Founder

Customer interview guide

Immediate result: An interview guide based on 'The Mom Test': questions about past behaviour, not opinions about your idea.

Problem it solvesFounders ask 'would you use this?' and get polite lies.

Download SKILL.md
Add this skill to
ChatGPTClaudeGeminiPerplexity

You paste

Tool to help schools collect fees online

You get

'Walk me through the last fee collection cycle. What took the most time?'

Avoid: 'Would you pay for an app that does this?'

Demand signal: they've already tried something and paid for it.

About this skill

About Customer interview guide

Asking 'would you use this?' gets polite lies, not evidence. This skill writes an interview guide in the spirit of Rob Fitzpatrick's 'The Mom Test': questions about what customers did last time the problem happened, what they've tried and what they've spent, with leading and hypothetical questions removed. It adds a note-taking template and the signals that show real demand, such as money already spent on a workaround. To use it, paste the skill into your assistant and send your idea and the customers you're interviewing; the reply is laid out as “Goals”, “Questions” and “Questions to avoid”.

Customer interview guide AI skill for Founder: you paste "Tool to help schools collect fees online" and get "'Walk me through the last fee collection cycle. What took the most time?'"
Customer interview guide — example input and the first lines it returns. Works in ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini.
Job profile
Founders & small business · Founder
Works in
ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Copilot, Claude Code
Format
Agent Skills (SKILL.md)
Price
Free, no sign-up
Install instructions

Copy, paste, send

  1. Cold email writerCopy skillCopied ✓1 Copy the skillPress Copy skill.
  2. ANY AI ASSISTANTSKILLPaste here, then press Enter2 Paste it into a new chatChatGPT, Claude, Gemini or Copilot.
  3. ANY AI ASSISTANT3 Send your inputSend your idea and the customers you're interviewing.
The skill — paste this into your AI assistant
# Skill: Customer interview guide

You are running the "Customer interview guide" skill for me. I work as: Founder. What I need from you: an interview guide based on 'The Mom Test': questions about past behaviour, not opinions about my idea.

## When I send you my idea and the customers I'm interviewing
1. Write questions about the problem and what they did last time it happened.
2. Add questions about what they've tried and spent.
3. Remove leading and hypothetical questions.
4. Add a note-taking template and signals of real demand.

## Reply in this format
- Goals
- Questions (in order)
- Questions to avoid
- Signals of real demand
- Notes template

## Rules
- Use only the facts I give you; mark anything you had to assume with [ASSUMPTION].
- If something essential is missing, ask me one short question, then continue.
- No preamble or filler: start with the result.

Confirm you're ready in one line, then wait for me to send my idea and the customers I'm interviewing.

Then sendYour idea and the customers you're interviewing. For example: Tool to help schools collect fees online

ChatGPT

  1. Fastest: paste the skill as your first message in a new chat, then send your input.
  2. To keep it: open a Project, choose Instructions (or Settings → Personalization → Custom instructions for every chat) and paste it there.
  3. To share it with a team: create a custom GPT and paste the skill into its Instructions.
  4. In the Codex app: copy the skill's folder into ~/.codex/skills/ (or Customize → Skills → Add → Create skill).

Claude

  1. Fastest: paste the skill as your first message in a new chat, then send your input.
  2. To keep it: create a Project, open Project instructions and paste the skill.
  3. As a Claude Skill: download the skill's ZIP, then in Claude open Settings → Skills → Add → Upload skill and choose the file.

Gemini

  1. Fastest: paste the skill as your first message in a new chat, then send your input.
  2. To keep it: open Gems → New Gem, paste the skill into Instructions and save.

Microsoft Copilot

  1. Fastest: paste the skill as your first message, then send your input.
  2. In Microsoft 365 Copilot, save it as a prompt or paste it into an agent's instructions to reuse it.

Any other assistant

  1. Paste the skill as the system prompt or first message in any chat assistant (Perplexity, Meta AI, DeepSeek, Mistral, local models).
  2. Coding agents that read the Agent Skills format (SKILL.md) can load the downloaded file from their skills folder.

Install it permanently

Upload it to Claude, add it to ChatGPT's Codex app, clone it into Claude Code, or download the SKILL.md for any agent. Full guide with screenshots →

Download the ZIP and upload it in Claude. Claude then uses the skill on its own whenever a request matches.

Download ZIP

Quick setup

  1. In Claude, open Settings → Skills (under Customize).
  2. Click Add → Upload skill.
  3. Choose the ZIP — don't unzip it — and make sure the skill is switched on.
Claude Settings with Skills selected under Customize, and the Add menu open showing Upload skill, Create a skill, Create with Claude and Record your screen

Repositoryscienceofapps.com/skills/ai-skills.git · all 200 skills, one folder each, plain git over HTTPS

What it does

The steps it follows

  1. Write questions about the problem and what they did last time it happened.
  2. Add questions about what they've tried and spent.
  3. Remove leading and hypothetical questions.
  4. Add a note-taking template and signals of real demand.
What you get back

The reply format

  • Goals
  • Questions (in order)
  • Questions to avoid
  • Signals of real demand
  • Notes template
FAQs

Questions about Customer interview guide

What does the Customer interview guide skill do?

Founders ask 'would you use this?' and get polite lies. The skill fixes that: an interview guide based on 'The Mom Test': questions about past behaviour, not opinions about your idea.

How do I install Customer interview guide in ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini?

Copy the skill and paste it as the first message of a new chat, then send your input. To keep it, paste it into a ChatGPT Project or custom GPT, a Claude Project or a Gemini Gem, or upload the SKILL.md file as a Claude Skill.

What do I send Customer interview guide after installing it?

Send your idea and the customers you're interviewing. If something essential is missing, the skill asks you one short question and then continues.

Is the Customer interview guide skill free?

Yes. It's free to copy, use and adapt, with no sign-up, and works in the free versions of ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Copilot.

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