The Chai Test for Software
If you cannot explain your software to a chai wallah, you do not understand it well enough yourself.
My grandfather had this test for any new idea. He would say, explain it to the chai wallah at the corner. Not because the chai wallah was less intelligent (he was quite sharp about economics, actually), but because if you cannot strip away the jargon and explain the core value in two sentences, you probably do not understand it yourself.
I apply this to software now. When someone describes their startup to me using words like "AI-powered blockchain-enabled decentralized infrastructure," I ask them: what does it actually do? For whom? Why would they care?
The chai test is simple:
- Who uses it?
- What problem does it solve?
- Why would they pick this over what they already do?
If you cannot answer those three in plain language, go back and think harder.
The best software I have used passes this test easily. "It lets you send messages that disappear." "It shows you the cheapest flight." "It tracks what you eat." Clear. Specific. Useful.
My ideas folder is full of things that fail the chai test. I keep them anyway, because sometimes the idea is good but I just have not found the right framing yet.
- Mohan
- Mohan