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DoorDash is requiring engineers to deliver food

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Re: DoorDash is requiring engineers to deliver food

#31

Post by czbond »

valeness wrote: post #14
webinvest wrote: post #2

Seems like a great way for employees to become more intimate with the product they’re developing. This, I would expect, would lead to developing a better product and user experience.

Seems like a great way to assist the engineers in just finding new jobs...

As an engineer (product creator) - it behooves one to continually be involved in experiencing how the product is used. Not just how we believe it, or think it.

Use cases, flows, and product paths seem logical on a whiteboard. However, the real world often introduces nuances that significantly alter use in micro ways.

The objection to interact with customers from engineers I believe is more due to a social aversion, introversion, etc rather than a defiance of not doing the delivery. Engineers can often be afraid of unknown social situations - which is fair.

If I were the CEO, I'd have engineers go in packs of 3 engineers at first for 3-4 months. Then pair to group of 2 with one as a "ride along, no interaction" for moral support.

Re: DoorDash is requiring engineers to deliver food

#32

Post by alexktz »

somethingAlex wrote: post #7

They did this at chick-fil-a corporate as well. An extremely competent product manager described the yearly experience as “standing around not knowing what I should do and trying not to get in the way.” Those kitchens get hectic, super different than being in the office.

I wonder how society would change in general if we were all forced to step out of our comfort zones once a month? Make me become a garbage man for the day, or a barista or a gas station attendant.

Perhaps it would engender some empathy between different areas of society and reduce the overall sense of entitlement some folks seem to have.

Re: DoorDash is requiring engineers to deliver food

#33

Post by wiseowise »

rvz wrote: post #6

One engineer who is getting nearly $0.5m total compensation and when asked to do one delivery a month, they are now throwing a tantrum over that. But you know what? Good. Maybe that is what they need since the drivers and riders get 0.01% of what these engineers earn and I'm sure that there were complaints about that. So when one is getting nearly $0.5m for the engineering work and told to do just ONE delivery a mont…

> Just deliver one pizza

> Just work a bit more one day

> Just take a paycut

Nothing good comes out of mindset like this.

Re: DoorDash is requiring engineers to deliver food

#34

Post by valeness »

hallway_monitor wrote: post #16
valeness wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Seems like a great way to assist the engineers in just finding new jobs...

Seems like a great way to filter out prima donnas who can't be bothered to put themselves in the place of their users. I would be happy to be rid of anyone complaining about this policy.

Can you explain to me how someone who spends their entire day in k8s and helm charts would benefit by exploring the UX of an application through the lens of the user? Beyond a normal study, that is?

Re: DoorDash is requiring engineers to deliver food

#35

Post by adventured »

hallway_monitor wrote: post #16
valeness wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Seems like a great way to assist the engineers in just finding new jobs...

Seems like a great way to filter out prima donnas who can't be bothered to put themselves in the place of their users. I would be happy to be rid of anyone complaining about this policy.

It definitely is. Any engineer that won't eat their own dog food (if at all possible) is net a mediocre engineer, or otherwise immature (hasn't progressed far enough in their career; doesn't yet realize how much they don't know). DoorDash is better off without many of those types. It's an excellent way to clear the house of engineers that are more likely to hold back the product than advance it. Which of course doesn't mean firing everyone that complains; there are people that are rigidly unwilling and people that are uncomfortable (for various possible reasons) and need to be brought along.

Re: DoorDash is requiring engineers to deliver food

#36

Post by valeness »

windowsrookie wrote: post #17
valeness wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Seems like a great way to assist the engineers in just finding new jobs...

These engineers are paid incredibly well. If they can't handle spending 30 minutes once a month taking a delivery, then they can work somewhere else.

Yes, precisely, they will get paid extremely well somewhere else where this is not part of the expected job duties.

And in my opinion, the doordash product will suffer for it.

Re: DoorDash is requiring engineers to deliver food

#37

Post by asimpletune »

VWWHFSfQ wrote: post #26
windowsrookie wrote: post #15

Requiring the engineer to actually use the product they are working on in real life is good. Maybe it can help make the experience better for the dashers, the restaurants, and the company. That $400,000/yr engineer makes more money in a day than a DoorDash worker makes in 2 weeks working full time. I do not feel any sympathy for the 1 dash they will have to make a month.

what does the engineers salary have to do with anything

That they get paid a lot? And sometimes it’s to deliver groceries.

Re: DoorDash is requiring engineers to deliver food

#38

Post by dylan604 »

somethingAlex wrote: post #7

They did this at chick-fil-a corporate as well. An extremely competent product manager described the yearly experience as “standing around not knowing what I should do and trying not to get in the way.” Those kitchens get hectic, super different than being in the office.

Something I was thinking about where if I was the day-to-day employee suddenly forced to work with a brand new employee that you know will only be working there for one day (meaning they won't be super motivated to really dig in), I'd be pissed. Lots of comments in the thread about low morale for those engineers being forced to do this, but not much discussion about the reverse direction. (Makes since since this is a site focused on those engineers.)

This person claiming to standing around not knowing what to do just shows that they really are trying to do anything. You've been assigned a task, do it. If you don't know, ask. They aren't trying to be better because they know at the end of the one day their nightmare will be over.

Re: DoorDash is requiring engineers to deliver food

#39

Post by Hamuko »

valeness wrote: post #34
hallway_monitor wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Seems like a great way to filter out prima donnas who can't be bothered to put themselves in the place of their users. I would be happy to be rid of anyone complaining about this policy.

Can you explain to me how someone who spends their entire day in k8s and helm charts would benefit by exploring the UX of an application through the lens of the user? Beyond a normal study, that is?

If the application actually uses that k8s cluster, then you might actually want to see the real-world performance of it all instead of just aggragated response time graphs.

Re: DoorDash is requiring engineers to deliver food

#40

Post by jeffwask »

It'll be interesting to see how long it takes for someone ill suited to food delivery gets injured, robbed, assaulted, or worse.

I wouldn't do it. I wouldn't do it during normal times never mind during a pandemic. Seems like a bold strategy during the most job seeker friendly market I have seen in 20 years.

I made life choices so I wouldn't ever have to go door to door for anything. No offense to hard working delivery people but when I did that sort of work I chose to mop floors and clean toilets over anything food service.

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