MyFitnessPal Giving Power Back to Engineers with Blameless

Chris Karper, Senior Director of Platform Engineering

With over 25 years of experience in software architecture and engineering leadership, Karper has been instrumental in steering MyFitnessPal through all of its technological evolutions, particularly in the realm of incident management and engineering processes.

Introduction to MyFitnessPal and Chris Karper

MyFitnessPal, a pioneer in the mobile health and fitness space, stands as a testament to technological advancement in personal wellness. At its helm in the platform engineering department is

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The Pre-Blameless Era

Prior to the adoption of Blameless, MyFitnessPal faced significant challenges in incident management. As Karper recounts, "We had several different departments who worked together, but not always well", leading to fragmented and inefficient processes. The lack of standardized incident response playbooks contributed to a chaotic environment where engineers were battling stress and uncertainty whenever something broke. The wider organization was beginning to feel this in the form of increased engineer attrition. The lack of clear processes and communication led to a reactive and ad-hoc approach to incident management.

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Implementing Blameless

Recognizing the need for a change, MyFitnessPal turned to Blameless, in the hopes of harnessing standardized incident response playbooks, consolidating best practices, and introducing a level of automation that was previously absent. Blameless was integrated primarily through Slack, which was already a central workspace for the engineers. This integration allowed for a smoother transition and immediate engagement with the new system.

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Benefits of Adopting Blameless

Standardization And Automation Of Incident Management Process

One of the most significant outcomes of implementing Blameless was the cultural shift within MyFitnessPal moving towards greater decision-making authority for engineers. Karper highlights the importance of this shift:

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Moreover, the availability of incident data and the standard for exploration and reporting that comes with that, have had a big impact on the willingness of individual engineers to participate openly in retrospectives.

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Standardization and Automation of
Incident Management Processes

Blameless also helped standardize the incident management processes across MyFitnessPal, creating uniformity and predictability. Karper notes the success of this standardization: “It gave us one playbook to follow that worked for everybody.”

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The automation aspect also reduced the tedium and potential for human error, streamlining the incident response.

For the MyFittnessPal team, Blameless plays a crucial role in automating the more tedious aspects of incident management. Providing a structured framework for handling incidents. This not only makes the incident response process more efficient but also allows engineers to focus on their craftsmanship and reduces the burden of ad hoc decisionmaking during high-pressure situations.

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Data-Driven Insights for Service Quality Improvement

Data-driven decision-making is a core tenant of MyFitnessPal’s engineering process. As Chris Karper puts it:

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Blameless made it simpler for Chris and team to aggregate incident data and put that data to use. This, in turn, enabled MyFitnessPal to make informed decisions about service maintenance and technical debt prioritization, shifting from subjective judgments to objective analysis. "The biggest difference comes... from the aggregation of incident data... being able to look at those longer-term trends is really where I find the value. And having just one place where all of our incident data lives."

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Structured Learning from Incidents

Finally, Blameless enhanced the organization's ability to learn from incidents. Karper passionately states, “...incidents are the one wholly-owned most important resource for learning.” The structured approach to incident retrospectives provided by Blameless allowed for deeper insights and continuous improvement.

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Conclusion

The adoption of Blameless by MyFitnessPal under Chris Karper’s leadership marked a pivotal turning point in the company's approach to incident management and engineering culture. The transformation led to a standardized and automated process, a shift towards a culture that prioritizes engineering happiness, the ability to make data-driven decisions, and a structured approach to learning from incidents. These changes not only streamlined their operations but also profoundly impacted the satisfaction and effectiveness of their engineering team, setting a new standard for incident management in the tech industry.