prd-v10-mom-test-interview

# Mom Test Interview Discipline

Position in workflow: v1.0 Continuous Discovery (Torres) → **v1.0 Mom Test Interview** → v1.0 Case Study Builder, Testimonial Collector

## Execution Mode

Default is **standard**. See [`.claude/rules/08-skill-execution-modes.md`](../../rules/08-skill-execution-modes.md) for selection logic.

| Mode | What this skill produces |
|------|--------------------------|
| **quick** | Single interview prep + question list + CFD-* discovery entry post-interview |
| **standard** | Interview prep + scripted opening + 5–7 questions + CFD-* entry with confidence calibration + Bad Data flagged |
| **deep** | Multi-interview cohort plan + cross-interview synthesis + pattern flagging at 3-mention threshold + assumption-test handoff |

## Framework: The Mom Test

From *The Mom Test: How to Talk to Customers and Learn If Your Business is a Good Idea When Everyone is Lying to You* (Rob Fitzpatrick, 2013). Premise: People lie to spare your feelings — especially about your business idea. Learn to ask questions that get truth.

### The three Mom Test rules

1. **Talk about their life, not your idea.** Ask about how they actually live and work, not whether they'd like your hypothetical feature.
2. **Ask about specifics in the past, not generics or opinions about the future.** "Last time you faced X, what did you do?" beats "Would you use a tool that does Y?"
3. **Talk less and listen more.** If you're talking more than 30% of the time, you're pitching, not learning.

### Three types of Bad Data to avoid

| Bad Data type | Example | Why it's bad | What to do |
|---------------|---------|--------------|------------|
| **Compliments** | "That sounds awesome!" | Politeness; not predictive | Discard; don't update confidence |
| **Fluff** | "I usually..." "I would probably..." | Generics, future hypotheticals | Anchor to specifics: "When did you last do that?" |
| **Ideas** | "You should add X" | Solution suggestions disguised as needs | Note as IDEA; ask "what would solving X enable you to do?" — get the underlying job |

### Confidence calibration

Mom Test-disciplined interviews produce **higher-confidence CFD- entries** because the data is grounded in observed past behavior, not opinion. Confidence floors per P4:

- 2/5 — Generic statement ("I sometimes have this problem")
- 3/5 — Specific past instance ("Last Tuesday, I spent 2 hours doing X")
- 4/5 — Specific past instance + paid-money-for-a-workaround / hired-a-person / built-a-script ("I'm paying $30/mo for a tool that almost solves this")
- 5/5 — Repeated specific past instances + ongoing willingness to invest in better solution (commit > talk)

## Consumes

- **ADO-BEACHHEAD-\* and PER-\* personas** — Defines the interview pool; non-segment interviews are still useful but get lower weight
- **Opportunity Solution Tree** (from prd-v10-continuous-discovery-torres) — Interview goals trace to specific opportunities being tested
- **CFD-\* prior research** — Patterns to validate or contradict
- **KPI-\* outcomes** — Why we're interviewing (anchor to what we're trying to move)

## Produces

- **CFD-\* discovery interview entries** — One per interview, with confidence calibrated by Mom Test rules
- **CFD-\* pattern entries** — When 3+ interviews mention the same specific behavior, promote to a pattern entry with frequency
- **Bad Data inventory** — Compliments, fluff, ideas captured for context but not data
- **Discovery Tree updates** — Each interview either strengthens an opportunity, weakens an opportunity, or surfaces a new one

## Execution

### Step 1: Define the goal of this interview

Not "validate the idea." Specifically: which opportunity / assumption from the Opportunity Solution Tree is this interview testing?

| Goal | Example |
|------|---------|
| Validate opportunity exists | "Do beachhead pragmatists actually struggle with pricing-tier selection?" |
| Test assumption | "Will users engage with a pricing wizard before signup?" |
| Map workaround | "How are they solving this today?" |
| Quantify pain | "How much time/money does this cost them currently?" |

Write the goal at the top of the interview notes.

### Step 2: Prep the question list (Mom Test-shaped)

Use specifics-in-the-past form. Avoid hypotheticals.

| Bad question | Better (Mom Test) version |
|--------------|---------------------------|
| "Would you use a pricing wizard?" | "Walk me through how you picked the tier when you signed up." |
| "Do you think analytics is important?" | "Tell me about the last time you looked at analytics." |
| "What features do you wish we had?" | "Tell me about the last time the tool didn't do what you needed." |
| "How would you describe X?" | "Tell me about the last time X came up at work." |

5–7 questions is plenty for a 25–30 minute interview. Leave room to follow threads.

### Step 3: Run the interview

- **Open** with a short framing: who you are, why this conversation, no sales pitch
- **Ask the past-behavior questions**, listen, follow threads
- **Probe specifics** when they generalize: "When was that specifically?" / "What was the dollar / time cost?" / "What did you do next?"
- **Flag Bad Data internally**: when they compliment, smile and move on; when they fluff, anchor to specifics; when they suggest ideas, note as IDEA and dig for the underlying job
- **Talk less than 30%** of the total minutes
- **Don't pitch.** If they ask what you're building, give a one-sentence answer and pivot back

### Step 4: Write up the CFD-* entry within 4 hours

Memory decays fast. Within 4 hours of the interview, write up the CFD- entry. Include:
- Verbatim quotes (the best evidence)
- Specific past instances (the gold)
- Bad Data inventory (compliments, fluff, ideas) — kept for context but not counted as data
- Confidence per P4 calibration

### Step 5: Update the Opportunity Solution Tree [standard+]

Did this interview:
- **Strengthen** an existing opportunity (add to frequency count)?
- **Contradict** an existing opportunity (