Concept Optimization

Step 6: Perform Concept Optimization (CORE)—Testing & Refining Concepts with Customers

The Seven-Step Strategic Planning Process

Phase 1: Where to Play

Phase 2: How to Win

Step 4: Do the Deep Dive
Step 5: Run Focused Ideation
Step 6: Perform Concept Optimization (CORE) (You are here)
Step 7: Finalize, Launch, and Learn

Why This Step Comes Sixth

Ideas don’t survive contact with customers unchanged. The best organizations test concepts with target customers, gather feedback, and iterate.

This step answers: Which concepts will actually resonate with customers, and how should we refine them?

Your internal team can debate concepts forever. You’ll never know which one will actually work until customers respond to it. And they rarely respond the way you expect.

CORE (Concept Optimization Research Evaluation) is an iterative testing methodology. You develop rough concepts, test them with customers, gather feedback, refine, and test again. Each cycle gets you closer to a concept that customers actually want.

What Decisions Does This Step Inform?

Concept optimization informs:

Final concept selection — Which concepts will we move forward with?
Concept refinement — What should we keep? What should we change?
Value proposition finalization — Which benefits matter most? How should we position?
Messaging and positioning — What language resonates with customers?
Product specifications — What features are essential? What’s nice-to-have?
Go-to-market strategy — How should we launch? Which channels matter most?

Without customer testing, you’re guessing. You might launch a concept customers don’t want. You might emphasize benefits they don’t care about. You might use positioning language that falls flat.

With customer testing, you reduce risk. You refine based on real feedback. You move forward knowing customers actually want what you’re building.

The Process Within This Step

Concept optimization happens through iterative testing with customers.

1. Develop Concept Stimuli

Create materials customers can react to:

Written concepts — 100-200 word descriptions of the core idea.

What is it?
For whom?
What problem does it solve?
What benefits does it deliver?

Visual prototypes — How would customers see/experience it?

Renderings (visual mockups)
Wireframes (interaction flows)
Storyboards (user journey)
Video concepts (60-second concepts showing how it works)
Models or demonstrations (physical or interactive prototypes)

The goal is clarity, not perfection. Concepts don’t need to be finished. A rough rendering is enough. A simple prototype is enough. Customers will fill in the details mentally. Your job is to communicate the core idea clearly.

2. Test for Appeal, Distinctiveness, and Credibility

Show concepts to target customers (typically 8-10 per round) and probe:

Appeal: Will they want this?

What excites you about this?
What concerns you?
Would you be interested in this?
How often would you use it?
What would you be willing to pay?

Distinctiveness: Is it different from what’s available?

How is this different from what you use today?
Is this better or just different?
What do competitors offer that’s similar?
What do they offer that’s different?

Credibility: Do they believe it will work?

Do you think this would actually deliver on what it promises?
What would have to be true for this to work?
What barriers might prevent this from working?
Would you trust this company to deliver it?

Compare concepts: Show multiple concepts to the same customer. Let them compare. Their comparisons reveal what matters most.

3. Iterate in Real Time

Between research sessions, debrief and refine:

Hold daily debriefs — After each session (or every 2-3 sessions), gather the team:

What surprised us?
What did customers respond to?
What fell flat?
What should we change?

Modify concepts based on feedback — Don’t wait for all research to finish.

Some customers will say “I love the core idea but change X”
Change it for the next customer
See if the change improves response

Add or remove concepts — As patterns emerge:

If a concept consistently gets negative feedback, consider dropping it
If two concepts are similar and one gets better feedback, focus on that one
As you learn, you might develop new concept variations to test

Fewer concepts in later sessions — Start with 12-15 concepts. By session 8-10, you might have narrowed to 3-5 you’re testing deeply.

This iterative approach is faster and cheaper than testing 12 concepts with 100 people each. You learn as you go and adjust.

4. Refine to Optimization

Once you’ve identified winning concepts:

Develop them fully — Take the winning concept and develop it more completely.

Write more detailed descriptions
Develop more refined visuals
Work out feature specifications
Clarify value proposition

Optional: Test quantitatively — If you want statistical confidence, test the winning concept with a larger sample (500-1,000 respondents).

Measure appeal on a scale
Measure purchase intent
Confirm segment differences
Test messaging variations

Prepare for launch planning — You now have customer-validated concepts ready for Step 7.

How This Connects to Your Other Strategic Work

Concept optimization feeds into everything downstream:

Brand Research — How to test brand concepts with customers and gather feedback.

Brand Positioning — How testing informs positioning strategy and messaging.

Value Proposition Framework — How customer feedback refines value propositions.

Go-to-Market Strategy — How concept testing informs go-to-market decisions.

Customer Insights & Analytics — The research methodologies that fuel concept testing.

Concept optimization is where strategy becomes customer-validated. It’s where you move from “we think this is good” to “customers confirmed this is good.”

The Principle in Action: A Real Example

Here’s how iterative concept testing leads to breakthrough positioning.

A healthcare company had conducted ideation around their strategic opportunity area and developed four initial concepts for a new service offering:

“Clinical Excellence Platform” — Emphasizing technology and clinical decision support
“Care Coordination Hub” — Emphasizing integration across providers
“Patient Outcomes Optimizer” — Emphasizing measurable patient results
“Clinician Workflow Assistant” — Emphasizing ease of use and time savings

They tested these with 8 hospital administrators.

Initial findings: All four concepts got modest interest (5-6 out of 10 appeal). None stood out.

They debriefed. The administrators kept saying: “I don’t care about the technology. I care about whether this actually improves outcomes and whether my team will adopt it.”

Iteration 1: They refined the concepts to emphasize outcomes and adoption:

Dropped “Clinical Excellence Platform” (too tech-focused)
Heavily revised “Care Coordination Hub” to emphasize outcomes
Renamed “Patient Outcomes Optimizer” to “Proven Outcomes for Your Patients”
Kept “Clinician Workflow Assistant” but added outcomes data

They tested the refined concepts with the next group of customers.

New findings: “Proven Outcomes for Your Patients” jumped to 8-9 out of 10 appeal. The other three stayed at 5-6. Clear winner emerging.

Iteration 2: They tested deeper into the winning concept:

What specific outcomes matter most?
How should we price this?
What support would you need to implement?
What would make you confident this would work in your hospital?

With each iteration, the winning concept got clearer. The positioning got sharper. The value proposition got more specific.

By the end of concept optimization, they had a concept that customers loved and could articulate exactly why. Positioning was clear. Value proposition was specific to what customers actually cared about.

Without iterative testing, they would have launched with one of the four original concepts—and most likely not the one customers actually wanted.

Common Mistakes

Testing finished concepts — If your concepts are too finished and polished, people hesitate to give honest feedback. They think “this must be what you want.” Use rough prototypes. Sketch renderings. Rough concepts get more honest feedback.

Testing too many concepts — If you test 12 concepts deeply, you’ve spent a lot of time and money. Test concepts broadly first (12-15 with 8-10 people), then narrow to 2-3 winners and test those deeply.

Not probing deeply — Surface-level feedback isn’t useful. “I like it” doesn’t help. “I like it because…” matters. “I like it but if you change X, I’d love it” matters. Ask follow-up questions. Understand why.

Defending concepts instead of learning from feedback — The moment a customer says “I don’t like this,” some people start defending it: “Well, you don’t understand. Here’s why it’s good.” That shuts down feedback. Listen. Learn. Adjust.

Waiting for all research to be done before iterating — If you wait to test concept 1 with all 12 people before modifying it, you lose the chance to iterate. Test and modify as you go. You’ll learn faster.

Not narrowing — If every concept gets positive feedback, you haven’t tested enough. You should see clear winners and clear losers. If everything gets equal feedback, either your concepts aren’t differentiated enough or you’re not testing rigorously enough.