Testing demand before implementation

It is sometimes difficult to get commitment to implementing an idea.  Maybe there’s some doubt from certain stakeholders, even after you’ve presented evidence for an idea.  Maybe there’s reluctance to invest budget & time in the idea, particularly if it’s going to require a decent chunk of both.

Sometimes, user testing on 6 participants doesn’t provide enough confidence that an idea will work.

However… sometimes, we can implement ideas without actually fully implementing them – just to get a feel for demand for it.

Example: Live Chat

We’ve tested demand for Live Chat recently for a client.  3 of 6 participants in a usability testing session, mentioned that Live Chat would be a preferred method of contact.  But this was just 3.  From a sample size of just 6.  Even if this was 10 from 20, it would still be too small a sample to be fully confident in implementation.  Especially as Live Chat requires investment in a) a subscription and b) investment in chat handlers (or training for existing support teams).

So, we validated it first.  To assess demand from the 1000s of daily users to the site…