--- title: Innovation assumptions description: "## Why this feature is needed Every innovation contains assumptions. Teams make assumptions about customers, problems, solutions, feasibility, timing, adoption, and impact. The real [Risk](https://www.acceptmission.com/ar/encyclopedia/risk/) is not that assumptions exist. The real [Risk](https://www.acceptmission.com/ar/encyclopedia/risk/) is treating them as facts before they…" url: "https://www.acceptmission.com/ar/knowledge/innovation-assumptions/" updated: "2026-09-01" category: Innovation Studio / Innovation Intelligence (Work) --- # Innovation assumptions ## Why this feature is needed Every innovation contains assumptions. Teams make assumptions about customers, problems, solutions, feasibility, timing, adoption, and impact. The real [Risk](https://www.acceptmission.com/ar/encyclopedia/risk/) is not that assumptions exist. The real [Risk](https://www.acceptmission.com/ar/encyclopedia/risk/) is treating them as facts before they have been validated. Innovation assumptions help teams make assumptions visible, prioritize the most important ones, and stay focused on what still needs to be proven. This supports better research, stronger decisions, and a more disciplined innovation process. ## What this feature is Innovation assumptions in [Accept Mission](https://www.acceptmission.com/ar/encyclopedia/accept-mission/) are part of the broader innovation intelligence feature and help teams capture, prioritize, and manage the assumptions connected to an idea or project. This feature can be used for both ideas and projects. It allows teams to create a structured list of assumptions, reorder them, and mark the most important one as the primary [Assumption](https://www.acceptmission.com/ar/encyclopedia/assumption/). This helps the team maintain focus on the uncertainty that matters most. Innovation assumptions work together with other innovation intelligence tools such as experiments, problems, risks, decisions, and canvases. This makes it easier to turn an [Assumption](https://www.acceptmission.com/ar/encyclopedia/assumption/) into a structured validation process instead of leaving it as an untested belief. ## Access level [Power User](https://www.acceptmission.com/ar/encyclopedia/power-user/) You need access to the relevant idea or project in the Innovation Studio to work with innovation assumptions. ## Navigation path Navigation path: Innovation Studio → Ideas → Open funnel → Open idea → Work → Assumptions ## How to use this feature Innovation assumptions are used inside ideas and projects to make hidden assumptions explicit and manageable. Teams can create a list of all assumptions connected to the innovation, prioritize them, and then work through them step by step. This helps the team avoid losing focus and makes it easier to decide which assumptions should be tested first through interviews, desk research, experiments, or other validation methods. ### Step by step instructions 1. Open **Innovation Studio**. 2. Choose whether you want to work inside an **idea** or a **project**. 3. Open the relevant idea or project. 4. Go to the **Work** tab. 5. Open the **Assumptions** tab. 6. Add a new [Assumption](https://www.acceptmission.com/ar/encyclopedia/assumption/). 7. Enter the [Assumption](https://www.acceptmission.com/ar/encyclopedia/assumption/) title. 8. Add more detail if needed. 9. Save the [Assumption](https://www.acceptmission.com/ar/encyclopedia/assumption/). 10. Repeat this for all relevant assumptions connected to the innovation. 11. Reorder the list if needed. 12. Select which [Assumption](https://www.acceptmission.com/ar/encyclopedia/assumption/) should be marked as the **primary [Assumption](https://www.acceptmission.com/ar/encyclopedia/assumption/)**. 13. Use research and validation activities to confirm or invalidate the listed assumptions over time. ![image](http://www.acceptmission.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/image-49.png) ## What you can do with innovation assumptions Within the Assumptions tab, teams can: - **Create a list of all relevant assumptions** connected to the innovation - **Register each [Assumption](https://www.acceptmission.com/ar/encyclopedia/assumption/) clearly** - **Reorder the list** - **Mark the most important [Assumption](https://www.acceptmission.com/ar/encyclopedia/assumption/)** as the primary one - **Keep focus on the assumptions** that are most critical for progress This gives the team a practical overview of what still needs to be proven. ## Primary [Assumption](https://www.acceptmission.com/ar/encyclopedia/assumption/) Not every [Assumption](https://www.acceptmission.com/ar/encyclopedia/assumption/) has the same importance. Some assumptions are minor, while others are central to whether the innovation will work at all. That is why the platform allows you to define a **primary [Assumption](https://www.acceptmission.com/ar/encyclopedia/assumption/)**. This helps teams avoid losing focus during the process and keeps attention on what must be validated first. ![image](http://www.acceptmission.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/image-50.png) ## From [Assumption](https://www.acceptmission.com/ar/encyclopedia/assumption/) to fact or invalidation The goal of this feature is not only to list assumptions, but to work through them step by step. Once assumptions are registered and prioritized, the team can move into research and validation. This can include methods such as: - **Interviews** - **Desk research** - **Observation** - **Experiments** - **Testing** - **Validation sessions** From there, each [Assumption](https://www.acceptmission.com/ar/encyclopedia/assumption/) can move in one of two directions. It can become more strongly supported and factual, or it can be invalidated and should no longer be treated as true. Both outcomes are useful because they reduce uncertainty. ## How this helps teams Innovation assumptions help teams stay sharp on what still needs to be proven. This is especially useful for: - **Preventing false certainty** - **Making hidden assumptions explicit** - **Focusing validation efforts on the highest-[Risk](https://www.acceptmission.com/ar/encyclopedia/risk/) areas** - **Keeping the innovation process disciplined** - **Avoiding solutions built on untested beliefs** ## Connecting assumptions to other items Innovation assumptions work well together with the other parts of innovation intelligence. An [Assumption](https://www.acceptmission.com/ar/encyclopedia/assumption/) can be connected to related problems, risks, experiments, decisions, or canvases. This creates a connected structure where teams can see not only what they believe, but also how they are testing it and what decisions are influenced by the result. ![image](http://www.acceptmission.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/image-51.png) image ## Innovation intelligence feature page Innovation assumptions are one of the tools within the broader [Innovation intelligence](http://www.acceptmission.com/support/innovation-intelligence/) feature. This broader feature helps teams capture structure, insights, decisions, and learning directly inside ideas and projects. ## Configuration and adjustments Innovation assumptions are available in both ideas and projects, which means the same structured validation approach can be used during exploration and during execution. To work with this feature in ideas, follow this path: **Navigation path: Innovation Studio → Ideas → Open funnel → Open idea → Work → Assumptions** To work with this feature in projects, follow this path: **Navigation path: Innovation Studio → Projects → Open project → Work → Assumptions** To keep this feature useful, teams should capture assumptions regularly, prioritize the most critical one, and then actively work to validate or invalidate them. This improves focus and helps the innovation move forward based on evidence instead of belief. ## Practical example – Innovationlands Innovationlands is exploring a new guest experience concept for improving queue communication in one of its parks. During discovery, the team realizes it has several important assumptions, such as whether guests will actively use mobile updates, whether staff can support the new process, and whether the [Solution](https://www.acceptmission.com/ar/encyclopedia/solution/) will actually reduce frustration. Inside the idea, the team opens the **Assumptions** tab in the **Work** area and records all of these assumptions. After discussion, they decide that the most important one is whether guests will actually use the new queue communication feature. They mark this as the **primary [Assumption](https://www.acceptmission.com/ar/encyclopedia/assumption/)**. The team then plans interviews and prototype testing to validate that [Assumption](https://www.acceptmission.com/ar/encyclopedia/assumption/). As the results come in, they can confirm or invalidate what they believed at the start. This helps Innovationlands keep the innovation focused on what really needs to be proven before moving further into execution.