How to screen 20–40 ideas in a single survey — without burning out respondents
A simple, efficient way to test early-stage ideas at scale
Most teams have more ideas than time or budget to test them.
And when you’re early in development, you don't need full diagnostics — you just need a fast, confident read on which ideas deserve more investment.
The challenge is this:
Traditional concept tests fall over when you try to include 20, 30 or even 40 early-stage ideas. Respondents get tired. Data quality drops. And the whole exercise becomes expensive and unwieldy.
But with the right design, you can screen a large number of ideas in a single guided survey — and still get clear, honest, decision-grade signals.
Here’s how.
Key takeaways
You can reliably screen 20–40 ideas in one survey using guided, respondent-friendly structure.
The trick is keeping people focused, not fatigued — pacing is everything.
Early-stage screening is about direction, not polished diagnostics.
You learn more when people write in their own natural voice, not by scoring endless grids.
A well-designed screen saves time, money and internal debate by quickly narrowing options.
1. Start with the right expectation: you’re looking for direction, not detail
Early-stage idea screening is not the time for full concept testing.
At this point, you want to:
spot early winners
eliminate weak directions
identify patterns in consumer language
quickly decide where deeper research is worth doing
Trying to capture deep diagnostics at this stage slows the process down and burns budget unnecessarily.
The goal is prioritisation, not perfection.
2. Keep respondents fresh by structuring ideas into small, digestible sets
The biggest mistake teams make is showing all ideas in one long stream.
A better approach is grouping ideas into:
sets of 3–5 ideas
short writing moments, not long essays
guided reflections that help respondents think clearly
This structure maintains momentum and avoids the “speeding” behaviour you see in typical concept screens.
People stay thoughtful because the rhythm feels natural.
3. Use guided questions — not rating grids — to get clearer signals
Ratings look tidy, but they don’t always reveal meaningful differences, especially at early stages.
Instead, guided open-ended prompts deliver stronger insight:
“Which of these feels strongest — and why?”
“Which feels weakest — and what makes it less appealing?”
“What themes or ideas jump out?”
You get language you can actually use — not just numbers you need to interpret.
Respondents explain in their own words what matters, which gives you:
stronger discrimination
more honest reactions
clearer strategic direction
4. Rotate idea sets to avoid order bias
When people see many ideas, the first and last can be unfairly advantaged.
A simple rotation solves this:
Randomise the order of sets
Randomise the order of ideas within each set
Ensure each idea gets exposed evenly
This keeps the read fair and the dataset clean.
5. Look for patterns, not perfection
When you’re screening 20–40 ideas, you’re not looking for a single “winner”.
You’re looking for:
clusters of ideas that consistently resonate
themes respondents naturally talk about
languages or cues that appear across multiple ideas
ideas that polarise (which can be valuable)
ideas that fall flat no matter what
This is where guided qualitative answers shine — they give you the why, not just the what.
You emerge with a clear shortlist and clarity on what deserves deeper development.
6. Summarise everything into a short, decision-ready output
A good early-stage screening output is:
concise
pattern-led
commercially relevant
actionable within 30 minutes
Stakeholders don’t want a 70-slide deck — they want confidence.
The right survey structure gives you exactly that.
Want help designing an early-stage screen?
You don’t need a detailed brief — a short conversation is usually enough to understand what you’re exploring and how we can help. Just get in touch.
Or email directly: richard[at]mrqual.com
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