Explore opportunities and solve challenging problems
Doing something new or changing something for the better is a complex and risky task. Often, it’s easier to do nothing. But whilst you’re standing still, your customers and competitors are changing.
We help companies explore opportunities, develop concepts and define valuable solutions. Our concept development service combines business strategy, design thinking and user centred design to solve challenging problems.
Sprints facilitated
Concepts developed
Concepts launched
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What is concept development & testing?
Our user centred concept development and testing process helps you define solutions to the problems your customers are trying to solve. We do this by conducting research, defining requirements and translating ideas into prototypes. Then we test and evaluate whether your proposed product or service meets the needs of your prospects, and your business.
As and when issues or problems are discovered, the prototype will be improved and tested again, until it is deemed fit-for-launch. This ensures risk is managed effectively. As you’re able to rapidly test ideas and validate assumptions prior to a full-blown launch.
Whether you’re creating something new or trying to solve a specific design challenge. Our concept development and testing services will help you:
- Generate ideas and validate assumptions
- Identify how people think, feel and interact with prototype(s)
- Determine how well the concept meets specific customer segments needs
- Measure how well the concept performs vis-a-vis competing solutions
- Learn how the concept could be improved
- Discover how best to price a product or service
- Validate how best to describe your product or service
- Highlight barriers to achieving the concept’s potential
- Capture unmet customer needs or unrecognised requirements.
Key benefits
What do I get?
Concept development and testing projects result in a broad range of outputs and deliverables being produced. Upon the completion of the process these will be provided in a digital format. These may include:
- Design challenge or problem statements
- Research plans & reports
- Primary & secondary research log
- User experience principles
- Service blueprints
- Business model or product canvases
- Personas & user stories
- Customer journey maps
- Paper prototypes
- Digital prototypes
- Physical prototypes
- Test plans and validation reports
- Technical documentation
- User experience backlog.
We run two types of concept development and testing processes. Irrespective of the way in which you choose to engage us, the underlying process and core activities will remain the same.
Sprints
This rapid process is completed in collaboration with your in-house team within 5 days.
Fees: start from £15,000 (exc. VAT).
In-house commitment: 5 consecutive days.
Phased projects
This staggered process is completed in collaboration with your in-house team over a 5 – 10 week period.
Fees: start from £20,000 (exc. VAT).
In-house commitment: 5 days within 10 weeks.
What our clients think
Border Crossing UX’s support and insights were core to ensuring our digital touch points is centred on our customer’s needs.
Border Crossing UX spent a great deal of time canvassing opinion, not merely from us the client but from other stakeholders, to genuinely understand the nature of the brief. This was particularly important to us. The technical delivery was excellent but the softer, message-sharing side, was even better.
Border Crossing UX get right inside the mind-set of your clients and work with utter dedication to deliver the results your business needs.
Border Crossing UX helped us achieve and even surpass the expectations we had at the project’s outset.
Border Crossing UX’s expert guidance helped us clarify our needs and communicate these effectively to others.
From initial research through to final review their work puts the customer first and is always meticulous, well presented and followed up with ongoing care and expert advice.
Want to work with us too?
Discuss your concept development and testing requirements with a specialist.
How we do it?
We have extensive experience of running on-site and remote concept development and testing sprints. This includes designing and facilitating large scale open design and innovation processes involving more than 200 participants.
Irrespective of the desired outcomes or volume of participants our user centred design process ensures we:

Pre-sprint: Define objectives, priorities and constraints
- Kick-off workshop
- Measurements of success framework
- Project plan
- Participant requirements

Day 1. Understand the problem
Investigate the core challenge and create a shared understanding of the problem to be solved.

Day 2. Diverge
Conduct research before generating a broad range of ideas that could solve the problem.

Day 3. Converge & decide
Critique and refine ideas prior to deciding what should be prototyped and how best to test it.

Day 4. Prototype
Transform concepts into as realistic a prototype as possible within the constraints available.

Day 5. Validate
Present, test and refine prototypes based on key stakeholder feedback.

Post-sprint: Document, handover & support
- Face-to-face presentation(s)
- Concept development & testing reports
- Final prototype
- Further research/validation roadmap
- On-going support
Our concept development and testing services helps you rapidly explore problems, generate ideas and validate assumptions.
Want to develop and test new concepts?
Let’s discuss the outcomes you need to achieve.
Specialist services
Expert Reviews
UX Audits
UX Strategy
Collaborative Design
User Research
Participant Recruitment
Conversion Rate Optimisation
UX Support
UX-led Development
Hire our facilities
Use our purpose-built collaborative design and research studio.