Why I make my PM team deliver food orders - no exceptions

Hey GV folks, long-time lurker, first-time poster here. I'm a product leader at Zomato, managing a team of 8 PMs. Today, I want to share a practice that's become the cornerstone of our product philosophy - and it all started with me being "punished" by my first manager.

At the cost of self praising, this is some really good advice so I hope you’re able to extract the maximum value out of this.

Five years ago, I was a cocky new PM, fresh out of a fancy consulting gig. I thought I knew everything about our users based on data and surveys.

My wake-up call came when I royally screwed up a feature release. Instead of firing me, my manager did something unconventional - she made me spend a week as a delivery partner.

I was pissed. Riding around Bangalore in the March heat, navigating traffic, dealing with hangry customers - how was this supposed to make me a better PM? But on day three, while waiting for an order outside Truffles (fellow Bangaloreans, you know the wait I'm talking about), I struck up a conversation with a few seasoned delivery partners.

What I learned in those 30 minutes blew my mind. They shared hacks they'd developed, pain points I'd never considered, and insights about customer behavior that no amount of data could have revealed. I realized I'd been building features in a vacuum, completely disconnected from the real world our app operated in.

That week changed everything. I rewrote our entire product roadmap based on what I learned. The results? Our delivery partner satisfaction scores shot up, and our order completion rates improved significantly.

Since then, I've made it a point to spend one day every month doing deliveries. It keeps me grounded, provides constant insights, and reminds me who we're really building for.

When I started managing other PMs, I knew I had to institutionalize this practice. Now, it's mandatory for everyone on my team to do a delivery day once a month. No exceptions.

At first, there was resistance. "We have data for this," they'd argue. "I can't waste a whole day delivering food!" But after their first experience, they got it. Now, our team meetings are buzzing with insights from the field.

Here's why I believe every product manager should regularly step into their users' shoes:

1. Data doesn't tell the whole story: Numbers can show you what's happening, but not why. Real interactions reveal the context behind the data.
2. Empathy drives innovation: When you experience user pain points firsthand, you're more motivated to solve them creatively.
3. It challenges assumptions: Nothing humbles you faster than realizing your "brilliant" feature is actually a pain to use in the real world.
4. It builds credibility: When you can say "I've done this myself," your team and stakeholders listen differently.
5. It's a reminder of impact: In the daily grind of KPIs and metrics, it's easy to forget that we're affecting real people's lives. This practice keeps that front and center.

Some practical tips if you want to try this:

• Don't just observe. Actually do the job.
• Engage in conversations. Users (and front-line workers) are usually eager to share their experiences if you show genuine interest.
• Look for workarounds and hacks. These are gold mines for product insights.
• Pay attention to the environment and context in which your product is used.
• Reflect on the experience immediately after. What surprised you? What frustrated you?

To my fellow PMs out there: when was the last time you truly stepped into your users' shoes? If it's been a while, I challenge you to give it a try. You might just find your next big product breakthrough while waiting to pick up someone’s 1 am order from Empire :)

P.S. Took a photo while waiting for my order, would probably have been fired long back had it not been for this evening!