Current State of Software Developer Experience

How do organizations measure their software developer experience and what impact does it have on their developers’ day to day? Read on to find out.

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One minute insights:

  • Most respondents are currently measuring software developer experience and describe it as positive in their organization

  • Leaders use 1:1s and employee engagement surveys to measure software developer experience

  • Most report that software developer experience in their organization positively impacts their developers’ morale

Most are currently measuring developer experience and describe it as positive

80% of all respondent organizations (n = 125) are currently measuring software developer experience. 10% aren’t yet, but plan to.

Is your organization currently measuring software developer experience?

chart1 (1)

n = 125 Note: May not add up to 100% due to rounding

Based on their measurements, 89% of respondent organizations (n = 100) report that their current software developer experience is positive.

Based on your measurements, how would you characterize the current software developer experience in your organization?

chart2 (1)

Don’t know 0% | Very negative 0% n = 100 Note: May not add up to 100% due to rounding

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

It’s encouraging to [see] that this concept is being embraced by more organisations. Developers were providing feedback along the lines of ‘We are told to improve the customer experience in our business process implementations and UX designs — but our experience is being ignored.'

Director, professional services industry, <1,000 employees

Leaders use 1:1s and employee engagement surveys to measure developer experience

Respondent organizations that measure their software developer experience (n = 100) commonly do so through one-on-ones with software developers (68%) or employee engagement surveys (66%).

How does your organization measure software developer experience? Select all that apply.

chart3

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

Measuring it is hard. I’ve personally spent a lot of time over the last year trying to make improvements. Some have gone well and others needed more thoughtful communication from the higher ups. Don’t be afraid to keep experimenting and admitting when things don’t go right.

Manager, software industry, <1,000 employees

Many say their developer experience positively impacts their developers’ morale

Among those measuring (n = 100), 79% say their organization’s software developer experience had a positive impact on their software developer morale. 17% say it had a negative impact on turnover and hiring.

Has your organization’s software developer experience had a positive or negative impact on the following factors?

chart4

n = 100

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

Improving software developer experience is a positive spiral; it acts as a positive loop to improve overall organisation experience.

Director, healthcare industry, <1,000 employees

In their own words...

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

Although we strive a lot to improve the developer experience, we fall short at measuring it eectively. This is left to managers to ask for and collect. However, this method does not help measure it in a calibrated way across different pods/teams so the feedback is not being put to use.

- Manager, professional services industry, 1,000 - 5,000 employees

Software developer experience is an intensive, all-out process; we term it ‘hire to retire.’ From the point of onboarding to engaging developers through communities, providing platform solutions and measuring the overall developer experience has been an integral part of our journey. This requires multiple parts of the organization to come together to create these elevated experiences.

- C-suite, software industry, 5,000 - 10,000 employees

Respondent Breakdown

RP