We’re all obsessed with user-centricity, and for good reason. We spend our days interviewing customers, analyzing usage data, and optimizing funnels. But what if the most impactful ‘user’ we’re currently ignoring is our own engineering team?
The concept of ‘Developer Experience’ (DevEx) is gaining serious traction, reframing internal platforms and tooling not as a cost center, but as a critical product in its own right. A great DevEx means faster builds, easier deployments, and quicker feedback loops. It directly translates to a shorter cycle time from an idea being formed to a customer receiving value.
When developers are bogged down by clunky tools and friction-filled workflows, the entire product development process suffers. Innovation slows, and everyone feels the pain, including our external customers who wait longer for features and fixes. This isn’t just an ‘engineering problem.’ Product managers have a huge stake in this. A streamlined developer workflow means we can ship experiments faster, iterate based on feedback more quickly, and ultimately deliver more value to the market. Treating your internal platform like a product, with developers as your users, might be one of the best investments you can make.
How involved are product managers in your organization with internal tooling and developer experience? Should PMs be actively prioritizing and roadmapping for their engineering ‘users’?