[padobson]

I don't think I could disagree with this more.

You absolutely can't listen to what your mom says.

But you can absolutely validate your product with what your mom does.

Does she use it everyday? Does she complain about this feature or that feature? When you're standing behind her when she opens up the application, does she stare at it blankly for five minutes before clicking on something that crashes it? How many questions did she ask you about how to use it? How easy was it for her to learn to use?

All of this is infinitely valuable mom-feedback. Nobody embodies your userbase better than your mom, so you better be testing it on her.

[tobiasSoftware]

Exactly. I'm starting a company soon, half of the software I plan to sell is software my mom asked for. I know the software I build is good because my mom likes it. However, the way my mom likes my software is she uses it to fix the problems she used to complain about. And if she sees something I need to add, she tells me.

I know what she thinks about the software is skewed because it was built by her son, but I also know she used to say, "I wish I could do this" and now she says "Hey I used your program again today, I'm so glad I don't have this problem anymore." The article is right that you can't use your mom for your typical survey, but she can have a more valuable place as a beta tester, someone you can actually watch use your program.

On the other hand the article does have a valid point. "My family says they like it" is not a confirmation your software is good. It reminds me of when I watched American Idol and the horrible singers would say "Well my family says I sing well."

[lorangb]

very good point on using your mom as a beta tester. if it's easy enough that your mom can use it, you've done your job.

[nullflux]

"Nobody embodies your userbase better than your mom"

That is not a universal truth.

Is your mother computer literate? How does she use web applications and her computer? How does she connect to the product? What niche does the application fill in her life, and is it truly a superior alternative to another product in her life?

What the article is getting at is that friends and family often show extreme positive bias. If you really have to use your friends or family as a feedback group, you'd be best off not telling them you built the application at all. If you're like "hey, check out this thing I found, it might be useful for you," you can get rid of some of the "My child/sibling/cousin/friend built this!" bias and instead only have to deal with the lesser bias of "My child/sibling/cousin/friend referred me to this product."