Landing Page
The simplest and cheapest way to test interest is with a landing page. It takes 1-3 days to set up and costs €0-50. You can use tools like Carrd, Webflow or Wix - no code needed.
Your landing page should contain a headline that explains what you solve in one sentence. Describe the problem your target group has. Explain how your solution works. And most importantly - have a clear call-to-action where visitors can show interest by leaving their email.
What should be on your landing page
Start with a headline that captures the core value. For example “Book local babysitters in 2 minutes”. Then describe the problem like “Finding trustworthy babysitters is stressful and time-consuming”. Follow with your solution “We connect you with verified, reviewed babysitters in your neighborhood”. End with a strong call-to-action. Use phrases like “Join the waitlist”, “Reserve your spot”, or “Get early access” with an email signup form.
Tools you can use
Carrd is the simplest option, perfect for one page and costs €0-19 per year. Webflow is more flexible with no code needed and costs €0-14 per month. Wix and Squarespace are drag-and-drop options at €10-20 per month. All of these let you create professional-looking pages without technical skills.
How to test it
Once your page is ready, drive traffic to it. Run Facebook Ads with a €20-50 budget. Share it on Instagram, LinkedIn, and forums where your target audience hangs out. Measure your conversion rate which is email signups divided by visitors. If 100 visitors give you 2-5 email signups you have OK interest. 10+ signups shows strong interest. 0-1 signups means you need to iterate.
Dropbox is a classic example. In 2007 they created a simple video and a landing page for email signup. They got 75,000 signups before they even built the product. This validated demand before investing in development.
Clickable Prototype
The next level is creating a visual representation of your product that looks real but doesn’t work technically. It takes 3-7 days and costs €0. Use Figma which is free and perfect for this.
Don’t build all features. Focus on the 3-5 most important functions. Make the prototype clickable so users can go through the flow. If you’re building a booking app you only need homepage, search results, one profile page, the booking step and confirmation.
How to create it
Start by sketching the main screens on paper. Then move to Figma and create the key screens with realistic content and design. Connect the screens with clickable hotspots so users can navigate through the flow. Focus on the core user journey, not edge cases or admin features.
How to test it
Book 5-8 video calls with potential customers via Zoom or teams. Share your screen and let them click through the prototype. Say nothing while they test. Observe carefully where they get stuck, what they don’t understand, and what questions they ask. Don’t ask “what do you think” because they’ll always say “good”. Instead ask “what would you do next” or “what’s missing here”.
Pay attention to their first reactions. Do they understand the purpose immediately? Can they complete the main task without help? Where do they hesitate? These observations are more valuable than their verbal feedback. People often say something is clear but their actions show confusion.
No-Code MVP
If you want a working version you can build it without writing code. It takes 1-4 weeks and costs €0-100 per month. Lovable.dev uses AI to build entire web apps. Bubble lets you build advanced web apps. Softr builds on Airtable or Google Sheets. Glide creates mobile apps from spreadsheets.
When to use no-code
Use no-code when you want to test quickly, when you don’t have a technical co-founder yet, when you’re unsure about exactly which features are needed, or when your budget is under €5,000. Code yourself or hire a developer when you’ve found product-market fit and need to scale, when you need very complex functionality, or when performance is critical.
The advantage of no-code is speed and cost. You can have a working product in weeks instead of months. You can iterate quickly based on user feedback. And you can validate your idea before making a major investment in custom development.
How to test it
Release your no-code MVP to 10-30 first users. Not more. Give them access for free or in exchange for feedback. Measure how many use it daily. This is your Daily Active Users or DAU. Check if they come back day 2 and week 2 which shows retention. See if they can complete the tasks they’re supposed to which is task completion rate.
Set up simple analytics to track user behavior. Which features do they use most? Where do they drop off? How long do they spend in the app? This data tells you what’s working and what needs improvement. Don’t build new features yet. First make sure people use what you have.
Concierge MVP
The most underrated way to test is concierge MVP. You do the service manually for the first customers as if it were automated. If your idea is AI-driven booking of babysitters, you let customers send email or SMS, you find and book the babysitter manually, and they think it’s automated.
This costs €0 to build. You learn exactly what customers need. And you can test if people will pay BEFORE you build anything. The manual work is intense but the learning is invaluable.
How to do it
Find 5-10 first customers and explain you’re testing a new service. Give them a simple way to request what they need like email, SMS, or a basic form. Do everything manually behind the scenes. Respond quickly as if the system is automated. Important - ask them to pay even if it’s discounted. Learn what questions they ask, what’s difficult, and what can be automated.
Keep detailed notes of every interaction. What takes the longest time? What do customers ask about most? What causes confusion? What delights them? This information is gold when you eventually automate the service.
Real examples
Food on the Table had founders manually shopping groceries for first customers to learn their needs. Zappos founder photographed shoes in stores and bought them manually when someone ordered online before building any inventory system. These companies understood their customers deeply before investing in technology.
The key insight is that manual delivery teaches you things you’d never learn from surveys or interviews. You see the real problems, edge cases, and customer expectations. When you finally automate you’ll build exactly what’s needed, nothing more.
Summary for digital products
Start with a landing page to test basic interest. Move to a clickable prototype to test the user experience. Build a no-code MVP for real usage testing. Or use concierge MVP to learn by doing the service manually. Each method teaches you something different. Choose based on what you need to learn and how much time you have.
The pattern is always the same. Start simple and cheap. Test with real users. Measure what they actually do. Learn and iterate. Don’t build the full product until you’ve validated that people want it and will pay for it.