloading validation sessions with too many ideas.
Failing to document and track feedback.
Misinterpreting feedback due to lack of context.
Assuming stakeholder approval means user satisfaction.