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Best Practice Basics: Idea Selection and Formatting
Best Practice Basics: Idea Selection and Formatting

Choose and format your ideas thoughtfully to get the best results in Upsiide.

Cameron Gavin avatar
Written by Cameron Gavin
Updated over a week ago

In this article you will learn how to:

Product ideas, package designs, messaging elements, ads, promotions and offers can all be tested in Upsiide. Keep these best practices in mind when testing ideas.

Selecting a group of ideas to test in an Idea Screen

Test a multitude of ideas and employ “blue sky” thinking

  • Include a minimum of 10 and a maximum of 30-40 ideas in a single test – as a general rule, consumers can read and review fewer complex ideas, or a larger number of simpler ideas, without risk of fatigue and declining attention

  • Test broadly – consider including wacky, unexpected, or bold ideas – even if they are unlikely to come to fruition, the results may yield valuable category insight

A variety of items can be tested in Upsiide

Keep ideas unique and comparable

  • Consumers will be comparing items, so ensure they are discernibly unique (e.g., avoid testing iterations of a package design with subtle design nuances that are hard to tell apart)

  • Any pair of ideas in an Idea Screen should be appropriate to trade off against each other (e.g., items should be in the same category and/or be designed to meet the same need)

Formatting your ideas

Consider how to best present your ideas

  • You can test images, GIFs, text, or a combination of these – images are not required but can be a good way to get across complex or novel ideas quickly. GIFs are well suited to durable goods that require a 360-degree view (for example: a cooler that has a unique closure)

  • When selecting how your ideas will be presented, review both the Primary, and Commitment views

  • Remember to preview the idea swiping exercise to confirm that the ideas are readable, clear, and mobile-friendly (in primary and tradeoff scenarios)

A combination of text and GIFs provide a clear sense of product specs

Ensure information is equal and similarly presented across ideas

Look to provide consistency across ideas when it comes to the:

  • Quality of visuals

  • Amount of information provided

  • Font size, font type and layout

  • Image size and type

  • Language style

Ideas should be easy to read and comprehend

  • Avoid industry jargon like “shelf stable” or “10-count pack”

  • Avoid large blocks of text and use bulleted lists and varied text formats and sizes to draw the reader’s eye to important information

  • Make it easy to tell differences between ideas (i.e., do not include phrases or details that are common to all ideas)

  • Ensure the ideas are mobile-friendly and all elements being tested are legible on mobile

Formatting can help guide the reader’s eye to critical concept elements

Other considerations:

  • If all ideas are net new to the market, consider also including available current brand or competitive items to act as benchmarks – this will provide a “real world” anchor to contextualize test results

  • Consider including brand and pricing, but only if those details are relevant to the ideas being tested

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