---
name: "interview-users"
description: "Run JTBD-style user interviews following Mom Test rules. Use when the user says 'interview users', 'customer interview', 'user research', 'JTBD', 'Mom Test'."
---

# Interview Users

Conduct discovery interviews that surface real demand instead of polite confirmation.

## Mom Test rules (Rob Fitzpatrick)
1. Talk about THEIR life, not your idea
2. Ask about specific past behavior, not generic future opinions ("How did you handle this last week?" beats "Would you pay $9.99/month?")
3. Talk less, listen more

## JTBD Switch Interview structure
4-stage timeline of their last switch to a similar product/workaround:
1. **First Thought** — "When did you first realize you needed something like this? What was happening?"
2. **The Trigger** — "What pushed you from thinking about it to actively looking?"
3. **The Search** — "What did you try? What annoyed you about each?"
4. **The Decision** — "What made you choose what you chose? What almost stopped you?"

Output a job story: *"When [situation], I want to [motivation], so I can [expected outcome]."*

## Sample size
- 5-10 interviews per persona reveals 80% of needs (saturation hits at 9-12 per Guest et al.)
- If multiple personas (students vs professionals), do 10 each

## Stack
- Calendly (free 1 event type) for booking
- Zoom (unlimited 1:1) for the call
- Otter.ai OtterPilot (free 300 min/mo) for transcription
- Use the user's approved analysis tool to extract a JTBD timeline and three direct quotes; remove personal data before uploading a transcript.

## Reference
`references/05-product-design.md`