How should I approach UX testing for onboarding of my digital dog tag product, and should I pay people for it?

I think this is a solid question, but unless you're already making a fair amount of money you're getting ahead of yourself with UX testing. You don't need UX testing unless your product is doing around $100,000 a month in revenue, roughly the six‑ to seven‑figure ARR mark. If you can't get non‑paid users to test your product before that point, you're probably misallocating time toward product development instead of marketing. Marketing is the gray area most people avoid, but a good marketing department lets even a simple product reach many customers without paying for UX onboarding testers. In short, focus on getting an MVP out, aim for at least seven figures a year, and iterate based on user feedback rather than hiring paid testers.