As entrepreneurs, we (or most of us) strive to find ways of putting our innovative business ideas to the test before it is too late. Especially at this time of the year, most of us are asking ourselves: Is my business idea going to be the ‘next big thing’ in 2008? While there is no such thing as a “balm of Gilead” in this circle of mêlée, we can all use some good pointers on how to investigate a new product idea. Let’s face it, who longs to waste time, money and resources on something that is bound to fail!

In my unflinching quest for answers, I came across what seems like a very discerning blog post from Evan Williams, titled “Will it fly? How to Evaluate a New Product Idea”. Evan, in his blog post, attempts to define a structured way of evaluating new product ideas in the web business startup space, based on his experience as co-founder of Twitter, Odeo and Blogger.

Key Takeaways:

• Tractability: How difficult will it be to launch a worthwhile version 1.0?

• Obviousness: Is it clear why people should use it?

“Everything is obvious once it’s successful. Big wins come when you can spot something before it’s obvious to everyone else.”

• Deepness: How much value can you ultimately deliver?

• Wideness: How many people may ultimately use it?

• Discoverability: How will people learn about your product?

“Organic web search? Plain old-fashioned word-of-mouth/blog/press? distribution deals? partnerships? pay-per-click ads?”

• Monetizability: How hard will it be to extract the money?

• Personally Compelling: Do you (‘the developer’) really want it to exist in the world? In other words, is this project dear to your heart?

Privacy and Security issues are always key items to consider. I won’t count out Fred Oliveira’s addition to the list:

• Trustworthiness: Can people trust your solution/application?

I will also like to weigh in on the subject by adding:

• Market Stability (or call it “Trendiness”): Is the target market growing or on its way downhill?

If you seek to operate in a market which is close to being tacked away, perhaps you might want to identify a specific feature in your product which holds the keys to keeping the market alive or if you are lucky, perhaps, you might identify the right magic wand to spin the wheels in the opposite direction. Timing can be very critical. If the market is on its way up, or even at a plateau there is always an opportunity to ride the wave to the top.

• Sustainability: For how long can you keep all eyes on your product, till the big boys (Google, Yahoo, etc.) step in and create a competing product that dwarfs your product? Is your product or service superior to the competition? Would it be easy for competitors to duplicate your product or service?

It will be interesting to learn other opinions surrounding this subject. I encourage you to read the original post for details on the points itemized above.