The ability to stay focused on the task at hand, make meaningful progress, and feel good at the end of a day’s work make a real difference in developers’ satisfaction and productivity. In a 2021 study, we found that developers’ own view of productivity has a twist–it’s more akin to having a good day. Is the traditional view of productivity-outputs over inputs-a good fit for the complex problem solving and creativity involved in development work?.How valuable are self-reports of productivity?.What are the “right” productivity metrics?.
When it comes to measuring developer productivity, there is little consensus and there are far more questions than answers. To do that, we first had to grapple with the question: what does it mean to be productive? Why is developer productivity so difficult to measure? In the months following its release, we wanted to better understand and measure its effects with quantitative and qualitative research. When we first launched a technical preview of GitHub Copilot in 2021, our hypothesis was that it would improve developer productivity and, in fact, early users shared reports that it did. Software development produces such a high number of tools and technologies to make work efficient, to the point of inducing decision fatigue. Everyday, we use tools and form habits to achieve more with less.
