Speed and Accessibility

Cost Efficiency

DIY Flexibility for Teams

Great for Elimination Rounds

Early Signals for Later Decisions

1. Keep It Short and Focused

2. Use a Consistent Evaluation Framework

• Overall appeal (e.g. How appealing do you find this idea?)
• Purchase interest (e.g. Likelihood to buy or try)
• Believability or clarity
• Unique value

3. Don’t Show All Concepts to Everyone

4. Be Clear About the Concept

• Name or working title (if applicable)
• One-sentence overview
• Key features or benefits
• Visual (optional but helpful)

5. Include a Quick Elimination Question

6. Add Light Profiling Questions

Even the most well-designed SurveyMonkey concept testing survey can fail if your stimulus – the descriptions, visuals, or copy you're testing – is unclear or inconsistent. When respondents are confused or misinterpret what you’re asking, the results can lead you down the wrong path. That’s why writing clear, concise, and neutral concept descriptions is one of the most important steps in early idea screening.

What is a stimulus in concept testing?

In market research, a stimulus refers to the material shown to respondents for feedback. This could be a:

• Written description of a new product idea
• Concept board with visuals, features, or pricing
• Mockup or packaging prototype

When using SurveyMonkey for early idea screening, stimuli are typically short written summaries or lightweight digital visuals. Clarity and consistency are key to ensuring results reflect true consumer reactions.

Guidelines for writing effective stimulus language

Your goal is to present each idea in a structured, unbiased way. That means avoiding language that leads or overly sells, while also making sure every concept is presented in a comparable format. Here are a few best practices:

• Be concise: Keep descriptions short – ideally under 100 words – especially for mobile surveys.
• Use familiar language: Avoid industry terms or internal jargon your audience won’t understand.
• Focus on one concept at a time: Don’t combine multiple ideas or features in a single stimulus.
• Match structure across concepts: Write all concept descriptions following the same format (e.g., headline, what it is, how it works, benefit).
• Avoid marketing fluff: Aim for realism rather than ad copy. Let the idea stand on its own merit.

Example of clear vs. unclear stimulus

Unclear: “This innovative new concept will transform your mornings by bringing luxury and versatility in a sleek new form.”

Clear: “A single-serve coffee maker designed for small kitchens. It uses compostable pods and fits under most cabinets.”

In short, writing good stimulus is about helping the respondent understand the idea quickly and accurately, so their feedback reflects true interest – not confusion.

At SIVO, our On Demand Talent includes experienced concept writers and researchers who know how to craft stimulus that strikes the right balance of clarity, consistency, and neutrality. Whether you're doing DIY concept testing or need strategic input, having professionals help set the tone for better-quality results.

When you’re testing many early-stage product ideas, not every one will make the cut. That’s where a concept elimination survey becomes a smart and efficient tool. SurveyMonkey gives you the flexibility to run quick, lightweight screening waves that help you narrow from many ideas to the most viable few – fast.

How elimination phases work

Instead of aiming for deep diagnostics on each concept right away, early elimination surveys focus on filtering out lower-performing options. You can quickly test a larger set of ideas in rounds, then refine or dive deeper into the most promising ones. This is particularly useful for early-stage research tools like SurveyMonkey, where speed and iteration are critical.

Simple survey setups for elimination

Here are common formats used by researchers for elimination rounds using SurveyMonkey for idea screening:

• First-choice picks: Ask respondents to pick their top 1 or 2 favorites out of a batch of ideas.
• Concept rating scales: Use a consistent 5-point scale (e.g., “Definitely would buy” to “Definitely would not buy”) across all concepts, then eliminate low scorers.
• Interest thresholding: Set a cutoff score (e.g., 60% “would consider purchasing”) to determine which ideas move to the next phase.

Let’s say a startup wants to test 10 ideas for new snack flavors. In Round 1, the company uses a SurveyMonkey survey asking 200 consumers to rate each flavor concept. They drop the bottom 5 by average interest score. In Round 2, they retest the top 5 ideas using updated language or visuals to refine responses. This allows them to focus effort on polishing just the top-performing concepts.

Key tips for success

Here’s how to get the most from your elimination phases:

• Randomize order of concepts to reduce bias
• Keep the number of concepts manageable per survey (ideally under 10)
• Use consistent metrics for easy comparison
• Collect verbatims/comments to understand why respondents liked or disliked ideas

Using quick market research via SurveyMonkey for elimination doesn’t mean sacrificing quality. It’s about moving efficiently while still collecting valid consumer feedback. And with guidance from professional researchers, your elimination phases become even more insightful and strategically anchored.

DIY platforms like SurveyMonkey have made it easier than ever to run quick surveys and access fast feedback. But just because a survey is simple to build doesn’t mean it’s easy to get meaningful insights. That’s where expert guidance comes in – even in a DIY world.

Early idea screening often informs key innovation or go-to-market decisions. Getting the setup right – from stimulus creation to question design, sampling, and data interpretation – can make or break what comes next. And while DIY market research tools are powerful, they work best when used by experienced hands.

What experts add to DIY research

At SIVO, our On Demand Talent professionals are hand-picked researchers and strategists who specialize in making tools like SurveyMonkey work harder for clients. Here's what added expert value looks like:

• Stronger stimulus development: Clear, objective description that aligns with your research goals
• Smarter survey logic: Optimal structure for elimination rounds or follow-up questions
• Clean, unbiased question wording: Avoiding common pitfalls that bias your data
• Interpreting the “why” behind the scores: Going beyond the dashboard to uncover what truly matters
• Ensuring research stays objective-driven: Avoiding detours and staying focused on decisions that need to be made

And importantly, they help your team build long-term capabilities – not just answer one question and move on. With flexible support from SIVO’s experts, your insight team can operate more efficiently, learn faster, and take full advantage of DIY tools with confidence.

Not freelancers. Not consultants. Just experienced talent, on demand.

Unlike one-size-fits-all freelance platforms or traditional consultants, SIVO’s On Demand Talent gives you proven professionals who slot in quickly – without the weeks or months required for hiring or onboarding. Whether you need help for a short-term concept-testing initiative or support scaling a new insight practice, our experts bring the right mix of rigor and responsiveness.

So while DIY tools like SurveyMonkey offer speed and autonomy, it’s the human expertise behind the questions that makes the answers truly actionable.