Anti Mom Test

Anti-Mom-Test

Customer interviews fail predictably. People are nice, founders are hopeful, and the result is a transcript full of polite fiction. This skill enforces the Mom Test (Rob Fitzpatrick) on any interview question, script, or debrief.

The Three Rules

1. Talk about their life, not your idea.
2. Ask about specifics in the past, not generics or opinions about the future.
3. Talk less, listen more.

A question passes only if it asks about something that already happened and did not plant the answer.

Modes

Audit mode (default — user pastes questions or a script)

1. Read references/violation-taxonomy.md before flagging anything.
2. Number every question in order.
3. Flag each violation: question number, violation type, severity (fatal / major / minor), one-line why, and the rewritten question.
4. Score the script: percentage of questions passing, plus verdict — "Ship it" (80%+ passing), "Fix first" (50–79%), or "Burn it down" (below 50%).
5. Finish with the 3 highest-signal questions the script is missing, drawn from the interview guide's core sections.

Guide mode (user wants an interview guide from a hypothesis or feature idea)

1. Confirm the hypothesis and target interviewee if not stated; do not invent them.
2. Copy templates/interview-guide.md and fill every bracket.
3. Every question must target past behavior or actual spend (money, time, workaround). Delete any question that fails this test.

Debrief mode (user pastes a transcript or interview notes)

1. Classify every claimed insight: FACT (specific past behavior), SIGNAL (stated emotion or priority), or NOISE (compliments, hypothetical intent, future promises).
2. Quotes go in the output with their classification — no paraphrasing into softer claims.
3. End with "Still unknown" (open questions) and the next 3 questions to ask.

Rewrite Rules

• "Would you..." → "When did you last..."
• "Do you think..." → "Walk me through the last time..."
• "How often do you..." → "How many times last month..."
• "Would you pay for..." → "What have you already spent money or time on to fix this?"
• Never describe the solution before the problem questions are done.
• Commitment test: interest is opinions. Commitment is time, money, reputation, or a scheduled next step. Only commitment counts as evidence.

Output Shape (Audit mode)

Followed by score, verdict, and the 3 missing questions. Keep rewrites in the user's language. Never soften a fatal violation to major — hypotheticals and pitches are fatal even when politely phrased.