Validation
Validation means testing a business or product assumption with real users before building gets expensive. Behavior counts, not opinion: Do users get through the prototype? Do they understand the offer? Would they pay? A validation that stops an idea is not a failure — it prevents building the wrong product, which costs a multiple.
Validation starts with making assumptions explicit: “Trade businesses want to handle their scheduling digitally” is an assumption, not a fact. The next step is a test that could refute the assumption — prototype tests with tools like Maze, structured interviews, a landing page with a real price tag. A test that can only confirm is not a test.
The typical mistakes: asking friends and acquaintances (they lie out of politeness), asking leading questions (“Wouldn't you find this useful?”) — and the most expensive one: building first, validating afterwards. If you test the finished product, you can only correct details, not the direction.
At decivo, validation is its own module: the UX Validation Loop at €1,350 per sprint, with real users and Maze testing instead of gut feeling. You get the result honestly — even if it reads “don't build it.” That is exactly what this step is for.