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Does this question pass the Mom Test?

A four question check for any draft interview question

Flowchart for checking a draft interview question against the Mom Test: four yes or no questions, each with a rewrite, ending in a question ready for the guide.
Run every draft question through this before it goes into your interview guide. Source: Koji synthesis, after Rob Fitzpatrick, The Mom Test (2013)
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A quick decision path for editing customer interview questions. It checks whether a question mentions your idea, asks for a prediction, assumes the answer or drifts into generalities, and gives the rewrite for each. Use it on every question in your guide before the first interview.

Where this appears

What's in this flowchart

Start: You have a draft interview question

  1. Does it mention your idea or product?
    • No: go to 2.
    • Yes: Ask about what they do today. Then go to 2.
  2. Does it ask what they would or will do?
    • No: go to 3.
    • Yes: Ask about the last time instead. Then go to 3.
  3. Does it assume the answer?
    • No: go to 4.
    • Yes: Cut words like annoying or hard. Then go to 4.
  4. Is it about one specific time?
    • Yes: go to 5.
    • No: Anchor it to the most recent time. Then go to 5.
  5. Finish: Add it to your interview guide.

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Free to use in your docs, decks and posts under CC BY 4.0, as long as you credit Koji with a link to this page. To embed it, paste this into your page:

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<a href="https://www.koji.so/visuals/mom-test-question-check-flowchart"><img src="https://www.koji.so/visuals/mom-test-question-check-flowchart/mom-test-question-check-flowchart.png" alt="Flowchart for checking a draft interview question against the Mom Test: four yes or no questions, each with a rewrite, ending in a question ready for the guide." width="1200" height="1153" /></a>
<p>Source: <a href="https://www.koji.so/visuals/mom-test-question-check-flowchart">Does this question pass the Mom Test?</a>, Koji</p>

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