Software Developer Productivity: What we know and how to make it better
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The document explores software developer productivity, highlighting the factors that influence developers' perceptions of productivity and the activities they engage in throughout their workday. It discusses survey findings showing developers' preferences for measuring productivity and the impact of context switches on their workflow. Recommendations for improving productivity include minimizing interruptions, effectively organizing work, and leveraging automated tools for time tracking.
![© Tasktop 2016
Perspective
When do developers perceive themselves to be
productive and unproductive?
Thomas Fritz
U. Zürich
André Meyer
U. Zürich
Tom Zimmermann
Microsoft
Research
Joint work [FSE 2014] with:](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/tasktop-productivity-webinar-160317022354/85/Software-Developer-Productivity-What-we-know-and-how-to-make-it-better-5-320.jpg)
![© Tasktop 2016
Observation
Survey left us with many questions.
What are tasks? What are context switches?
What kind of email is processed? …
Thomas Fritz
U. Zürich
André Meyer
U. Zürich
Tom Zimmermann
Microsoft
Research
Joint work [FSE 2014] with:](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/tasktop-productivity-webinar-160317022354/85/Software-Developer-Productivity-What-we-know-and-how-to-make-it-better-12-320.jpg)
![The longer the switch the more expensive…
“[To] stop and work on a different task is a more
costly context switch that writing a quick email”
The more focused on a task the more expensive…
“Depends on where I was, if it was a critical section, it is
really hard to get back to focus on that task, even if it was for
like 30 seconds”
Theme 3: Work FlowObservation](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/tasktop-productivity-webinar-160317022354/85/Software-Developer-Productivity-What-we-know-and-how-to-make-it-better-20-320.jpg)
![© Tasktop 2016
Contact
You can reach me via gail.murphy@tasktop.com or @gail_murphy
For more information on Tasktop products, see www.tasktop.com
[FSE 2014] André N. Meyer, Thomas Fritz, Gail C. Murphy and Thomas Zimmermann. Software
Developers’ Perceptions of Productivity. In Proc. of 22nd ACM SIGSOFT International
Symposium on the Foundations of Software Engineering, ACM, 2014.
References
Acknowledgements
Thanks to the many participants in our studies. This work was funded in part by NSERC, in part
by ABB and has been motivated through conversations with many colleagues at Tasktop.](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/tasktop-productivity-webinar-160317022354/85/Software-Developer-Productivity-What-we-know-and-how-to-make-it-better-38-320.jpg)
Software Developer Productivity: What we know and how to make it better
- 1. Gail C. Murphy Tasktop Technologies Univ. of British Columbia @gail_murphy @tasktop Software Developer Productivity: What we Know and How to Make it Better
- 3. © Tasktop 2016 Ways Forward
- 4. Perspective
- 5. © Tasktop 2016 Perspective When do developers perceive themselves to be productive and unproductive? Thomas Fritz U. Zürich André Meyer U. Zürich Tom Zimmermann Microsoft Research Joint work [FSE 2014] with:
- 6. SurveyPerspective 28 questions 379 responses 93% developers 9.2 avg years of experience
- 7. 53% complete tasks or goals 50% have no/few interruptions or distractions 22% have no meetings 20% have clear goals I have a productive day when I…Perspective
- 8. Perspective Productive and Unproductive Activities 0 20 40 60 80 Coding Meetings Planning Doc 0 15 30 45 60 75 Meetings Email Unplanned Coding Productive Unproductive
- 9. # Work Items Time on Work Items Time on Code Reviews Time Writing Code # Code Reviews # Code Elements Changed # Lines of Code Changed # Emails Written Perspective Measuring Productivity
- 10. Take-awayPerspective Developers want to measure productivity; each developer wants to measure differently. 27% Activities 18% Achievements 17% Value 16% Time per task ratio
- 11. Observation
- 12. © Tasktop 2016 Observation Survey left us with many questions. What are tasks? What are context switches? What kind of email is processed? … Thomas Fritz U. Zürich André Meyer U. Zürich Tom Zimmermann Microsoft Research Joint work [FSE 2014] with:
- 13. Observation
- 14. Theme 1: TasksObservation 4 (±2.3) tasks per 4 hours 13.3 (±8.5) task switches per hour 6.2 (±3.3) min spent each time on task tasks ≠ work items
- 15. 47 (± 19.8) activities per hour 1.6 (± .8) min spent on each activity 14.8 (± 3.9) programs over 4 hours Theme 2: ActivitiesObservation
- 16. Code 33% Debug 4% VC 2% Test App 12% Review 2% DevOther 4% Activities (Development)Observation
- 17. Email 5% Planning 8% Doc 3% Meet Planned 5% Meet Informal 13% Browsing 4% Activities (Other)Observation
- 18. Context switches lower productivity What is a context switch? Theme 3: Work FlowObservation
- 19. A context switch is when: “When I have to stop thinking about one thing and start thinking about something else” Theme 3: Work FlowObservation
- 20. The longer the switch the more expensive… “[To] stop and work on a different task is a more costly context switch that writing a quick email” The more focused on a task the more expensive… “Depends on where I was, if it was a critical section, it is really hard to get back to focus on that task, even if it was for like 30 seconds” Theme 3: Work FlowObservation
- 21. Mitigate context switches (e.g., close email, schedule a meeting with yourself, work elsewhere) Need for automatic recognition of context switches Take-awayObservation
- 22. Activity
- 23. Thomas Fritz U. Zürich André Meyer U. Zürich Tom Zimmermann Microsoft Research Joint work with: Laura Barton UBC But what do developers really do all day… and when do they think they are productive? Activity
- 25. Code 21% Debug .4% VC .7% Test App Review 1% DevOther ActivitiesActivity
- 26. Email 14% Planning 5% Doc 7% Meet Planned 6% Meet Informal 3% Browsing 11% Activities (Other)Activity
- 28. Development work is highly fragmented (.3 to 2 min per activity) Developers perceived productivity follows habitual patterns Some early take-awaysActivity
- 29. Activity
- 30. Individual Team & Organization Ways Forward
- 31. Set goals Organize workday to minimize interruptions Manage distractions IndividualWays Forward
- 32. Teams & Organization Learn and use effective meeting practices Use toolchains that support context and flow Ways Forward
- 33. © Tasktop 2016 Access your task tracker from your IDE Know where your time goes with automated time tracking See only the interesting code Ways Forward
- 34. © Tasktop 2016 Ways Forward SCM CI CD APM RM Agile Dev QAPPM SecITSM Project Requirement User Story Defect Ticket BuildChange Set Release Vulnerability Failure Alert Automated Test DevOps Scaling Agile
- 35. Answer questions about your software development processes: • Which teams are producing the most severe defects? • Why are those defects happening? • How quickly are defects fixed? • What types of features result in the most customer complaints? • …
- 36. Activity
- 37. Perspective Individual measurement and retrospection Ways Forward Individual, team, organization Activity Habitual productivity patterns Observation Mitigate context switches Perspective Activity Ways Observation @gail_murphy @tasktop Software Developer Productivity: What we Know and How to Make it Better
- 38. © Tasktop 2016 Contact You can reach me via gail.murphy@tasktop.com or @gail_murphy For more information on Tasktop products, see www.tasktop.com [FSE 2014] André N. Meyer, Thomas Fritz, Gail C. Murphy and Thomas Zimmermann. Software Developers’ Perceptions of Productivity. In Proc. of 22nd ACM SIGSOFT International Symposium on the Foundations of Software Engineering, ACM, 2014. References Acknowledgements Thanks to the many participants in our studies. This work was funded in part by NSERC, in part by ABB and has been motivated through conversations with many colleagues at Tasktop.