discovery-interview-prep

name

discovery-interview-prep

description

Generate user research interview scripts using Mom Test principles. Use this skill when: - You are preparing for user interviews or pilot observation sessions - You need a question bank organized by behavior, context, pain points, and workflow - You want interview guides that avoid leading questions and hypotheticals - You need per-persona interview guides - You are preparing for field visits or pilot debriefs

Discovery Interview Prep

Generate interview scripts grounded in Mom Test principles (Rob Fitzpatrick). Reads personas and current assumptions from specs, produces question banks and 1-page interview guides per persona type.

Workflow

1. Research goal — Ask user: "What do you want to learn from these interviews?"
2. Read personas from your persona files or user research directory
3. Read assumptions — If a spec exists, read the Risks/Assumptions section for assumptions to validate
4. Generate question bank organized by category
5. Generate interview guide — 1-page per persona type
6. Output — Print to conversation or write to file

Mom Test Rules

Core principles (Rob Fitzpatrick):

• Ask about their life, not your idea
• Ask about specifics in the past, not generics or hypotheticals
• Talk less, listen more
• Seek concrete facts, not compliments or opinions

Question Categories

Behavior — What they actually do

• "Walk me through the last time you [relevant activity]..."
• "What happened after [specific event]?"
• "How often does [situation] come up?"
• "Show me how you currently do [task]."

Context — Environment and constraints

• "Where were you when you were doing this?"
• "What else was going on around you?"
• "What tools/devices were you using?"
• "Who else was involved?"

Pain Points — Problems and frustrations

• "What's the hardest part about [activity]?"
• "Tell me about the last time that was frustrating..."
• "What have you tried to solve this? What happened?"
• "How much time/effort does this cost you?"

Workflow — Process and sequence

• "What do you do first when you [start activity]?"
• "After [step], what happens next?"
• "Where does this process break down?"
• "What workarounds have you developed?"

Questions to AVOID

These produce unreliable data:

• "Would you use a feature that does X?" (hypothetical)
• "Do you think X is a good idea?" (opinion, not behavior)
• "Would you pay for X?" (hypothetical)
• "How much would you pay?" (unreliable)
• "Is [problem] important to you?" (leading)
• Any question starting with "Would you..." or "Do you think..."
• "On a scale of 1-10..." (no context, no actionable data)

Output Format

# Interview Guide — {Feature/Research Area}

**Research Goal:** {what we want to learn}
**Date:** {DD-MM-YYYY}
**Duration:** {suggested minutes per interview}

## Assumptions to Validate

| # | Assumption | Source | Question to Ask |
|---|-----------|--------|----------------|
| 1 | {from spec} | {spec section} | {Mom Test question} |

---

## Interview Script: {Persona Type}

### Opening (2 min)
- Introduce yourself, explain purpose
- "We're here to learn from you, not to test you"
- "There are no right or wrong answers"

### Warm-up (3 min)
- {2-3 easy context-setting questions}

### Core Questions (15-20 min)

#### Behavior
1. {question}
2. {question}
3. {question}

#### Pain Points
1. {question}
2. {question}
3. {question}

#### Workflow
1. {question}
2. {question}

### Wrap-up (2 min)
- "Is there anything I didn't ask about that you think is important?"
- "Who else should I talk to about this?"

---

## Questions to Avoid
{list of anti-patterns specific to this research area}

## Observer Notes Template

| Time | Observation | Category | Follow-up? |
|------|------------|----------|-----------|
| | | Behavior/Pain/Context/Workflow | Y/N |

Anti-Patterns

• Don't write leading questions disguised as open ones
• Don't ask hypotheticals — they produce unreliable data
• Don't skip the warm-up — it builds rapport
• Don't combine behavior and opinion questions in one

Quality Checklist

• Every question is grounded in past behavior, not hypotheticals
• Questions are open-ended, not yes/no
• Each persona gets a tailored script
• Assumptions to validate are linked to spec sections
• Observer notes template is included
• No leading questions remain