Idea screening: The complete guide [+Expert Tools]

Creating a breakthrough innovation isn’t easy. In addition to the common knowledge that the majority of new products tend to fail (95% in fact), for a new product to break through and become a ‘regular,’ it often also needs to replace something else or address an unmet consumer need.

As this LinkedIn user most aptly put it: Idea screening is pivotal in new product development and helps companies and brands to strategically filter concepts to focus resources effectively. That’s why using idea screening tools are a helpful solution for businesses to determine which ideas have the greatest potential.   

In this article, we’ll cover what idea screening is, how it works and share some examples of expert idea screening tools. 

Idea screening is a crucial step in developing new products where companies evaluate and filter their ideas to pinpoint the ones most likely to succeed in the market. This helps ensure that resources are focused on the best opportunities.

During this process, each idea is assessed against various criteria like feasibility, market potential, how well it aligns with the company’s goals and the expected return on investment. The aim is to weed out less promising ideas and select those worth developing further. This evaluation typically involves input from different departments, including marketing, finance, engineering and senior management.

For example, let’s say you work for a tech company that’s brainstorming new product ideas. They come up with three ideas: a smartwatch with health features, a VR headset for gamers and a smart home security system.

1. Feasibility:

   • Smartwatch: Feasible, given the company’s experience with wearables

   • VR Headset: Requires significant new R&D

   • Smart Home Security System: Some existing technology, but needs new development

2. Market potential:

   • Smartwatch: High demand in the growing health market

   • VR Headset: Expanding market but highly competitive

   • Smart Home Security System: Strong potential due to rising security concerns

3. Alignment with goals:

   • Smartwatch: Fits well with the company’s health tech goals

   • VR Headset: Less aligned, entertainment-focused

   • Smart Home Security System: Reasonable alignment

4. Estimated ROI:

   • Smartwatch: High potential ROI

   • VR Headset: Uncertain ROI due to high costs

   • Smart Home Security System: Moderate ROI, requiring marketing efforts

Because the smartwatch is more feasible, has greater market potential, aligns with company goals and has high ROI potential in this example, it makes the most sense for the company to proceed with this idea. 

That doesn’t mean that all the other two ideas should be thrown away, however. Idea screening can also help you decide which ideas still have potential but may require more resources, like the smart home security system. Let’s dive into more types of idea screening examples.

Idea screening can be used across many areas, such as marketing, advertising and product development. While the initial process will remain the same, each of these three areas can use idea screening for different types of projects.

1. Idea screening for marketing

Imagine a marketing team at a tech company brainstorming new campaign ideas to support a product launch. They generate several concepts, including a social media influencer partnership, an interactive online quiz and a series of educational webinars. The team can use idea screening to evaluate each concept based on criteria such as target audience reach, alignment with brand messaging, feasibility within the budget and potential ROI. 

After scoring each idea, the team will be able to make an informed decision on which idea to move forward with. In this instance, this could be the social media influencer partnership and the educational webinars, as these concepts have the greatest opportunity for audience engagement and brand alignment.

2. Idea Screening for advertising

Let’s say you work at a beverage company that’s planning an advertising campaign for its new energy drink. The marketing team generates several ideas for the ad and using idea screening, they evaluate each ad concept based on consumer response, potential audience reach, brand and estimated return on investment. After getting the results for each concept, the team can then select the TV commercial that yielded the best response and proceed to creative production with greater confidence. 

3. Idea screening for new product development

This is perhaps one of the most common examples of idea screening. Let’s say you work for a brand that’s looking to create new flavor options for one of their popular potato chips. 

The team screens the ideas by presenting the three flavors to consumers through survey research. This helps them to better understand which flavor their target consumer would gravitate more towards. This research not only helps to assess customer interest, but can also help to analyze competitor products and estimate development and production costs. 

After getting the results, the team is able to make a decision based on how each flavor option scores, which they can then move forward with in their production process.

Here's a step-by-step breakdown of how idea screen tests typically work:

1. Idea generation: The first step is to generate a pool of ideas. This could be done through brainstorming sessions, idea competitions, customer feedback or market research.

2. Establishing criteria: These criteria could include factors such as market demand, feasibility, alignment with organizational goals, potential for profitability and scalability.

3. Initial screening: The ideas are initially screened based on the established criteria. This could involve a quick review or scoring process to identify ideas that meet the minimum requirements for further consideration.

4. Detailed evaluation: Ideas that pass the initial screening can also undergo a more detailed evaluation. This may involve conducting market research, feasibility studies, technical assessments, or financial analyses to assess the viability and potential impact of the ideas.

💡 Zappi tip: After undergoing initial screening research, we recommend running additional research on the concepts you choose to move forward with. This will help to ensure you’re keeping your consumer in mind during the entire development process.  

5. Expert reviews: In some cases, ideas may be reviewed by a panel of experts or stakeholders who provide feedback and insights based on their expertise or experience. This can help identify strengths, weaknesses, and areas for improvement.

6. Decision making: Based on the results of the evaluation process, decisions are made regarding which ideas to pursue further and which to set aside or reject. This could involve selecting a shortlist of top ideas or choosing a single idea to move forward with.

7. Prototyping or pilot testing: Selected ideas may undergo prototyping or pilot testing to further assess their feasibility and potential for success. This could involve creating prototypes, conducting small-scale trials, or launching pilot projects to gather real-world feedback and data.

8. Iterations: Feedback from prototyping or pilot testing is used to refine and improve the ideas. This iterative process may involve making adjustments to the concept, addressing identified issues or challenges, and incorporating lessons learned from testing.

9. Final decision: A final decision is made on which ideas to pursue. This decision is based on a thorough assessment of the ideas' potential for success, alignment with organizational objectives, and feasibility of execution.

10. Monitoring and evaluation: The implemented ideas are monitored and evaluated over time to assess their performance and impact. This may involve tracking key metrics, gathering feedback from stakeholders and making adjustments as needed to optimize outcomes.

By following these steps, idea screening tests can help organizations identify promising concepts, minimize risks and maximize the chances of successful innovation.

1. Zappi ScreenIt

Zappi’s idea screening tool allows you to run platform-based research that helps you uncover which ideas are worth investing in, quickly. 

At Zappi, we believe that great innovation comes from a process of continuous experimentation and iteration. So even if you only have initial sketches or product names, our system helps you turn the great ideas into great products.

“Zappi has become our one-stop shop for most quantitative innovation testing and screening at Mars. They are frictionless, cost effective and FAST. With Zappi, we have gained  the ability to iterate on ideas instead of using a traditional validation approach. This has improved how we learn throughout the entire research process and improved our success rate in-market.”

- Jessica Southard, Senior Manager, Consumer and Market Insights, Mars

Our platform can help you answer questions like: How can I narrow down a long list of ideas and find the winners? Or, which elements of the ideas do consumers like or dislike? All aimed to optimize your idea to its fullest potential. 

Zappi is also trusted by major brands such as McDonald’s, who partnered with Zappi to successfully identify the two new McFlurry flavors that would resonate well with consumers as well as meet company goals.

“For a new shake flavor, I analyze the drivers of interest & purchase in all the shakes we’ve tested before. I can see how consumers play those concepts back, & what they want us to do differently. There’s a lot I can do easily with the data set.”

- Matt Cahill, Senior Director, Consumer Insights Activation at McDonald's

🔍 Request pricing on Zappi solutions

2. Brandwatch

Brandwatch is an ideal tool for marketing teams that would like to discover what their audience is looking for and how they currently react to their brand. 

They help with idea screening by allowing users to monitor online conversations across various platforms, providing real-time feedback. Its analytics tools offer insights into sentiment, trends and audience demographics, helping businesses assess the reception of their ideas and refine them accordingly. Additionally, Brandwatch enables tracking of key performance indicators, empowering data-driven decision-making and optimization of innovation processes.

3. Voxpopme

Voxpopme is a leading provider of video feedback solutions, offering online focus groups. With Voxpopme, brands can conduct immersive video-based focus groups effortlessly, engaging participants in real-time discussions to gather deep consumer insights, which can be very helpful when screening new product or advertising ideas. 

Their online focus group tool streamlines idea screening by facilitating real-time discussions to gather feedback from diverse participants. This allows brands to quickly gauge the appeal and potential of new ideas, identify strengths and weaknesses and make informed decisions about which ideas to pursue.

At its core, ideas screening is all about carefully sifting through a bunch of ideas to find the gems worth pursuing. 

By conducting idea screening research, organizations are better positioned to pinpoint the ideas most likely to hit the mark. With effective idea screening, organizations can navigate the ever-changing seas of the market with confidence, knowing they're investing in ideas that have real potential to make waves.