Real Users Is the Ultimate Upgrade
Let’s get one thing straight: you can read all the docs, binge every YouTube tutorial, and refactor your codebase until it’s cleaner than a fresh install of Ubuntu.
But nothing will level up your skills (or your side project) like getting real users and real traction.
If you’re a coder, techie, or indie hacker, you know the drill: you obsess over features, polish the UI, maybe even write tests for every edge case. But until you ship and watch real people interact with your creation, you’re basically playing on easy mode. Traction is the boss level. It’s the ultimate feedback loop, the harshest teacher, and you’re brave enough - the fastest way to become a smarter builder.
Let’s break down why traction is the secret sauce for devs, how it transforms your project (and you), and how to actually harness it to build smarter, faster, and with more impact.
What Even is Traction? (And Why Should You Care?)
Forget the buzzwords. Traction isn’t about how many hours you’ve logged in your editor or how many commits you’ve pushed. It’s about whether people are actually using, loving, and coming back to your product.
Traction = measurable progress with real users in the real world.
It’s the difference between a side project that lives and dies in your GitHub and one that actually matters.
The Metrics That Matter
User acquisition: Are people signing up, downloading, or creating accounts?
Retention: Do they stick around, or bounce after one try?
Engagement: Are they actually using your features, or just poking around?
Revenue: If you’re charging, are you making money?
Market validation: Are you getting feedback, reviews, or shoutouts?
If you’re tracking these, you’re playing the real game.
Why Traction Is the Best Feedback Loop for Developers
1. Market Validation: Product-Market Fit, For Real
It’s easy to fool yourself into thinking your idea is genius when it’s just you and your code editor. But when users start signing up, using your tool, and telling their friends, you know you’ve hit something real. Traction is the ultimate “no BS” validator. It’s the market’s way of saying, “Yep, this solves my problem,” or, “Meh, next!”
2. Learning What Works (and What Sucks)
Every user is a walking, talking bug report or feature request. When you have traction, you get a steady stream of feedback - sometimes in the form of glowing testimonials, sometimes as savage bug reports. Both are gold. You’ll quickly learn:
Which features users love (double down!)
Where users get stuck (fix the UX!)
What’s missing or broken (prioritize your roadmap!)
3. Data-Driven Decisions, Not Developer Daydreams
With traction comes data. You’re no longer flying blind or building based on hunches. You can see, in black and white, what’s working and what isn’t. Are users dropping off after onboarding? Maybe your setup is too complex. Is one feature getting all the love? Time to build that out further.
4. Faster, Smarter Product Development
Modern tools (think Google Analytics, Mixpanel, Hotjar, or even a simple feedback form) let you gather user data in real time. Cloud-based collab means you can work with contributors from anywhere, speeding up the feedback loop and making your product smarter with every release.
5. Focus and Resource Allocation
Traction helps you stop wasting time on features nobody wants. Instead, you double down on what your users actually need. Every hour you spend moves the needle, not just the codebase.
How Traction Levels Up Your Dev Game
You Stop Building in a Vacuum
It’s easy to get lost in your own ideas and preferences. But when you have real users, you’re forced to see your project through their eyes. You learn to empathize, to listen, and to adapt. This shift from “builder” to “problem solver” is what turns a side project into something truly valuable.
You Get Honest, Unfiltered Feedback
Your friends and family will tell you your project is great. Real users will tell you the truth - sometimes it stings, but it’s always useful. As one founder put it, “The best feedback comes from people who have no reason to spare your feelings-they just want your product to work for them.”
You Build Momentum and Motivation
Nothing is more motivating than seeing your user numbers climb, your inbox fill with feedback, and your project actually making an impact. Traction creates a positive feedback loop: more users mean more learning, which leads to a better product, which attracts even more users.
You Attract Opportunities
When your project has traction, you attract collaborators, investors, and even job offers. People want to be part of something that’s growing and making a difference. Traction is the ultimate calling card - it shows you can not only build, but also solve real problems in the real world.
How to Harness Traction and Build Smarter
Here’s your step-by-step dev playbook for turning traction into your secret weapon:
1. Launch Early, Launch Ugly
Don’t wait for perfection. Ship a minimum viable product (MVP) and get it in front of users. The sooner you launch, the sooner you start learning. As the pros say, “Perfection is the enemy of progress”.
2. Measure What Matters
Pick key metrics that align with your goals-sign-ups, retention, engagement, and revenue. Track them religiously. Don’t get distracted by vanity stats like page views or Twitter likes - focus on what actually moves your project forward.
3. Listen to Your Users
Set up channels for feedback - email, Discord, Twitter, and surveys. Read every comment, bug report, and suggestion. Look for patterns in what users are saying. Building in public (tweeting your progress, sharing on Indie Hackers, etc.) is a great way to attract feedback and build a following.
4. Iterate Quickly
Use what you learn to make fast, focused improvements. Don’t be afraid to kill features that aren’t working or double down on those that are. Speed is your friend -rapid iteration means you can capitalize on trends and user needs before someone else does.
5. Build in Public
Share your journey on social media, blogs, or community forums. Building in public attracts more users, more feedback, and more learning opportunities. Plus, you’ll inspire other devs to start their own projects8.
The Double-Edged Sword of Traction
Traction isn’t all sunshine and rainbows. As your user base grows, so do expectations. You’ll face pressure to keep improving, competition will notice you, and scaling can strain your resources. But these are good problems to have - they’re signs you’re building something that matters.
Why Side Projects Are the Ultimate Dev Playground
Side projects aren’t just resume boosters or ways to learn a new stack. They’re low-stakes, high-reward playgrounds for experimenting, failing fast, and learning what really works. You get to:
Explore new tech and frameworks (hello, Next.js, NX, or whatever’s hot this month)7.
Practice rapid iteration and feature scoping.
Build confidence by shipping and seeing real-world results.
Create a portfolio that actually solves problems, not just “hello world” clones.
And the best part? Every lesson you learn compounds, making your next project easier, faster, and smarter.
The Techie’s Traction Checklist
Ready to put this into action? Here’s a quick checklist to keep you honest:
Ship an MVP, not a masterpiece.
Set up analytics or basic tracking from day one.
Open a feedback channel (Discord, email, Twitter DMs, etc.).
Deploy early and often; don’t wait for “done.”
Share your journey in public (blog, tweet, Indie Hackers).
Use real user data to drive every next step.
Iterate, iterate, iterate.
Final Thoughts: Traction Is the Ultimate Teacher
For devs and techies, traction is more than just a milestone - it’s your smartest, toughest, and most honest teacher. It validates your ideas, sharpens your focus, and accelerates your learning. Every user is a lesson. Every piece of feedback is a clue. Every metric is a roadmap.
So, don’t just build-
launch, measure, listen, and learn.
Let traction make you smarter, and watch your side project grow from a solo experiment into something that truly matters.
Because at the end of the day, it’s not the prettiest code that wins.
It’s the product people actually use, love, and share. Now go out there and ship something worth learning from!