#pm_library: “The Mom Test.”

Another proposition that you might like to have in your #pm_library is “The Mom Test” by Rob Fitzpatrick.

“The Mom Test” helps to get real insights from customer interviews. You can learn what to say and ask to validate if users will buy and use your product.

Perhaps even more critical is that Robert indicates what not to say and not to ask to avoid affecting customers’ responses.

Usually, customers try to be nice to you. Most probably they will try to make you happy. They will ensure that they will use your product because it is solving significant problems for them.

Why such a title? The worst possible customer to interview is your Mom. She will try to protect you, she will tell you all those lies above, and she will tell you that you are a genius.

Rob Fitzpatrick proves that by making conversation on the right path, you can even validate your idea with your Mom. Three most important things that I remembered:

First, during problem discovery, don’t ask directly about the problem. Ask customers about their general habits and try to specify when such a problem happened last time, get to know if they tried to solve it (and how).

Second, don’t expose your ego. At the beginning of product discovery, don’t mention your solution. If necessary, sketch the solution and don’t admit to being the author.

Third, if your product is more specified, validate if a user is interested in it by asking them to give you something meaningful: an email, a referral, booking the next meeting, or just… money.

Also, in “Mom Test,” you find a lot of useful tips on finding customers for your research and organizing interviews.

Even if the leading target group for the book is startup owners, I find this book valuable also for PMs. After all, solving real customer problems with our products is our job, isn’t it?