Brochure Test experiment

Tomáš Veselý - podpořen AI
1 day ago
4 min read

We're building a comprehensive knowledge library about product development as part of our mission. The library is for anyone looking to make better decisions — primarily decisions about product development. Whether you're an inventor, a product manager, or a Chief Product Officer, using the right research methods and experiments increases your chances of building the right things for the right audience. Today we'll introduce the Brochure validation method.

When to Use This Experiment?

A brochure works well for physical products when you need to validate the value proposition and get immediate feedback directly from customers. The brochure is presented in person, and you track the on-the-spot reaction and QR-code scans.

The value proposition is defined but hasn't been validated with real customers.
It's a physical product that customers can assess better when they see it presented tangibly.
Immediate face-to-face feedback is valuable — reactions, questions, and objections all surface right there.
It's too early to build the product — sometimes even a landing page; the goal is to test the message and the value proposition.

Basic Experiment Principles

The principle is to create a believable brochure presenting the value proposition and put it in front of potential customers before the product itself exists. The brochure also serves as a prototype for the messaging and branding.

Define the value proposition. Write a clear value-proposition statement: who the product is for, what problem it solves, and what makes it unique. This statement is what the experiment tests, and it forms the core of the entire brochure.
Create the brochure. Write believable copy and visuals that clearly explain what problem the product solves and what makes it unique. Less text, bold visuals, and a clear call to action (a QR code, a unique URL, or a phone number).
Choose where to distribute it. Pick places where your target group actually spends time — trade shows, events, cafés, stores, or even door to door.
Deliver and observe. Hand out the brochure and watch the immediate reactions. Ideally, follow up with a short conversation that reveals what people understand and what caught their interest.
Collect data. Track the conversion rate (how many people take the desired step — scan the QR code, fill out the form, request a demo), the number of unprompted reach-outs, and qualitative feedback. The decision signal: if significantly more people than in a plain interview take a costly step — leave their contact details, request a demo, or show a willingness to pay — the offer resonates and it's time to move on to a landing page or an MVP. You need to separate the reaction to the brochure from the reaction to the product itself.
Identify the risks. The method's evidential strength is low, and samples tend to be small and unrepresentative. It's hard to tell whether feedback is aimed at the brochure or at the product. People tend to be positive out of politeness, so there's a risk of overestimating the results. The conclusions are directional rather than conclusive.

Real-World Experiment Example

Link to research: Discovery and Validation of Business Models: How B2B Startups can use Business Experiments – TIM Review

A concrete example comes from an academic study in TIM Review (2021) of the startup WaterFox, which was developing an irrigation-management app for farmers. The team wanted to test two things: whether customers were willing to pay €9 for the app, and whether they could be acquired by mail.

So the team prepared a printed brochure in two price versions — the control group received a brochure priced at €3, the test group one priced at €9 — and mailed it to 34 farmers whose contact details they had gathered from various websites and platforms. Printing and mailing cost €47.73. The result was clear-cut: the brochure produced not a single response.

Only the follow-up validation interviews revealed why. Of the 34 people contacted, the team reached 31, and five agreed to an interview. It turned out that farmers have little time and weren't willing to spend it reading a brochure — so the mail channel didn't pan out. The interviews, on the other hand, yielded valuable insights into the software and hardware they used and their willingness to pay. For under €50, this cheap experiment debunked a faulty assumption in time and steered the business model in a different direction.

What Can Be Tested With This Experiment?

The method's main strength is cheaply and quickly checking whether the value proposition resonates before the product even exists. In particular, you can test:

Appeal of the value proposition: whether the message grabs attention on its own; the signal is how many people take the brochure or scan the QR code.
Clarity of the message and branding: whether people understand what problem the product solves; the signal is whether they can restate the benefit in their own words.
Choice of target segment: which group or location responds most strongly; the signal is the difference in conversion between locations.
Strength of the call to action: whether a specific call to action (a demo, a sign-up, a QR code) generates real responses, not just agreeable nodding.