Ask why in every PR - product engineering with Erin Fox

If you are merging beautiful AI PRs without being able to say why the change exists, this episode is for you. Kent talks with Erin Fox about treating every feature like a new product, asking why before you write code, and rebuilding the trust contract that agents quietly broke. They cover circling back to metrics, using community Slack as a feedback loop, telling a stakeholder story that is not just a migration estimate, and going slower with agents so they do not rewrite your patterns. 00:00 - Meet Erin Fox 01:40 - A new feature is a new product 05:03 - Finding the why before you build 07:36 - AI PRs broke the trust contract 10:57 - Metrics, research, and circling back 14:25 - Community Slack as a feedback loop 16:17 - Tell the story stakeholders can hear 20:49 - Communications skills as an engineering edge 24:12 - Ask your boss their goals 27:22 - Go slower with your agents 37:50 - Homework: ask why on every PR Erin Fox is a full-stack engineer who has shipped a React Native MLS soccer app, creator-focused email tools, and plenty of features that felt like launching a product each time. In this conversation, she and Kent dig into what that framing changes: you do not just implement a ticket. You figure out the date, the why, and whether the real fix is a new feature or a two-hour margin change. A major theme is trust. Erin used to assume a teammate's PR already had the why baked in. AI-generated PRs look great and pass tests, but the why is often missing. Her red flag is simple: if you cannot explain why this change is needed, do not treat passing tests as permission. That same question belongs in the PR template, in stakeholder conversations, and in how you brief an agent - because "fix this bug" will happily change a million things. They also get practical about feedback loops. Look at the metrics you instrumented. Lurk in community Slack, including accessibility channels, until user pain is not abstract. Then tell the story in language stakeholders care about: not "this migration takes a quarter," but what it unlocks. Erin's communications master's degree shows up here. She asks her manager what their goals are this quarter and treats that as the job. Homework is small on purpose: on every PR you open or review, write why this change matters. Homework On the next PR you open, add a Why section that a teammate could understand without the ticket. On the next PR you review, ask why this change is needed - especially if it looks AI-generated. If you cannot answer why, stop and find out before you merge. Resources Erin Fox on X ( https://x.com/erinfoox ) Erin on Bluesky ( https://bsky.app/profile/erinfox.bsky... ) Erin on GitHub ( https://github.com/erinfox ) Erin on LinkedIn (   / erinkfox   ) Kit ( https://kit.com ) Guest: Erin Fox GitHub: @erinfox ( https://github.com/erinfox ) 𝕏: @erinfoox ( https://x.com/erinfoox ) Host: Kent C. Dodds Website: kentcdodds.com ( https://kentcdodds.com/ ) 𝕏: @kentcdodds ( https://x.com/kentcdodds ) GitHub: @kentcdodds ( https://github.com/kentcdodds ) YouTube: kentcdodds-plus (    / @kentcdodds-plus   ) Podcast: epicproduct.engineer ( https://epicproduct.engineer ) See on Epic Product Engineer ( https://www.epicproduct.engineer/ask-... )