Why Remote Design Sprints Are Awesome
App Design & Development
“There’s an app for that!” And we can’t stop using it.
Everyone knows by now that pretty much anything you need – or even having a fleeting desire for – can be acquired with a few swift thumb movements thanks to the diverse array of apps available at our fingertips. Here at Blue Label Labs, we’re not just discovering what’s new and exciting on the mobile app market – we’re designing them, and now we can’t seem to live without them. That’s right, we eat our own dog food!
For the uninformed, no we aren’t chowing down cans of Alpo in the break room. “Eating your own dog food” refers to a company using its own products. Often this is done for testing purposes in real-life scenarios, but when it leads to constant use after the testing phase, dogfooding your own tech is the best possible endorsement for the quality and effectiveness of a product and an organization’s confidence in its usefulness.
So what apps and digital products are we dogfooding here at Blue Label Labs? Depends on which of our 70-plus team members you ask.
Bobby Loves Hello Sitter
Bobby, Co-Founder of Blue Label Labs, loves the babysitting app Hello Sitter, which allows users to find trusted child-care at the last minute or up to 10 days in advance. Qualified sitters are thoroughly vetted, interviewed in person, and most are CPR certified. Bobby has become a loyal user after trying it out with his own children and finding the service to be incredibly reliable and convenient.
Our Co-Founder is Dogfooding Our Print Shop App
Our Co-Founder Jordan and his wife Danielle are all about dogfooding our tech, too, and are addicted to Print Shop, an app that allows users to upload photos that are printed on museum-grade paper and delivered to their door. Print Shop sources their paper and shipping materials locally and boasts a 4.7-star rating for their expert service. Danielle uses Print Shop regularly, decorating their home with the beautiful prints she receives and giving them as gifts to friends and family. In fact, she has become such a dedicated user, when she has an idea for a unique print size, she emails the founder and they work together to come up with the right custom dimensions.
We’re All Digging the HowUDish App
Jeff, our Lead Program Manager, Bobby and Jordan all enjoy using the app HowUDish to stay healthy (or at least try) when eating out. They are fans of the streamlined access to a variety of services all devoted to tasty, fresh meals. After trying it out they kept using the app because of how easy it makes finding dishes that complement their diets, checking nutritional information and viewing recipes. A friend of Jordan has even ventured into the chat portion of the app where users can connect with one another and possibly meet up to eat well together, which may even lead to a second date.
Why Companies That Are Dogfooding Their Tech Are the Ones to Trust
Developing digital products that fill a need is in our DNA, and sometimes that leads to creating an app just so we can use it! That was the origin of the Gender Revel Sticker app which lots of our employees with big news to share have used to surprise friends and family. Now those friends and family members are also using the app and avidly engaging in dogfooding, spreading its use beyond the walls of the Blue Label office.
We love helping businesses discover solutions to everyday problems and finding novel ways to bring those solutions to the 5 billion smartphone users across the globe. Diving into your own product helps gauge its usability, better enables you to resolve issues and overcome challenges, and fosters greater enthusiasm for your work, ultimately resulting in better service to your clients. As Eran, our Head of Product says, we are strong believers in eating our own dog food, and it’s delicious!
Bobby Gill
