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A concept test puts something in front of participants and captures what they make of it. Instead of asking someone to imagine a feature, you show them the mockup, the ad, or the pricing page, and the moderator probes on the reaction in their own words.

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When to use concept testing

Use a concept test when you want someone’s reaction to something — not a record of how they used it. That’s the line between this and a prototype test. If the question is “what do people make of this?”, it’s a concept test. If it’s “where do people get stuck?”, you want a prototype test, which captures their clicks and interactions as they work through it.

Visual designs

Compare two homepage mockups, validate a new icon set, or get reactions to a redesigned dashboard before you build it.

Feature concepts

Show wireframes or annotated screens of a feature you’re considering and learn whether participants understand the value.

Marketing copy

Test headlines, value propositions, or ad creative to find which framing resonates.

Packaging and pricing

Get unprompted reactions to packaging, a pricing page, or a plan comparison before it goes live.
When you create a study with the Concept Test type, the interview is configured to display images and links inline, and the moderator is briefed to show each concept at the right moment in the conversation.

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What you can attach

Each Concept Test study supports two kinds of assets: You can attach as many of each as you need. Every asset has a label the moderator uses to refer to it during the conversation, so labels should describe what the participant is about to see.

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Attaching images

1

Open the customize step

From the study creation flow, navigate to the Customize step. If your study uses the Concept Test template, you’ll see an image upload area.
2

Upload an image

Drag a file into the upload area or click to browse. Supported formats are PNG, JPEG, GIF, and WebP.
3

Give it a label

Enter a short, descriptive label such as Homepage v2 or Pricing page — control. The moderator uses this label when introducing the image to the participant.
4

Repeat for additional images

Add as many concept images as your study needs. Each upload appends to the list — your previous images stay in place.
Labels must be unique within a study. Uploading a new image with a label that already exists replaces the existing image (case-insensitive match). If you want to keep both, use distinct labels like Homepage A and Homepage B.

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Removing an image

Click the delete control next to any uploaded image to remove it from the study. The image is deleted from storage and the moderator will no longer reference it.
Use concept links when what you want a reaction to lives on a page rather than in an image — a draft landing page, a demo video, a hosted mockup.
If you want to watch someone work through something rather than react to it, use a prototype test instead. That study type captures their clicks and interactions and gives you a replay; a concept test captures the conversation and what was on screen.
1

Add a link

In the customize step, find the Concept links section and click to add a new link.
2

Enter the URL

Paste the full URL — a draft page, a hosted mockup, or a video.
3

Label it

Give the link a clear label such as Pricing page — variant B or Launch video. As with images, labels are unique per study and a duplicate label replaces the existing entry.
Make sure any link you attach is reachable by the participants you’re inviting. Anything behind a login needs credentials you’ve given them, and anything with view permissions set needs those opened to anyone with the link.

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How participants experience concepts

The moderator decides when to surface each concept based on how the conversation is going. Two things happen on the participant’s side:
  • Images appear inline as soon as the moderator chooses to show them. The participant can refer back to the image as they answer follow-ups.
  • Links are presented through a banner prompting the participant to open the page, or to share their screen so the moderator can guide them through it. Once it’s open, the conversation continues around what they’re looking at.
Concept tests always capture the screen alongside the conversation, so you can see what the participant was looking at when they said what they said. Whether you also see their face depends on the interview format you chose. A concept test in voice format records audio and screen without ever asking for the camera. Choose video format if the participant’s expression is part of what you’re testing.
Participants don’t need to do anything special to reach a concept — the moderator introduces each one at the right point in the conversation and points them to it.

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Setting concepts up well

A few things about how the moderator handles concepts, which shape how you should prepare them:

Label them for the moderator

The moderator reads your labels aloud and uses them to decide what to show next. Pricing page — variant B works; image2 doesn’t.

Order matters

Concepts are generally shown in the order you upload them. Put the most important one first so it gets the most attention in a short session.

Three to five is plenty

More than that fragments the conversation and cuts the time spent on each one.

Keep links light

A single page or a short video works well. If it takes thirty clicks to get through, it belongs in a prototype test.
Two things worth building into the plan itself: ask for first impressions before context, so you capture an unprompted reaction before explaining what the thing is; and if you’re testing variants, attach both and have the moderator ask participants to compare them directly rather than rating each in isolation.

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Frequently asked questions

No. Images render inside the interview surface, and links open in a new tab in whatever browser the participant is already using.
Yes. Uploading an image or link with the same label replaces the existing entry, so you can swap a concept mid-study without recreating the assistant. Bear in mind that interviews already completed will still reflect the version of the concept that was live at that time.
Yes. The transcript records what the participant said about each concept, and the recording captures their on-screen reactions. The study report and Intelligence Hub treat that material like any other interview content.

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Next steps

Test your conversation

Run a dry-run interview to confirm each concept appears as expected.

Set up the interviewer

Choose the interviewer voice and mode for your concept test.