A/B Testing
Split test versions of the same design to test which performs better
Willingness to Pay
Investigate purchase decisions for a specific offer and price
Choose a test for the buyer and the offer
Explore Validation Patterns for practical ways to investigate commitment, price and the evidence behind your next business decision.
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Classified Posting
Explain and offer your future service through a classified ad
Collect Pre-orders
Allow users to place an order for an item which has not yet been released
Conjoint Analysis
Statistically estimate consumers' psychological trade-offs through surveys
Contract
Make customers sign to use and pay for your future product
Crowdfunding
Fundraise for product development or production
Dry Wallet
Simulate a 'pay now' experience
High Hurdle
Make the user experience more difficult to use to gauge keen interest
One Night Stand
Probe demand with a temporary working solution
Physical Before Digital
Sell a physical version before creating its digital equivalent
Provincial
Run a test on a very small sample before launching world-wide
Sales Pitch
Present the sales pitch of your product to a potential customer
Sell the Future
Sell your future feature before implementing it
Competitive Analysis
Identify market opportunities and threats
Customer Discovery Program
Recruit reference customers as discovery partners
Letter of Intent
Ask prospects to sign a non-binding contract to pay
Referral Program
Evaluate customer willingness to refer friends
Sales Force Feedback
Gauge market demand through your sales team
Important for this playbook
Willingness to pay is the maximum amount a customer would pay for a particular offer under particular conditions. Testing it means investigating purchase decisions, not only asking whether an idea sounds attractive.
Choose a method above that fits the buyer, offer and decision. A purchase at one price provides evidence of accepting that offer; it does not reveal the buyer’s exact maximum price or establish profitable, recurring demand.
Choose a willingness-to-pay method
| Method | Useful for | Important limit |
|---|---|---|
| Interviews about previous purchases and approval processes | Understanding alternatives, budgets and who decides | Reported behavior does not settle acceptance of your new offer |
| Pricing surveys and Conjoint Analysis | Exploring price responses and trade-offs | Stated choices depend on the sample, wording and modeled alternatives |
| A transparent paid Concierge pilot | Observing payment for a defined service | Manual effort and personal attention may affect the result |
| Pre-orders | Commitment to a clearly described future offer | Delivery terms, refunds and cancellations matter |
| A suitable controlled price experiment | Comparing outcomes under different offers | Needs sound design, sufficient data and review of fairness and customer obligations |
Qualtrics describes how conjoint analysis estimates trade-offs. Such estimates can inform a pricing decision, but should not be reported as completed purchases. Likewise, revenue from an offer does not directly reveal its profit after costs.
Make the offer interpretable
Specify the customer group, buyer and budget holder, what is included, the price and billing period, and what happens after purchase. Record the recruiting channel, eligibility rules, incentives, delivery obligations and any help provided.
In a business purchase, user enthusiasm and budget approval may come from different people. In a subscription, paying for the first month and choosing to renew are different observations. A nonbinding letter of intent is also different from a payment or enforceable purchase commitment.
Choose the decision criterion before presenting the offer. There is no universal conversion threshold that makes a price correct. If comparing prices, plan how you will distinguish price effects from changes in audience, timing, message or service scope.
Willingness-to-pay example: a paid stock-report pilot
This example and its numbers are hypothetical. In the Product Experimentation example, a team offers independent shops a clearly described one-month stock-report pilot for EUR 49. Four of 20 invited eligible owners pay.
That supports the narrow observation that four owners accepted this offer in these conditions. It does not show that EUR 49 is their maximum price, that the other 16 would never pay, or that the same result applies to a broader market. Investigate objections rather than assuming every nonpurchase is a price objection.
The same fictional pilot costs EUR 60 per shop to deliver during the month. Payment is therefore not enough to establish viable economics. Reducing scope, changing delivery or testing another price are options to investigate, not conclusions that automatically follow from the result.
Evaluate purchases, not just the first payment screen
Track eligible offers, paid starts, cancellations, refunds, delivery cost, actual use and repeat purchases or renewals where relevant. Keep incentives and unusual support visible in the record. Avoid combining a click, a promise to buy and a completed purchase into one count of customers.
Review the evidence against the planned decision and record its limits. A payment can support a bounded next test; it is not permanent certification of market fit, retention or profitability. The Experiment Sheet can hold the offer, measure and decision rule.
If the need is unclear, return to problem validation. Use product validation for the experience and market validation for reachable demand. The Validation Patterns overview and Product Experimentation guide connect the method choices.
Choose a test for the buyer and the offer
Explore Validation Patterns for practical ways to investigate commitment, price and the evidence behind your next business decision.
$129 · Printed deck + digital edition
Explore Validation Patterns