We commonly accept that being too close to a subject changes our perspective, and hinders our judgment. (Everyone’s own child is a genius, right?) We believe it unethical for doctors to treat members of their families.  Judges are expected to recuse themselves from cases in which they have a personal interest.  Even on Amazon.com, we trust public reviews more than we do manufacturers’ promises.  When a truly impartial point of view is needed, we look for the "3rd party" insights.  

In software design and development projects, usability testing provides that outsider view, acting as a defense against the preconceptions, personal interpretations, preferences, and interdependencies of the business and design teams.  Usability and user research are supposed to introduce an objective perspective by standing apart from the design and development process. 

Yet companies continue to assume that interface designers, software programmers, or business owners can run usability tests on the systems they have created and emerge with unbiased findings. The idea is that, regardless of who is creating, conducting, and interpreting the tests, if you just follow the right methodology and process, you can achieve objectivity and get useful results.

But methodology alone doesn’t create impartiality.  Even the most quantifiable statistics can be slanted to paint a desired picture - it is the role and perspective of a trained outside researcher that is most important.

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