Demystifying Customer Feedback: How ‘The Mom Test’ Revitalizes Product Development

Mudassir Azeemi
3 min readMay 26, 2023

As a product manager, I am constantly seeking new perspectives and innovative strategies that have the potential to revolutionize the way we develop and improve our products. I recently discovered a book that has significantly changed my perception of customer feedback. It’s called “The Mom Test” by Rob Fitzpatrick.

What’s the “Mom Test?”

The term “The Mom Test” is a clever way to emphasize a significant concept: people, even those closest to you, like your mother, may not always give you honest feedback if they think it could hurt your feelings. This statement suggests that when we ask customers for feedback or validation regarding our products, we may receive overly positive feedback that does not provide us with the honest feedback we require.

The Mom Test guides how to ask appropriate questions to elicit truthful and valuable feedback from our users. This feedback can help us validate our ideas and make informed decisions about our product roadmaps.

Poorly constructed questions can lead to several pitfalls.

These can include confusion among respondents, inaccurate data, and biased results. Therefore, it is essential to carefully consider the…

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Mudassir Azeemi

Finding patterns in chaos. Pioneer of Urdu language on Apple devices! UX/UI Instructor | Speaker | Design Governance Head at Ring Central | Curious