As PMs, we’re obsessed with the user experience. We live and breathe for customer interviews, usability tests, and funnel metrics. But there’s a different user whose experience is proving just as critical to our success: our developers.
The concept of Developer Experience (DevEx) is rapidly shifting from an ‘engineering-only’ concern to a core product management responsibility. Why? Because a clunky, slow, and frustrating internal development loop directly impacts our ability to ship value to customers. Slow builds, flaky test environments, and confusing deployment processes aren’t just technical debt; they are product delivery bottlenecks.
The best teams now treat their internal platforms as a product, with developers as the users. This means applying our PM toolkit—conducting user research with engineers, creating an internal roadmap for improvements, and defining metrics for success (like cycle time). Improving DevEx isn’t about coddling engineers; it’s about removing friction to accelerate innovation. When we understand our team’s pain points, we build a more efficient product engine. Continuously sourcing this feedback is key, and just as we use tools for customer sentiment, platforms like Leera can help surface the team-level insights needed to prioritize these internal improvements.
So, my question for the community is: How involved are product managers in shaping the developer experience at your company, and what’s the one internal improvement that has had the biggest impact on your team’s velocity?