Here in the U.S. we have a fast-food chain called Chick-fil-A. Its claim to fame isn't actually its food (though it's quite tasty!), but its commitment to the perfect customer experience. And whatever they're doing, it's working - most of their locations have incredibly long (but also extremely fast-moving) lines.
At the one nearest to my house, I noticed something interesting: an awning was built over a section of the drive-through line. This wasn't just some canvas cover; it's a full metal roof. It even has fans and heater units installed... for people to drive their cars through. It's not something cheap - it's clearly an investment.
The Origin of the Awning
In a traditional fast-food joint there's a sign in the back with a speaker unit that you can drive up to, place your order, and then drive around to the side of the building where they'll open a window and hand you your food.
But at Chick-fil-A, the lines were so long that they were losing customers. So they created an operations technique they call the "Outside Play". The Outside Play sends a couple of employees with tablet PCs out to stand in the line of cars and take orders. This allows the kitchen to prepare more orders in advance, reducing the time that a customer has to spend waiting at the window. Throughput can increase dramatically by putting those two employees out there.
An Unexpected Problem
The Outside Play works flawlessly, except for one thing: The Weather. If it's raining, the tablets might not work. If it's really hot or cold outside, it isn't safe for the employees to stay out there for extended periods.
At first, they tried just rotating people in and out, and it worked for a while. But where I live, our summers get disgustingly hot and humid... even with short outside shifts, like 20 minutes a pop, employees were still in danger of suffering from heat exhaustion.
The Awning Solution
Chick-fil-A leadership realized they needed those people out there. So they elected to invest - and built the awning. And they put the fans in it for the summertime, and they put heater units in it for the wintertime, and they put quality work into it so that their employees can still keep the Outside Play running regardless of the weather.
Sir, this isn't a Wendy's... it's a Technology Blog
You might be wondering what any of this has to do with technology... but let's talk about Developer Experience. If your company's leadership didn't grow up around the concept of DevEx, they probably wave the "ROI" flag at you any time you suggest initiatives to focus on improving things.
"That's just frivolity. We need to work on increasing revenues, or on cutting costs."
That sounds like:
"We don't need metal-roof buildings, heaters, or fans. We need more chicken nuggets out the window."
Chick-fil-A realizes that the awning isn't a perk; it's a throughput multiplier.
Without it:
- The Outside Play shuts down in bad weather.
- Order velocity drops.
- Lines grow longer.
- Revenue leaks.
With it:
- The system works every day.
- Employees can operate safely.
- Throughput remains high.
- Revenue increases.
Their investment protects the system that makes money.
Now think about that with some DevEx words replacing the chicken nuggets:
Without good DevEx:
- Builds fail randomly.
- Local environments are inconsistent.
- Onboarding takes months.
- Engineers context-switch constantly.
- The “Outside Play” shuts down when conditions are bad.
With good DevEx:
- Engineers stay in flow.
- Deployments happen safely and quickly.
- Bugs surface earlier.
- Throughput increases.
The awning doesn’t make employees happier for happiness’ sake... Its purpose is to keep the system producing. And for your business, Developer Experience is the awning that keeps your delivery pipeline running.
The Leader's Challenge
If you're a leader who's asking for ROI when your engineering team asks for some Developer Experience improvements, ask yourself instead: "What's going to happen to your throughput when the weather gets bad?"
"Bad Weather" in a Software Engineering context can strike in a lot of different ways:
- A surprise price hike from a core services vendor. (Copilot token billing, anyone?)
- A major security vulnerability exposed in your supply chain. (Can't wait for Mythos!!!!)
- An urgent business need to deliver something before a competitor does.
You can keep rotating engineers...
Or you can build an awning.
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