From Idea to Clarity in just 36 Hours: How Healthy Minds De-Risked Their New Product with Userbrain
For Michael Gordon, Director of Strategic Initiatives at Healthy Minds Innovations, launching new ideas used to feel like rolling the dice. As a nonprofit translating neuroscience into tools for well-being, the stakes were high, and user needs weren’t always clear.
“We tried launching a product during freshman matriculation, and it just didn't work,” Michael admitted. “Students were bombarded with other priorities, and we didn’t understand their needs.”
The team had built something thoughtful. But it missed the mark. Not because the idea was bad, but because they didn’t fully understand how or when it would actually land with users.
Without reliable feedback, every new idea felt like a gamble. Would students engage? Would they even notice? And if not—why?
What they needed wasn’t more inspiration. It was validation. Fast, affordable, and real.
From Hypothesis to Answer in 36 Hours
That’s when a fellow designer pointed Michael to Userbrain, a platform for remote, unmoderated user testing with real people and fast results. It was exactly the kind of tool his team needed to test smarter, not harder.
They had a new idea on the table: a text-message-based well-being tool for college students. Instead of building the full product and hoping it worked, they put the concept to the test.
He didn’t need long planning cycles or a polished product. Just a mockup, a clear question—and the right users.
With Userbrain, the team:
- Built a Figma mockup of a landing page
- Targeted college students using screening questions
- Ran tests with 6 participants
- Got results back in under two hours
The outcome? Clarity.
“In 36 hours and for less than $200, we had a clear ‘go/no-go’ answer,” said Michael. “Userbrain made it simple to recruit real users and get straight to the insights.”
Five out of six students said they’d sign up. And even better—they didn’t just answer yes or no. They told the team why, what they expected, and how the experience could be improved.
More Confidence: Why User Testing Is Now Non-Negotiable
That one test reshaped how Healthy Minds approached product development.
User testing wasn’t a nice-to-have. It became essential. Because in less time than it took to plan a team meeting, they’d moved from assumptions to answers—and avoided a costly wrong turn
Here’s how it changed their approach:
- Speed: They moved from weeks of uncertainty to actionable feedback in hours.
- Cost Savings: For under $200, they tested a whole concept—and avoided the risk of building something students didn’t want.
- Sharper Focus: With feedback from real students, they learned what actually mattered: from preferred formats to tone of communication.
“If you’re not de-risking early, you’re wasting time and money,” Michael emphasized.
Today, user testing is baked into their process. It’s not just about fixing mistakes. It’s about designing smarter from the very beginning.
Fast Feedback Isn’t Optional—It’s Essential
For Michael, Userbrain wasn’t just a way to get feedback—it changed how his team thinks about launching anything new. The ability to test early, with real users, saved time, money, and stress—and brought clarity when it mattered most.
“Userbrain facilitates fast feedback in a way that’s simple, easy, and quick. It walked me through the whole process—and the AI Insights at the end were incredibly helpful. Userbrain gave us a ton of confidence in the product direction we were taking."
