Increase developer productivity – the right way!

Measuring productivity is not easy. All too often we lose ourselves in tracking time spent, number of lines of code, number of commits, or time for code review.

However, these measurements omit a very important part of development: How well does the function solve the users' needs? True productivity is when the delivery meets the requirements – quickly!

The wrong measurements

Using measurements to measure productivity is popular. Developers are often measured on various things in an attempt to ensure that time is used productively, and that the organization gets value for money. Nowadays we can measure almost everything. But focusing on the wrong measurements will give a false sense of security. The problem is that the number of lines of code or pull requests gives us no idea of how well the final application actually performs when it is released. The only thing it tells us is that the developers are doing something, but not whether it is the right thing to do.

The right way to measure productivity

To truly measure productivity, we need to redefine what productivity means in an organization. Productivity does not mean how much a developer produces, e.g. number of lines of code or bug fixes. Productivity is, how good are you at delivering the right features over time? The more features you deliver that hit the mark right away – the less time you spend on bug fixes, changes, patches, etc., and the more productive you will actually be. This is the productivity you should aim for.

The right tools

80% of development is routine work. It is writing the same lines in different places and setting up the application's structure. To increase productivity, invest time in analyzing the actual work being done. How much of it is repetitive? Even just 30 minutes a week of doing the same things can be costly in the long run. Spending a few hours to automate repetitive tasks can increase productivity in the long term. Including developer tools that can handle the basics frees up time to work on the actual challenges. Not only does it increase productivity, but it also makes it more fun!

Include the users

The biggest mistake that reduces developer productivity is forgetting the users. Most often, time before development is spent capturing needs and wishes for features. Once development begins, the users are often forgotten until the system is released. Daily stand-ups or story breakdowns are actually not agile if the user's needs change before the feature lands in front of them. Finding ways to involve users throughout the process is the key to a high level of productivity. With the Innova Developer Platform, new features can be implemented quickly and given to the users. This means that less time is wasted