A better way to measure developer productivity | A special episode with Laura Tacho and Abi Noda

In this episode, Abi is interviewed by Laura Tacho about the new paper he co-authored with Dr. Nicole Forsgren, Dr. Margaret-Anne Storey, and Dr. Michaela Greiler. Abi and Laura discuss the pitfalls of some of the common metrics organizations use, and how the new paper builds on prior frameworks such as DORA and SPACE to offer a new approach to measuring and improving developer productivity.

Discussion topics:

• (2:20) Laura’s background
• (3:59) Laura’s view on git metrics
• (11:05) What developer experience (DevEx) is 
• (14:37) How the authors came together for this paper 
• (18:55) How DORA and SPACE are different
• (22:38) Limitations of DORA metrics 
• (24:43) Employing the DORA metrics at GitHub
• (27:47) What the SPACE framework is
• (30:44) Whether to use DORA or SPACE or both
• (33:54) Limitations of the SPACE framework
• (37:29) The need for a new approach 
• (38:46) What the new DevEx paper solves 
• (40:13) The three dimensions of developer experience 
• (40:54) Flow state 
• (43:10) Feedback loops
• (43:52) Cognitive load 
• (44:51) Why developer sentiment matters
• (47:58) Using both perceptual and workflow measures
• (50:59) Examples of perceptual and workflow measures 
• (54:05) How to collect metrics 
• (59:47) How other companies are measuring and improving developer experience
• (01:02:56) Advice for earlier-stage or growing organizations

Resources for learning more about the DevEx framework:

Read the new paper on ACM Queue

Read Abi’s announcement about the new paper 

Read how top companies measure developer productivity 

Connect with Abi and Laura 

Sign up for Laura’s course, Measuring Development Team Performance

Connect with Laura on LinkedIn or Twitter

Connect with Abi on LinkedIn or Twitter