The Mom Test is a set of simple rules for crafting good questions that even your mom can't lie to you about.

3 Simple Rules of The Mom Test:

  1. Talk about their life instead of your idea
  2. Ask about specifics in the past instead of generics or opinions about the future
  3. Talk less and listen more

Rules of thumb:

  1. Customer conversations are bad by default. It’s your job to fix them.
  2. Opinions are worthless.
  3. Anything involving the future is an over-optimistic lie.
  4. People will lie to you if they think it’s what you want to hear.
  5. People know what their problems are, but they don’t know how to solve those problems.
  6. You're shooting blind until you understand their goals.
  7. Some problems don’t actually matter.
  8. Watching someone do a task will show you where the problems and inefficiencies really are, not where the customer thinks they are.
  9. If they haven't looked for ways of solving it already, they're not going to look for (or buy) yours.
  10. You price your product in terms of value to the customer rather than cost to you.
  11. While it’s rare for someone to tell you precisely what they’ll pay you, they’ll often show you what it’s worth to them.
  12. People want to help you, but will rarely do so unless you give them an excuse to do so.

Test: