Where I work, we vet ideas a little differently. We very quickly build a lot of small rough functioning concept test models and run them through our user group to get immediate design/learning feedback. This does a few things: 1) it keeps our design cycle time low and provides immediate learning about our concepts (either we change or pursue) 2) it keeps the momentum going so we don’t get married to our designs and force an idea/feature that’s unnecessary just because we spent time on a longer design cycle 3) we can pivot or persevere on an idea and build a strong case to our financial/marketing/executive team from our concept evaluation learning experience.
This kind of works better for a startup model where cash is low market is a bit ambiguous and feedback is critical. But it works for us because we’re a smaller design group in a larger company and each of us can critically and objectively value our concepts quickly. May not work for all but it does help reinforce spending the cash in potential pipelines.