Why customers lie in interviews
Five questions that get you polite lies, and what to ask instead.
Your mom says your startup idea is great because she loves you. Strangers say it because agreeing is the fastest way to end the conversation. Rob Fitzpatrick's The Mom Test has rules for questions polite people can't spoil:
- Talk about their life instead of your idea.
- Ask about specific things that already happened.
- Talk less.
Tap each question to see why it's a trap and a better version.
"Would you buy a product that did this?"
People answer questions about the future with hopeful fiction, and yes costs them nothing.
✓ better"How do you deal with this today? What did it cost you last time?"
If they've never spent time or money on it, that's your answer.
"Do you think it's a good idea?"
Once you've pitched, they're managing your feelings.
✓ better"Talk me through the last time you ran into this."
A story has details you can check. If there's no story, there's no problem worth solving.
"How much would you pay for this?"
People are bad at predicting their own spending.
✓ better"What are you paying to solve this now, in money, time or workarounds? What else have you tried?"
Money they already spend is the pricing signal to trust.
"Would you use a feature that automated this?"
You've named the solution, so they'll say "sure, sounds useful."
✓ better"What happened the last time this broke? What did you do next?"
If their workflow never hits the pain your feature fixes, you've saved a quarter of engineering.
"Don't you hate how long this takes?"
You handed them the complaint and they'll nod.
✓ better"What's the hardest part of your week around this?" Then stop talking.
If they name a different problem, that's better information.
Now you try
Rewrite each question so it asks about past specifics. Write yours before you look at mine.
"Would this dashboard be useful for your team?"
"How does your team answer this question today? Can you show me the last report someone made?"
"If we built an app for this, would you switch?"
"When did you last switch tools for anything? What made you do it?"
What to listen for
Words are cheap. Look for commitments: time, money, reputation, an intro, a deposit. Anything less is your mom saying she loves the idea.