9 Mistakes to Avoid while creating an Internal Product

Overview
The article shares nine frequent mistakes that teams make while creating internal products and provides concrete recommendations to prevent them. Drawing from Skyscanner Engineering's experience, it emphasizes aligning goals, involving users early, and maintaining sustainable development practices.

Key Takeaways

• Define a clear product vision and success metrics before development begins.
• Conduct real user research to understand internal stakeholder needs.
• Keep the scope focused and avoid over-engineering solutions.
• Prioritise documentation and onboarding to reduce knowledge silos.
• Establish strong cross-functional communication channels.
• Monitor technical debt and allocate time for refactoring.
• Use data-driven decisions to iterate on the product.
• Ensure alignment with broader business objectives.
• Foster a culture of continuous improvement and feedback.

Who Would Benefit

• Engineering managers leading internal tool teams.
• Product owners and designers building internal solutions.
• Technical leaders responsible for strategy and execution.
• Developers working on cross-departmental projects.

Frameworks and Methodologies

• Agile and iterative development.
• User-centered design principles.
• Metrics-first product definition.
• Continuous integration and refactoring practices.