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Use Your Own Product
Product / Advice
If you don't use it, why would anyone else?
The Idea
Dogfooding: the team uses its own product, in real work, every day. Bugs get caught immediately. Friction becomes personal. Weak flows become unbearable.
Why It Matters
- You find problems faster than any user report.
- You align the team on what actually matters.
- You can't hide from your own decisions.
How to Apply
- Everyone on the team uses the product regularly, not just PMs.
- Use it in your real job, not a demo environment.
- Log the friction you hit. Fix it — don't route around it.
When It Doesn't Fit
- Products for audiences unlike your team (doctors, lorry drivers, children).
- Even then, proxy users matter: team members on the phone with users, riding along, sitting in the office.
The Trap
Using a sandbox version or a demo account. The only useful dogfooding is on real data, real workflows, real stakes.
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