Improving Software Developer Experience

How are software engineering leaders improving developer experience in their organizations? Find out which steps have been most successful.

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One minute insights:

  • Most respondents are actively trying to improve software developer experience

  • Automating tasks is a common step toward improving developer experience

  • Leaders have successfully improved developer experience by introducing automation and building a more collaborative culture

Most respondents are actively trying to improve software developer experience

89% of all respondent organizations (n = 125) are taking steps to improve software developer experience.

Is your organization taking steps to improve software developer experience?

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n = 125

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Question: What are your final thoughts on measuring and improving software developer experience?

Developer experience should and can be constantly improved. Our organization constantly takes steps to find new and better tools and takes developer feedback to determine what we should be using.

Director, software industry, <1,000 employees

Automating tasks is a common step toward improving developer experience

More than half of respondent organizations that are taking steps to improve developer experience (n = 111) are turning to automation of repetitive tasks (62%) as a potential solution.

What steps is your organization taking to improve software developer experience? Select all that apply.

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Cultivating a more collaborative culture 38% | Adding new tools (e.g., generative AI coding tools) 38% | Changing workflows (e.g., implementing DevOps) 38% | Adding self-service portals 37% | Establishing communities of practice 29% | Training existing staff 28% | Scheduling focus time 26% | Adopting platform engineering 25% | Hiring additional staff 12% | Using browser-based IDEs 5% | Don’t know 2% | Other* 1% *Other includes: “Powerful hardwares”

n = 111

Automation and collaborative culture have improved developer experience

45% of respondents at organizations pursuing better developer experience (n = 111) say automating repetitive tasks has proven to be one of the most effective steps to achieve this.

From the same list, which steps have proven to be the most successful at improving software developer experience in your organization? Select up to 3.

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Changing workflows (e.g., implementing DevOps) 26% | Adding new tools (e.g., generative AI coding tools) 25% | Establishing communities of practice 23% | Encouraging more experimentation 22% | Creating feedback loops 22% | Adding self-service portals 20% | Scheduling focus time 18% | Training existing staff 17% | Adopting platform engineering 12% | Hiring additional staff 10% | Using browser-based IDEs 2% | Don’t know 1% | Other 0%

n=111

In their own words...

This can be diicult for organizations with small development teams to invest in. However, I think it is important for organizations of all sizes to work on improving [developer experience (DX)] — but this means that companies oering DX services need to have tools that fit within small organizational budgets when needed.

- Manager, educational services industry, <1,000 employees

Automation of repetitive tasks and adopting new GenAI technologies will surely help.

- Director, software industry, 1,000 - 5,000 employees

Let the developer use the tools that make them the most productive; don’t force them to use what the company thinks will make them productive. They are all different and all have different needs.

- C-suite, software industry, <1,000 employees

Respondent Breakdown

RP