Discovery Interview Prep

Purpose

Plan and structure customer discovery interviews that reveal real behavior, not hypothetical preferences. Uses Mom Test principles to design questions that even your mom couldn't lie to you about — focusing on past behavior, specific situations, and verifiable facts.

Key Concepts

The Mom Test (Rob Fitzpatrick)

Three rules for useful questions:

1. Talk about their life, not your idea — Ask about their problems, not your solution
2. Ask about specifics in the past, not hypotheticals — "Tell me about the last time..." not "Would you..."
3. Talk less, listen more — You're here to learn, not pitch

Question Quality Spectrum

Facilitation Protocol

This interactive skill asks 4-5 adaptive questions to build a customized interview guide:

1. Research goal — What are you trying to learn?
2. User segment — Who are you interviewing?
3. Knowledge gaps — What do you already know vs. assume?
4. Interview context — Format and constraints
5. Hypothesis risks — What could prove you wrong?

Application

Question 1: Research Goal

Agent asks: "What's the primary thing you're trying to learn from these interviews?"

Options:

1. Validate a problem — "I think users have problem X, need to confirm"
2. Understand workflow — "I want to see how users currently do task Y"
3. Evaluate solution fit — "I have a solution concept and want reactions"
4. Discover unknowns — "I don't know enough about the user's world yet"
5. Other (describe your goal)

Question 2: Who Are You Interviewing?

Agent asks: "Who is your target interviewee?"

Options:

1. Existing users — Active users of your product
2. Churned users — People who stopped using your product
3. Prospects — People in your target market who don't use you yet
4. Internal stakeholders — Sales, support, engineering who interact with users
5. Other (describe)

Question 3: What Do You Already Know?

Agent asks: "What do you believe is true about this topic? Be honest about what's assumption vs. evidence."

User provides: Free-text response about their current understanding and confidence level.

Question 4: Interview Setup

Agent asks: "What's your interview context?"

Options:

1. Remote (30 min) — Video call, time-constrained
2. Remote (60 min) — Video call, full session
3. In-person — On-site or contextual inquiry
4. Intercept — Brief in-app or event-based
5. Other (describe)

Output: Interview Guide

After collecting answers, generate:

# Discovery Interview Guide

**Research goal:** [From Q1]
**Target:** [From Q2]
**Format:** [From Q4]
**Date range:** [Suggested]
**Number of interviews:** [Recommended: 5-8 for saturation]

---

## Before the Interview
- [ ] Review what you already know (avoid re-asking confirmed facts)
- [ ] Prepare recording setup (with permission)
- [ ] Send calendar invite with zero product context (avoid priming)

---

## Interview Script

### Opening (2-3 min)
"Thanks for your time. I'm trying to understand [general area].
There are no wrong answers — I'm learning from your experience.
Is it okay if I record this for notes?"

### Context Questions (5-10 min)
1. "Tell me about your role and what a typical day/week looks like."
2. "What tools do you use most for [relevant workflow area]?"
3. "[Context question specific to research goal]"

### Core Questions (15-30 min)
4. "Tell me about the last time you [behavior related to problem]."
   - Follow-up: "Walk me through exactly what happened."
   - Follow-up: "What was the hardest part?"
   - Follow-up: "How did you solve it?"

5. "[Behavioral question about frequency/severity]"
   - "How often does that happen?"
   - "What does it cost you? (Time, money, frustration)"

6. "[Question targeting the biggest assumption to validate]"

7. "[Question about current alternatives/workarounds]"
   - "What have you tried?"
   - "Why did/didn't that work?"

### Wrap-up (5 min)
8. "If you had a magic wand, what would you change about [process]?"
9. "Is there anything I didn't ask that I should have?"
10. "Can you introduce me to anyone else who deals with this?"

---

## After the Interview
- [ ] Write key quotes within 1 hour (memory fades fast)
- [ ] Tag insights: [Confirmed], [New], [Contradicts assumption]
- [ ] Update proto-persona if behavior pattern was unexpected
- [ ] Log in interview tracking sheet

---

## Analysis Template
| Interviewee | Key Quote | Insight | Confirmed/New/Contradicts |
|-------------|-----------|---------|--------------------------|
| [Name] | "[Quote]" | [Insight] | [Tag] |

Quality Rubric

Common Pitfalls

Pitfall 1: Pitching Instead of Listening

Symptom: Interviewer describes their solution and asks "What do you think?"

Fix: Ban the word "we" from the interview. Talk about their life, not your product.

Pitfall 2: Asking "Would You..."

Symptom: "Would you use a tool that does X?"

Fix: People are terrible at predicting their own behavior. Ask about the past: "Tell me about the last time you needed to do X."

Pitfall 3: Not Recording Key Quotes

Symptom: After 5 interviews, notes say "They want better analytics."

Fix: Capture exact quotes immediately. "I spend Monday mornings doing data janitor work" is 10x more valuable than your summary.

References

Related Skills

• skills/discovery/problem-statement/SKILL.md — Interviews validate problem statements
• skills/discovery/proto-persona/SKILL.md — Interview findings refine personas
• skills/discovery/survey-design/SKILL.md — Follow up interviews with quantitative surveys

External Frameworks

• Rob Fitzpatrick, The Mom Test (2013)
• Erika Hall, Just Enough Research (2013)
• Teresa Torres, Continuous Discovery Habits (2021)

Skill type: Interactive Domain: Discovery & Research