As a developer, I spend time thinking about how to get the layout of our vacation rental search site pages to look as perfect as possible on all of the popular web browsers and how to pack as much information about properties into the most concise format.

As a Dad, I spend time thinking about where we’ll go for our next fun outing. Last month, it was Oregon. Naturally, I prefer to rent houses or condos when I can because they are just as affordable and a lot more comfortable than hotel rooms. It’s been awhile since I’ve rented a vacation home (what with all the work around here!) , so I decided to take the opportunity to see what some of our competitors websites are like.

I began searching for houses near my destination, and before I knew it, I was no longer checking out the buttons and layout of their pages as a web developer, but rather I was a customer; a prospective renter looking for the perfect vacation rental. I took that feeling with me back to our own site and it was almost like I was seeing it for the first time. My perspective had completely changed. I wasn’t seeing buttons, colors and layout. I was truly experiencing what it was like to be a user on our site.

As a developer, I’ve always known that to develop a good product, you need to use the product yourself. It’s called “eating your own dog food” by people in the software industry. I’ve done this before, but this time I made the transition from developer to user more completely than ever – probably because it was my own vacation after all.

I’m happy to say that I was pleased with what I experienced. It was easy to browse through houses that I liked and convenient to have maps, rates and photos right there. The “favorites” feature was really helpful for marking properties that I was interested in, and going back to compare them later. I made an inquiry, and the same day rented a place that turned out to be great for us.

During my search, I also discovered some things we could improve. For example, once I found a house that I was interested in, I sent an inquiry asking for confirmation that the house was still available and that the estimated rental fees were accurate. It would have been nice to have some idea how long I was going to have to wait to hear a response from the owner. I’m working on that one. Stay tuned. Maybe there are things about the site that you think we could improve. If so, let me know.

And for anyone going to Oregon, I highly recommend Sunriver, especially:

• Horseback riding at the Sunriver Resort
• Sightseeing at Crater Lake
• Canoeing and swimming in the Deschutes River

Ok, time to get back to work…