The best validation happens before you write a single line of code.
Five ways to avoid expensive mistakes and career-limiting launches.
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I used to think the gap between idea and execution was where magic happened. Turns out, it's where careers get made or broken.
Originally, I covered an experience in Recognizing When It’s Time To Pivot but I think we need to talk about the bigger picture in 2025.
TLDR - We had an idea for a landing page that would collect personally identifiable information from potential customers. Instead of jumping straight into development, I decided to test our assumptions first. The landing page testing revealed that our design choices were undermining user trust - something we never would have anticipated, but completely changed our approach.
That decision saved my reputation and taught me that the most valuable feedback comes when you can still change direction without having to explain to your boss why you need three more months to fix something.
Since then, I've developed five specific ways to protect yourself in that crucial window between idea and commitment. These aren't just product techniques - they're career insurance policies that help you make decisions you can defend with evidence rather than optimism.
1. Create a one-page prototype and test it with five people.
I used to think prototyping meant elaborate clickable mockups. Now I start with single-page wireframes that capture the core user interaction. For our landing page, I created a basic version in Figma and ran it through UserTesting.com with five potential users.
The insight about trustworthiness came from watching users hesitate before entering their information. One person literally said "this feels like a scam site" about a design we thought looked modern and clean. That fifteen-minute session saved us months of poor conversion rates.
Set up these tests before you write a single line of production code. Five users will reveal 85% of your major usability issues, and you can run the entire process in a week. The cost is minimal compared to rebuilding something that doesn't work.
2. Map your riskiest assumptions and test them directly.
Every product idea contains hidden assumptions about user behavior, market demand, and technical feasibility. I learned to write these down explicitly and rank them by potential impact if they're wrong.
Here's how I approach this:
List your assumptions: What do you believe about user behavior, market demand, or technical feasibility?
Rank by risk: Which assumption, if wrong, would most damage your project's success?
Design quick tests: Create simple experiments to validate your highest-risk assumptions first
Set clear success criteria: Define what evidence would prove your assumption right or wrong
For a recent project, our biggest assumption was that users would understand a particular workflow without explanation. Instead of hoping we were right, we created a simple task-based test: "Show me how you would accomplish X using this interface."
Three out of five users failed the task completely. That failure led us to redesign the entire flow before any engineering work began.
3. Run a "fake door" test for new features.
Before building any significant new functionality, I create a version that looks real but doesn't actually work yet. We add the feature to our interface or marketing site and measure how many people try to use it.
This approach saved us from building an entire reporting dashboard that seemed obviously valuable to our team. We created a "coming soon" version and tracked click-through rates. The engagement was so low that we realized users didn't actually want more data - they wanted better insights from existing data.
Fake door tests let you validate demand before investing development resources. If people don't click on the fake version, they probably won't use the real one either.
4. Interview users about their current workarounds.
I used to ask users what features they wanted. Now I ask them what they do when our product doesn't meet their needs. The difference is that people are terrible at predicting what they'll want, but they're excellent at describing their current frustrations.
Questions that reveal the most:
"When you can't do X in our product, what do you do instead?"
"What's the most frustrating part of your current process?"
"Show me how you typically accomplish this task."
"What tools do you use alongside ours, and why?"
These interviews reveal the gaps between what you think your product does and what users actually need. One feature we discovered was that users were exporting our data to Excel for analysis, which we had assumed they were doing within our interface. That insight led us to build better analytical tools instead of more data collection features.
5. Test your value proposition with real prospects.
Before launching anything significant, I test whether people understand and care about what we're offering. This isn't about getting feature feedback - it's about validating that the core problem you're solving actually matters to your target audience.
I create simple landing pages that explain the value proposition and measure conversion to email signup or demo requests. If people won't give you their email address for the promise of your solution, they probably won't use the actual product either.
This approach helps you refine your messaging before you invest in building the wrong thing. It also gives you baseline metrics to improve against once you do launch.
Building validation into your professional practice.
These tactics aren't just about building better products - they're about protecting your professional reputation. When you can point to user evidence that informed your choices, stakeholder conversations shift from defending your assumptions to presenting your findings.
Your career depends on your ability to make good product decisions consistently. A week of early testing can save months of explaining why something didn't work.
What's the riskiest assumption in your current project that might be worth testing before you start building?
Until next week,
Mike @ Product Party
Want to connect? Send me a message on LinkedIn, Bluesky, Threads, or Instagram.
This is a great list, Mike. Of all the methods and tools, these are the ones to validate an idea quickly and with comparatively low effort. Great collection.