Article · ~8 min read

Wizard of Oz vs Concierge Testing: Behind the Curtain or Behind the Desk?

Amanda White · Mind the Product Free Beginner

This is the cleanest short explanation of the two manual-first MVPs and, more importantly, how they differ, which is where most founders get confused. Concierge means you are the visible front end doing the work by hand, Wizard of Oz means you have a real interface but a human quietly runs the back end. It walks a single concrete product example through both, so you can see which one actually answers the question you are trying to answer.

• Concierge MVP: no interface yet, you personally take inputs and deliver the result by hand, and the user knows it is manual.
• Wizard of Oz MVP: a real front end that users think is automated, while humans do the work behind it, useful for testing whether people will use the interface itself.
• Pick based on what you need to learn: concierge tests whether the service is wanted, Wizard of Oz tests whether the product experience works before you build the automation.