"Eating your own dog food," a phrase that vividly captures the practice of using one's own products, is a cornerstone philosophy in the world of product development. This concept goes beyond mere quality assurance; it's about empathy, understanding, and genuine experience. It's a practice that not only improves the product but also aligns the team with the users they serve. As someone who has seen this practice in action, I can attest to its transformative power.
At the end of the day, the best possible QA is using it's own product, as often as possible. As stated by X in Lenny's interview, we are your most important user, we have to be delighted first.
Empathy Through Experience
Using our own product is the most direct way to understand the user experience. It goes beyond hypothetical scenarios or abstract user personas. When we use our product daily, we encounter the joys and frustrations of our users firsthand. This experience fosters a deep empathy for the user, driving improvements that are grounded in real needs and desires.
Quality Assurance at Its Best
Traditional quality assurance (QA) methods, like testing and bug tracking, are essential, but they can't capture the full user experience. Using our own product uncovers issues that might never be found in a test environment. It reveals the small, nuanced pain points that our users might face, which might otherwise go unnoticed. Note that I always felt that the silent ones are the most important, sometimes users won't complain about something, they will just stop using the product. The latter highlights the importance of making a feedback engine as seamless as possible for users, covered here.
When an entire company, from engineers to marketers, uses the product, it creates a unified understanding of what the product is and what it needs to be. This alignment is crucial in making coherent and user-centric decisions. It's about ensuring that every feature, every update, aligns with the actual use case of the product.
Continuous Feedback Loop
As team members use the product, they generate ideas, identify issues, and suggest improvements. This ongoing process ensures that the product is always evolving, always improving. This is a proactive approach to development, where feedback is not just solicited but is an integral part of the daily workflow.
Regular use of your own product can spark innovation. It's not just about fixing what's broken; it's about imagining what it could be. By experiencing the product as a user, team members can identify opportunities for new features or entirely new ways of solving problems.
Building Trust and Credibility
When a company uses its own product, it sends a powerful message to its users. It shows confidence in the product's quality and utility. This practice builds trust and credibility, demonstrating to users that the company stands firmly behind what it creates.
Challenges and Considerations
However, eating your own dog food is not without its challenges. It requires a company culture that values feedback and is open to change. There needs to be a system in place to capture and prioritize feedback from internal use. Moreover, it's important to recognize that while internal use is invaluable, it's not a substitute for external user feedback. The internal team's perspective can be biased, and it's crucial to balance this with insights from a diverse range of users.
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Eating your own dog food is more than a practice; it's a philosophy. It's about creating products with empathy and insight, fostering a culture of continuous improvement, and building a deep, authentic connection with your users. As someone who has embraced this philosophy, I can affirm that the best way to understand and improve your product is to become your most important user. Delight in your product should start with you.