The Concept Phase of a project's timeline presents a first opportunity for a client and their developer to discuss the details of a new project. During a review, specific design requirements begin to form, as the nature and purpose of the product or service, the size and demographics of its market, and its feature sets are identified. Also, trends and limiting factors such as alternatives or competitive products which indirectly influence the proposed design are carefully considered.

While detailed specifications and budgets are left for the Research and Feasibility Phases, time and cost estimates are gauged, based on assumptions for what form the product or service offerings might take. These initial estimates become useful references for ongoing discussions and the determination of feasibility.

An unbounded "blue sky" list of features is brainstormed, resulting in a priority of desired features for the product's first development cycle. How the product might be manufactured, packaged, and distributed, through retail outlets or as digital media over the Internet, are discussed. Since some core features may be harder to implement than others, an experienced developer who is involved early on should be able to guide their client cost-effectively, as he may recommend that some pre-design research be performed, followed by a feasibility study.