Mastering Product Development: Insights from Uber's Chief Product Officer

The Importance of Dog-Fooding in Product Development

Sachin Kansal, Chief Product Officer at Uber, takes product testing to a whole new level. He regularly uses Uber's services as both a rider and a driver, going so far as to deliver food and groceries himself. This hands-on approach, known as dog-fooding, allows him to experience the product from multiple perspectives and identify areas for improvement.

Kansal's Dog-Fooding Routine

• Takes 5-10 Uber rides per week
• Places 3 Uber Eats orders weekly
• Drives for Uber and delivers food 1-2 times per month
• Has completed 700-800 trips as a driver/courier

After each experience, Kansal documents his observations in detailed reports, often 40 pages long, complete with screenshots and suggested fixes. He then follows up to ensure issues are addressed and improvements are implemented.

Why Dog-Fooding Matters

Kansal emphasizes that experiencing the product firsthand provides insights that data alone cannot capture:

• Reveals how the app feels in real-world conditions (e.g., using it while driving)
• Highlights inefficiencies that impact earnings
• Builds empathy for drivers and couriers
• Identifies issues that may occur thousands of times daily across millions of users

Creating a Culture of Dog-Fooding at Uber

To encourage this practice throughout the company, Uber:

• Organizes quarterly "driving and delivery weeks" with competitions
• Sets OKRs to fix hundreds of identified issues each half-year
• Balances resources between fixing known problems and pursuing growth initiatives

The "Ship, Ship, Ship" Mentality

Kansal is known for his motto of "ship, ship, ship," emphasizing the importance of rapidly delivering improvements to users. This approach stems from his belief that real impact comes from getting code into production, not just creating documents or designs.

Implementing a Rapid Shipping Culture

• Focus on cutting down decision-making time between development stages
• Use product reviews to make quick decisions on two-way door issues
• Leaders should be willing to step in and unblock teams when needed

Balancing Speed with Quality

While emphasizing rapid shipping, Kansal notes the importance of maintaining quality:

• Insist on live demos for product announcements to ensure readiness
• Use demos to tell a compelling story about how users will benefit
• Create a sense of pride among the product and engineering teams

Data-Driven vs. Intuition-Based Decision Making

Uber is known for being data-driven, but Kansal highlights the importance of balancing quantitative insights with qualitative understanding and intuition.

The Spectrum of User Feedback

1. Quantitative data (MAU, DAU, etc.)
2. Surveys
3. Focus groups
4. One-on-one conversations
5. Personal experience (dog-fooding)

Kansal argues that personal experience provides a visceral understanding that data alone cannot capture.

Examples of Intuition-Driven Decisions

1. Focusing on the perception of safety, not just incident reduction
2. Partnering with taxi services despite declining taxi usage data
3. Launching Uber for teenagers despite initial resistance

Adapting to Industry Changes

Preparing for Autonomous Vehicles

Uber's strategy for integrating autonomous vehicles includes:

• Partnering with AV companies rather than developing in-house
• Building a hybrid network of human drivers and AVs
• Utilizing Uber's demand density to optimize AV usage

Shifting to Profitability

Uber's transition from growth-at-all-costs to profitability involved:

• Finding efficiencies across all aspects of the business
• Innovating to reduce costs (e.g., batching deliveries)
• Reinvesting savings into the business and user experience

Career Advice for Product Managers

Kansal offers several key pieces of advice for aspiring product managers:

1. Seek roles where you can ship multiple products quickly
2. Focus on making thousands of micro-decisions to develop product sense
3. Prioritize understanding what end users truly want
4. Recognize that users' lives don't revolve around your product
5. Aim to provide an exceptional experience during the brief moments users interact with your product

Leveraging AI in Product Development

Kansal and his team at Uber are exploring various AI applications:

• Using ChatGPT and Gemini for document summarization
• Employing AI for initial prototypes and mocks
• Utilizing AI for user research analysis
• Exploring AI as a research assistant and thought partner for strategy

Key Takeaways

1. Extensive dog-fooding provides invaluable insights for product improvement
2. Rapid shipping is crucial, but must be balanced with quality
3. Intuition and qualitative understanding should complement data-driven decisions
4. Adapting to industry changes requires both strategic partnerships and internal innovation
5. Developing product sense comes from making numerous micro-decisions over time
6. AI tools can significantly enhance productivity and decision-making in product development

By embracing these principles, product leaders can create more user-centric, efficient, and innovative products in today's rapidly evolving tech landscape.

Article created from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MnBZlEQ14fY