The sensible treatment of a "secret question" is as a second password. Since it acts in parallel with the password, like a second door to your house, it should

The sensible treatment of a "secret question" is as a second password. Since it acts in parallel with the password, like a second door to your house, it should be at least as hard to guess as the "main" password. I would go further than saying that this is obsolete: it is simply bad security design.