The Mom Test: feedback that won’t break your heart

How to avoid ending up with a product that everyone “loves”, but nobody buys.

Ever asked your mum if she thinks your business idea is good? Let me guess - she loved it! (Thanks, mum 💕)

It’s human nature: even your most brutally honest friends will try to protect your feelings when you pitch them your idea. And that's exactly why we need The Mom Test.

What’s the Mom Test?

Can you ask questions so good, that even your mum would respond honestly (instead of trying to be nice?)

This is the simple premise behind the Mom Test.

Its goal is to get honest and valuable feedback, by shifting the focus from you to them - your audience. And their experience.

Instead of asking people what they think about your idea, you ask them about their life, their problems, and what they've already done to solve them.

Let's see it in action:

Bad question:
"Would you use an app that helps you track your daily water intake?"
(Your mum: "Oh honey, that sounds wonderful!")

Good question:
"Talk me through how you managed your health goals last week?"
(Your mum: "Well, I bought a fancy water bottle but kept forgetting it at home. Ended up drinking too much coffee again...")

You can see how the second approach got us real insights about behaviours, frustrations, and even a failed solution attempt.

Three rules to live by

In true beginner spirit, the approach I’m proposing sacrifices some accuracy in favour of 1) getting started and 2) moving in the right direction. That’s what frameworks should be for.

So, let these three principles guide your feedback conversations:

• Talk about their life, not your idea.
  For example,

  • Bad: "Would you pay £10/month for this service?"

  • Good: "What's the last thing you spent money on to solve this problem?"
    

• Ask about specific past behaviours.
  For example,

  • Bad: "How often do you exercise?"

  • Good: "When was the last time you exercised? What led to that?"
    

• Listen for things they've done, not things they say they'll do.
  For example,

  • Bad: "Would you use this?"

  • Good: "What are you currently using?"
    

“Bad” questions aren’t altogether negative, but they’re highly misleading when you only have a limited knowledge of your audience.

With experience, you’ll come to appreciate that they too can yield useful insight, when used correctly.

Make it work for you

Building on the zero-to-one approach, here's an action flow you can get started on right now:

1. Grab a notebook (or open your Notes app)

2. Write down 3 things you want to learn about your customers

3. Turn each into a question about their life:

Instead of: "Would you use X?" Ask: "How are you currently handling Y?"

Instead of: "Is Z a problem for you?" Ask: "What's the hardest part about W?"

Instead of: "Would you pay for this?" Ask: "What else have you tried? What did that cost?"

The magic happens in the follow-up.

When someone mentions something interesting, dig deeper:

• "Tell me more about that..."

• "What happened next?"

• "How did you deal with that?"

Start today

You don't need fancy tools or a perfect pitch. Just genuine curiosity about your customers' lives.

Your homework: Find one person and ask them about their day.

Not your idea. Their day.

The insights will surprise you.