The Mom Test
Updated 2026-08-05
INTRODUCTION
English translation pending.
CORE DEFINITION
Rob Fitzpatrick’s approach to customer conversations emphasizes specific past behavior, actual problems, and existing solutions over opinions about an idea or hypothetical future intentions. It aims to reduce misleading politeness, leading questions, and speculative answers. It cannot guarantee honesty or establish willingness to pay on its own.
SCAFFOLDING EFFECT
Reduce cognitive load
Reduce confirmation bias by distinguishing polite praise from concrete customer problems. Use early, inexpensive customer conversations to test assumptions about demand.
Anchor fast decisions
Question framing affects feedback: pitching an idea and seeking opinions can invite polite praise. Asking about specific past events and existing expenditure grounds the conversation in behavioral evidence that can be checked further. Recall bias and acquiescence may remain, so validate with subsequent behavior.
MINIMUM ACTION
In progress 0/1Practice this model in one real situation:
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Source support: Explicit
- momtestbook.comhttps://momtestbook.com/verified
- momtestbook.comhttps://www.momtestbook.com/verified
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