What is product observability (and why do teams strive for it?)

Observability, originally rooted in Control Theory, has evolved significantly since the 1980s as software and computer systems became more complex, requiring advanced monitoring of key outputs to track performance and catch errors. The rise of CI/CD, microservices, and distributed architectures in the 2000s increased the demand for real-time monitoring and led to the development of sophisticated logging, metrics, and tracing tools. Companies like Datadog, Honeycomb, and New Relic emerged to address these challenges, focusing on understanding system states and troubleshooting. However, traditional observability is largely reactive and infrastructure-focused, prompting a shift towards "product observability," which emphasizes understanding user interactions and correlating them with system behavior. This approach, advocated by Statsig, involves a proactive, adaptive, and continuous measurement of product impact using a comprehensive set of tools, enabling teams to track metrics, conduct experiments, and communicate insights effectively. Product observability aims to enhance user-centered design, reduce risks in product changes, and foster collaboration across teams, ultimately leading to improved product quality and user satisfaction. The future of software development is likely to see product observability becoming ubiquitous, as it offers significant benefits in terms of agility, efficiency, and overall success.