I often get asked the question with leaders that I work with of like okay should I use Dora or space as if they are somehow in competition with one another. And the answer that I give them is that space is the overarching big picture, as you said it is categories, it is not a list of metrics. But what I tell them is that Dora is measuring a capability to ship code, and that capability is one aspect of developer productivity. We can actually put Dora within space and see where Dora metrics align to the space categories,. but they're not in tension with one other.
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