Understanding Business: The Engineer's Superpower ??

Great engineers do more than just code and design. They create solutions that match business challenges. To achieve it you need context Let's explore how to get it !

1. The Power of "Why?" ?? Asking "Why?" is always a good start when you're trying to think like a businessperson. For instance, ask, “Why does our company exist?” Companies usually have a deeper purpose beyond making money. Look at Uber's goal to make transportation as reliable as tap water, for everyone, everywhere or Airbnb's vision to let anyone feel at home anywhere in the world. ManyChat where I work create meaningful connection between businesses and customers. Such missions align a company's actions. Everything done should line up with this vision. Be sure that your ideas or problems you invest most are align to it.The "Why?" can also be more specific. For example: Suppose you need to design a chat feature. Before you begin, think about why users would want this. It could be they desire quicker customer support. With that in mind, the design would then emphasize speed and efficiency. Or you don't super powerful chart and you can use external solution and save a lot of time right now.
2. Goals, Our Guiding Light ?? Every company sets goals. They're more than just milestones; they show where effort and resources should go. Example: If the main aim for a quarter is to keep users retentions, then all features and fixes should connect user experience and satisfaction. If we have goal to improve onboarding of users and they understanding of the product it will be strange to invest in some robotic architecture of the feature that 9 of 10 will now ever see, you know? Sometimes you should invest in tech dept to make product stable in feature that is most important, and you will achieve the goal. And make devs life better. It’s now always about some new features
3. Metrics, The Measure of Success ?? Metrics are crucial. They show what features users engage with. If you crafted a feature and it's not getting traction, then maybe it needs rethinking. Also, you likely have a key metric, or "North Star". Suggestions that boost this metric are gold. Make sure your time and energy go into projects that elevate this number. In part of ManyChat I work for we checking activation of user by his action in LiveChat. That means that investments in other parts, like our mini CRM is not so crucial, because i user want get value from chart - he unlikely will use CRM
4. Step into a User’s World ?? Ever heard, "Use what you build?" It's a wake-up call for all developers. By using your creations, you can find areas of improvement you never thought of before. For example: As a developer for a food app, order something. Maybe there are too many steps or searching is hard. Some features might not work as hoped. I know some folks working on such apps who even act as delivery personnel occasionally to see the whole process. Their feedback is invaluable. When we started give a lot of focus on Instagram, in company we had a day, where everyone created their businesses and tried to use main user flows. Got us a lot of new backlog items and context to create great solutions
5. Watching the Competition ?? Keep an eye on your competitors. They might be solving problems you haven’t thought of or they might introduce you to new market demands. For example, they can introduce feature you thinking about. You can see the traction, you can see they weak points. Do it better!
6. Customer Interviews: A Treasure Full of Insights ??? Your product managers might often chat with users. Join them! Direct user feedback is gold. You might discover a button that's hard to spot or a step that confuses users. It will easier for your team to decide how to solve the problem, because you all share this context and already thought about some ideas

In essence, a top-notch engineer combines tech expertise with a deep understanding of business. It’s about skillfully balancing the how with the why!

Over to you: How do you make sure your tech work aligns with business goals? Would love to hear your thoughts! ??