Idea Validation & Pivot Story
The journey from gamified testing to blockchain-verified credentials.
The Origin Story
I came up with the idea for PsicoStacks based on my own experience working at a human resources company.
I remembered how repetitive and time-consuming psychometric testing was — for both candidates and recruiters. That's where the idea started: what if I could make these tests more engaging, maybe even gamified?
The First Iteration
So I began developing the concept and refining it with ChatGPT.
Initial Concept: Gamified Testing
- • Make psychometric tests more engaging
- • Add game mechanics to reduce testing fatigue
- • Improve candidate experience through entertainment
It felt exciting — a fresh take on psychometric testing — but when I shared it with Claude, it pushed me to look deeper.
The Critical Feedback
Claude pointed out several red flags in the model:
- 🚩 Scalability issues: Building and maintaining gamified tests at scale
- 🚩 User retention problems: Novelty wears off quickly
- 🚩 Core problem unsolved: Gamification didn't address the underlying inefficiency
That's when I decided to pivot.
The Pivot
I went back to ChatGPT and reframed the idea — shifting the focus from entertainment to data ownership and privacy.
New Direction: Credential Ownership
Instead of building another test platform, I decided to build a candidate-owned credential wallet powered by Stacks blockchain — where people can store their encrypted psychometric results once and reuse them securely across job applications.
❌ Old Approach
- • Gamified testing platform
- • Focus on engagement
- • Yet another test to take
- • Company-owned data
✅ New Approach
- • Credential verification platform
- • Focus on data ownership
- • Test once, share unlimited
- • User-owned blockchain data
What PsicoStacks Is Today
Now, PsicoStacks isn't about making tests more fun — it's about giving people control over their psychological data and saving recruiters time and trust in the process.
The Core Value Proposition
For Candidates:
Own your psychometric data. Test once, share unlimited times. No more repeating the same tests.
For Employers:
Instant verification of authentic credentials. Save time and money on testing and verification.
For Everyone:
Blockchain-secured, privacy-first, candidate-controlled data ecosystem.
Full Validation Process
The complete idea validation conversation with Claude — including all the critical questions, concerns, and pivots — is documented and publicly available.
Read Full Validation ConversationThis conversation shows the entire thought process, from initial concept to final pivot decision.
Key Lessons Learned
1. Validate the Problem, Not the Solution
The real problem wasn't that tests were boring — it was that candidates had to repeat them for every job, and employers struggled with verification.
2. Be Willing to Pivot Early
Better to pivot during ideation than after building the wrong product. AI feedback accelerated this process.
3. Blockchain Fits When There's a Trust Gap
Blockchain makes sense for credentials because trust and verification are core to the problem. It's not blockchain for blockchain's sake.
4. Privacy + Ownership = Differentiation
In an era of data breaches and privacy concerns, giving users true ownership of their psychometric data is a competitive advantage.