Using Your Product to Build Better Solutions: The Case for Dogfooding
How do you deliver exceptional products?
Many would argue that understanding your audience and empathizing with their struggles is the best way to create valuable offerings. While that’s undeniably crucial, there’s another highly effective approach: becoming your own customer.
By using your product in real-world scenarios, you can identify its true value and address its shortcomings. This practice, often referred to as dogfooding, gives teams an edge by revealing insights that can’t be fully captured through external feedback alone.
Let’s dive into what dogfooding entails, how it works, and why it’s a game-changer for product development.
What is Dogfooding?
Dogfooding refers to the practice of thoroughly using your own product or service internally before introducing it to customers. The idea is to put yourself in the customer’s position to evaluate how well your solution works and where it can be improved.
Why It’s Worthwhile
- Deeper Understanding: You experience your product’s strengths and weaknesses firsthand.
- Empathy-Driven Design: Using your product highlights what truly matters to end users.
- Proactive Problem-Solving: Many potential issues can be addressed before they reach customers.
A Tale of Discovery: The Chef’s Lesson
Imagine a restaurant struggling to retain customers despite offering popular dishes. A turning point comes when the chef and team decide to experience the restaurant from the customer’s perspective, dining there themselves.
They quickly notice issues they hadn’t considered before, like inconsistent flavors and overly complicated menus. Acting on these revelations, the chef simplifies the menu, focusing on a few high-quality dishes that the team genuinely enjoys.
The result? Customers respond enthusiastically, drawn to the improved quality and clarity of the offerings.
Key Insight:
If you’re not excited about your product, it’s unlikely your customers will be.
How Dogfooding Works in Technology
This concept applies just as powerfully in the tech world. For instance:
Email Management Innovation
A product team faced the common problem of cluttered inboxes, where users spent considerable time sorting through emails. Their solution? Automating the categorization process.
Before releasing the feature, the team adopted it internally, using it daily to manage their own emails. This hands-on approach allowed them to identify areas where the feature needed improvement. After several iterations, they launched a polished version that quickly gained user approval.
Key Insight:
Internal use refines features, ensuring they’re both functional and meaningful before reaching the market.
Steps to Implement Dogfooding Effectively
Dogfooding isn’t just casually trying out your product—it’s a systematic process for gaining actionable insights. Here’s how to do it well:
1. Define Your Goals
Clarify the problem your product aims to solve and the specific outcomes you want to test. Focus on how the product delivers value, not just on checking for bugs.
2. Choose Testers
Select a group of internal users—ideally with diverse roles and perspectives. A team of 3–10 is a good starting point.
3. Set a Clear Timeframe
Establish a timeline for the test, whether it’s a single day or a few weeks, to gather meaningful data.
4. Gather Feedback
Collect insights on how effectively the product addresses the intended problem and where improvements are needed.
5. Identify Patterns
Look for recurring issues or positive trends that can guide the next iteration.
6. Iterate and Refine
Use the findings to make targeted improvements. Repeat the process until the product meets its intended goals.
Pro Tip: While dogfooding provides invaluable feedback, it’s not a substitute for external user testing. It should be part of a broader product development strategy.
Real-World Example: Building with Your Tools
A project management software company regularly uses its own tool to manage internal operations. This practice helps the team identify inefficiencies and opportunities for improvement in real time, which they address in subsequent updates.
By combining this approach with ongoing customer feedback, they maintain a product that’s both practical and user-centric.
Key Insight:
When you live with your product, you uncover nuances that might otherwise go unnoticed.
Benefits of Dogfooding
- Enhanced Quality: Flaws are addressed before customers encounter them.
- Stronger Customer Empathy: Teams develop a firsthand understanding of user frustrations.
- Faster Development Cycles: Immediate feedback speeds up iteration.
- Increased Team Alignment: Team members gain personal stakes in the product’s success.
Balancing Dogfooding with Other Testing
While dogfooding is a powerful tool, it’s not a comprehensive testing method. Complement it with structured approaches like:
- Smoke Testing: Ensures core functionality works.
- Regression Testing: Confirms new features don’t disrupt existing functionality.
- Sanity Testing: Validates that quick fixes resolve specific issues.
Conclusion: Build What You’d Use
By using your own product, you gain a deeper understanding of its value, usability, and areas for improvement. This internal perspective, paired with external user feedback and robust testing practices, helps ensure your product resonates with its intended audience.
Key Takeaways:
- Experience your product firsthand to understand its impact.
- Use dogfooding to complement, not replace, customer engagement.
- Continuously refine until both your team and customers find value in the solution.
At the end of the day, a product you believe in is one your customers are more likely to trust. Don’t just create for others—create for yourself first.
