Etsy's Secret Sauce: How 'Eating Their Own Dog Food' Fuels a Better Marketplace

•6 min read
dogfoodingsoftware developmentetsyproduct developmentagiletestingci cdemployee engagementuser experiencemarketplace

In the fast-paced world of software development, there's a time-honored practice that often separates good products from great ones: "eating your own dog food," or dogfooding. It's the simple yet profound idea that companies should use their own products and services internally as a primary way to test, understand, and improve them. Etsy, the sprawling online marketplace for handcrafted and vintage items, has woven this philosophy into its development culture, leading to a more robust and user-centric platform.

While Etsy might not always shout "dogfooding" from the rooftops with a formal, branded program name, the principles are evident in their engineering practices, product rollout strategies, and company culture. They understand that to truly serve their vibrant community of millions of sellers and buyers, their own teams need to be deeply familiar with the platform's every nook and cranny – experiencing both its triumphs and its frustrations firsthand.

Early and Continuous Internal Use: The Mobile App Example

One of the clearest illustrations of Etsy's dogfooding commitment comes from its approach to mobile app development. As far back as 2014, reports highlighted how Etsy leveraged continuous integration principles not just for their web stack, but rigorously for their mobile applications as well. Instead of solely relying on external beta testers, Etsy would roll out continuous releases of its mobile apps to internal teams. This meant that Etsy employees were among the very first to use new features and iterations in real-world scenarios.

To facilitate this internal feedback loop, Etsy even developed tools like an internal "Bug Hunting tool." This allowed employees to report bugs directly from their devices, often attaching screenshots to pinpoint issues. Adding a touch of fun and engagement, there was even a level of gamification, with leaderboards recognizing the most prolific bug hunters. This approach not only helped in identifying and fixing bugs early but also fostered a sense of collective ownership and quality assurance across the company.

A Culture of Experimentation: Dogfooding at Scale

Etsy is renowned for its deeply ingrained culture of experimentation, particularly its extensive use of A/B testing. As detailed on their "Code as Craft" engineering blog and in various discussions by their product teams, nearly every change, from a button color to a new search algorithm, is often tested with a subset of users before a full rollout.

While A/B testing isn't dogfooding in its purest, most isolated form (where only employees use a pre-release version), it functions as a type of scaled dogfooding in Etsy's context. Employees, being active users of the platform for their own shopping or even as sellers themselves, are inevitably part of these experiment groups. They experience new features organically, providing an invaluable layer of sophisticated, internal "first users" before changes reach the entire user base.

This continuous experimentation allows Etsy to:

  • Gather Real-World Data: See how new features perform under actual usage conditions.
  • Validate Hypotheses: Test assumptions about user behavior and preferences.
  • Iterate Rapidly: Make data-driven decisions and refine features quickly.

Etsy's "Building Better Tools With Experiments" guide for sellers even explains this philosophy, stating, "By testing new features with a small percentage of Etsy users, we gather valuable data that helps us ensure that the changes we make will have a positive impact for the majority of Etsy sellers." Employees are a critical, albeit often undifferentiated, part of that "small percentage."

Encouraging Company-Wide Product Immersion

Beyond formal testing, there's a cultural expectation at Etsy that encourages employees to engage deeply with the product. Cap Watkins, a former VP of Design at Etsy, articulated this well in a blog post about his design process. He emphasized the importance of company-wide dogfooding during development:

Hopefully you've already had your entire company dog-fooding your new release during development. If not, it's time. Get everyone to use your product under real, live conditions. Gather feedback. Make adjustments.

Cap Watkins, My Design Process Part 3

This sentiment underscores a proactive approach to getting the product in front of internal users. It’s about more than just QA; it’s about fostering empathy and ensuring that everyone, from engineers to marketers, understands the user experience from the inside out. When employees are encouraged to use the platform for their personal shopping, or if they run their own small shops, they naturally become critical and insightful testers of new seller tools and buyer-facing features.

Focus on Seller Success: Internal Testing for a Better Toolkit

Etsy's success is inextricably linked to the success of its sellers. Therefore, a significant portion of their development effort goes into creating and refining tools for shop owners. Recent pushes to enhance the Shop Manager dashboard, introduce AI-powered listing assistance, and provide real-time feedback on listing quality are prime examples.

While Etsy often beta tests these new seller features with "a select group of sellers," it's highly probable that employees who also run Etsy shops, or dedicated internal testing accounts, are among these early adopters. This allows Etsy to:

  • Understand Seller Pain Points: Internal users can quickly identify clunky workflows or missing functionalities in new seller tools.
  • Refine Usability: Ensure that new features are intuitive and genuinely helpful before a wider release.
  • Catch Edge Cases: Discover unique scenarios or problems that might not be apparent in controlled testing environments.

The Nuances and Potential Pitfalls

Dogfooding, for all its benefits, isn't a silver bullet. One potential challenge is the "expert user" syndrome. Employees who are intimately familiar with the platform's architecture and upcoming features might not use the product in the same way a brand-new, less technically savvy user would. They might unconsciously work around bugs or understand convoluted features that would baffle an average customer. Etsy mitigates this through its extensive A/B testing with broader audiences and dedicated user research.

Another aspect is ensuring that feedback channels are open and that employees feel empowered to provide honest, critical feedback without fear of reprisal. Etsy's engineering culture, which emphasizes collaboration, transparency, and empowering developers, seems conducive to fostering such an environment.

Conclusion: A Living Lab for a Thriving Marketplace

Etsy's application of dogfooding principles, whether through direct internal releases, widespread experimentation, or a culture of product immersion, plays a crucial role in its continuous improvement. By having its own team members regularly use and scrutinize the platform, Etsy gains invaluable insights, catches issues earlier, and ultimately builds a more resilient, user-friendly, and innovative marketplace.

It’s this commitment to living within their own creation, to experiencing what their buyers and sellers experience, that helps Etsy "Keep Commerce Human" – not just as a tagline, but as a practiced reality in their product development lifecycle. While they may not always use the term "dogfooding," their actions speak volumes, demonstrating a clear understanding that the path to a better product often starts by looking inward.