Company
Date Published
Author
Sherief Abul-Ezz
Word count
1333
Language
English
Hacker News points
None

Summary

Microsoft has a sophisticated dogfooding process that is integrated into their release process, using the Microsoft Elite program to connect employees who are willing to dogfood with products that need dogfooding and incentivize them to do so. Google also uses dogfooding, although its process is more ad-hoc, and it relies on extensive beta testing to achieve a better result for some of its products. Facebook has expanded its use of dogfooding across various verticals and developed a dedicated position called "dogfooding program specialist". Lyft's dogfooding program focuses on empathizing with their users, not uncovering bugs or performance issues, and requires all eligible employees to spend at least 4 hours as a Lyft driver every quarter to gain insight into what it is like to be a Lyft driver. Dogfooding can help build a better app by understanding user experience, but it should always be followed up with beta testing with a sample of the actual target market.