A recent social media post by Jordan Thibodeau has ignited discussion on a critical aspect of product development within the technology sector: the direct engagement between engineers and customers. Thibodeau contends that the "biggest mistake tech companies make is building a wall between their customers and engineers," asserting that this separation leads to suboptimal products and organizational decline.
Thibodeau advocates for engineers to be directly exposed to user experiences, stating, "let them feel the pain of a shitty product experience, let them hear the bitching, and then magically tech problems go away." He cited a hypothetical scenario involving Facebook, suggesting that direct user engagement might have prevented missteps like a "FB messenger snoop dog app" or led to a focus on user needs for LLMs, such as organizing events. While a standalone "Snoop Dogg app" for Messenger is not widely documented, sticker packs and themed features have been integrated, underscoring the broader point about product relevance.
Industry experts and agile methodologies frequently emphasize the importance of customer empathy and direct feedback loops for development teams. This approach aims to ensure products genuinely address user needs and pain points, fostering innovation and user satisfaction. The sentiment expressed by Thibodeau aligns with principles of user-centered design, where understanding the end-user is paramount for successful product creation.
The tweet further criticizes the practice of hiring intermediaries to manage the customer-engineer relationship. Thibodeau argues that "Tech Companies slowly die when they hire staff to manage the relationship between the customer and the engineer. That allows for mixed messages, game playing, and a shitty product." This highlights a common challenge in large organizations: ensuring authentic and unfiltered customer insights reach those responsible for building the product.
Thibodeau concludes by dismissing common excuses from tech professionals, stating, "Nothing beats the rude awakening of touching a crappy product in the midst of an unhappy customer." His strong stance underscores a growing call within the tech community for greater transparency and direct communication channels between product creators and their users, ultimately aiming for more responsive and user-centric development cycles.