Ever since we started developing WebWork Time Tracker, we have been our own users. 

After all, before selling something you need to make sure it is worth the investment your users are going to make. 

What began as a way of ensuring our product is functioning the way we want it to, has transformed into a culture of using our own tool in our day-to-day work process. 

Little did we know that there is a term for it—dogfooding. 

Essentially it means using your own product as a way to test it out, experience how it works, and resolve bugs before they reach actual users. 

In a sense, dogfooding is an affordable method of product testing, whether it be in the first stages of product development or throughout a product’s lifetime.

While affordability and effectiveness are the main benefits of dogfooding, we’ve experienced many more at WebWork.

Sense of Being User-Centered 

The culture of dogfooding has shaped how our team members approach their daily tasks, even if those tasks aren’t directly connected with the end user. Even roles as distant from users as engineers remain mindful of how users will perceive and use the features we’re developing.

We believe we owe this to dogfooding—continuously using WebWork to track our own time, manage our tasks, and test productivity monitoring. 

Empathy for the Product 

Using WebWork for ourselves has introduced a valuable asset into our operations—empathy. 

Bet you’ve never heard of empathy being part of a tech team’s operations. 

Well, now you have. 

We see WebWork as our brainchild that we have nurtured and raised to become the independent adult software it is now. Well, not independent technically, but rather metaphorically as in how much it has grown. 

The Why and the How of the Product 

Our experience using WebWork has shaped how we view work, that is not just as a mere series of tasks. We are no longer interested in just the what, but are invested in the why and the how as well.

We’ve had multiple instances where employees from all departments, even those not directly connected with the product, report concerns and observations that later proved valuable. Some of these insights even evolved into the well-known and beloved features that WebWork now offers. 

A prime example of dogfooding influencing our feature set is our Leave Management system. 

Our HR manager needed a tool to automate and simplify the process of assigning leave to our large number of hybrid and remote employees. And as we were already using WebWork, we thought: why not implement our own leave system into it? Plus, we knew many of our tech clients would need and use this feature as well.

Using the product you create opens the curtains of the stage. You’re no longer just backstage—you’re acting on the stage and watching from the audience simultaneously.

Reduction in Support Tickets 

Dogfooding is not dogfooding if you are not doing it with the goal of improving the product. By paying attention to every single component of the tool, its UI and UX, we make sure to catch bugs and inconsistencies. 

For a streamlined process we have a special channel for sharing our experience. 

Finding bugs on our own and early in development also reduces the number of support tickets. 

Very often our team members, including our CEO, find errors, bugs, and even design issues which might result in users contacting support. But due to dogfooding we prevent issues by detecting them early on before they reach users.

Dogfooding Features Before They Are Available to Users 

Most features, additions, and updates always go live for our own usage first. We have a company workspace on WebWork where our entire team tests all updates and new features.

Depending on the feature, sometimes we use it for as long as a month before we feel it’s ready for users. Other times, we might make it available for beta testing right away. And occasionally, we might test a feature internally, feel that it needs more work than anticipated, and set it aside for the time being with the intention of getting back to it later.

Cases differ. But dogfooding always proves valuable. 

The bottom line is that by making our product good enough for our own use, we strive to outdo ourselves and provide our users with the best possible version of WebWork.