Summary & Key Takeaways ​

• Dogfooding involves internal teams using their own products.
• It is effective for catching bugs and internal usability issues.
• Dogfooding cannot, however, replace comprehensive user research.
• Internal teams possess too much product knowledge to represent real users.
• The article differentiates these three crucial product development activities.

Our Commentary ​

This is a classic distinction that still gets blurred far too often. We've seen countless projects where "we use it ourselves, so it must be good!" leads to blind spots. NNGroup always delivers on these foundational UX principles. It's a vital reminder that empathy for the user requires stepping outside our own expert bubbles.