What to verify during a trial
Three decisions written down before day one.
AI Tools Hub Editorial · published · updated
Demos versus trials
| Demo | Trial | |
|---|---|---|
| Feature existence | Answered | — |
| Accuracy on your data | Not answered | Measure it |
| Actual time taken | Not answered | Time it |
| Fit with existing process | Not answered | Try it |
| Whether the team uses it | Not answered | Watch |
Decide three things first
- One workflow to test — several makes all of them shallow
- Which real data to use — production, not samples
- A numeric acceptance threshold, e.g. fifteen minutes per item down to five
Use your own data
Every product performs well on generic material. Differences appear on your proper nouns, your jargon and your document formats. Where confidentiality blocks that, substitute the names and keep the structure — still far more informative than sample data.
Time it properly
Do three items the old way and three the new way and record both, including review and correction. Fast generation with slow correction nets out to zero.
Put it in the hands of the users
The commonest failure is a decision-maker approving something the team never adopts. Three days of real use is enough to tell.
Record the decision
Write down why, for yes or no. When the tool resurfaces in six months you only need to check whether the blocking reason has been fixed.
FAQ
What if the trial is short?
Narrow to one workflow. Seven days with real data and a stopwatch is enough; browsing broadly is not.