The YouTube Method

Definition:

Through the “magic of movies” you can make products that don’t yet exist come to life and see how people react to them: Are they intrigued? Interested? Will they sign up to learn more or, better yet, commit to buying?

Example:

Google Glass was first introduced to the world via a YouTube video that showed not what the actual glasses looked like, but what the world would look like through the glasses. People who found the vision (pun intended) of Google Glass compelling had an opportunity to signup and pay $1,500 to receive an “Explorer Toolkit.” This way, before producing a single consumer-ready Glass, Google was able to gauge the Initial Level of Interest (ILI) and gain other valuable feedback.

Resources:

Rapidly: helps you work out which ideas you should invest in, by tracking your experiments and using data to tell you what will work.