How to use the SPACE framework to improve developer productivity

SPACE metrics for developer productivity

Fundamentals of the SPACE framework

The SPACE framework aims to debunk the myths about measuring developer productivity and proposes a healthy and practical way to measure it. The fundamental ideology of the framework is Developer productivity is a function of multiple dimensions and tracking only "one metric that matters” can never represent the actual productivity of your team.




Why should developer productivity matter?

Developer productivity is important not only to measure engineering outcomes but also to the satisfaction of your team members, as satisfaction and productivity are highly correlated. As in any team sport, success of both the team and the individual is important.

Developer productivity is important not only to measure engineering outcomes but also to the satisfaction of your team members, as satisfaction and productivity are highly correlated. As in any team sport, success of both the team and the individual is important.

What is the right way to measure?

Optimizing only for individual performance would do more harm than good. Key is to find the right balance between individual, team, and organizational success. Any model which reduces developer productivity to a single metric is designed to fail.

Optimizing only for individual performance would do more harm than good. Key is to find the right balance between individual, team, and organizational success. Any model which reduces developer productivity to a single metric is designed to fail.



SPACE metrics span across these five dimensions: Satisfaction and well-being, Performance, Activity, Communication and collaboration, Efficiency and flow. It’s best to measure developer productivity with metrics spanning at least three out of these five dimensions.

Quote

“Similar to team sports, success is judged both by a player's personal performance as well as the success of their team. A developer who optimizes only for their own personal productivity may hurt the productivity of the team.“

/01. Satisfaction and well-being

The biggest source of fulfillment for developers is by doing development that makes a difference. And to ensure a healthy working environment for your team it's important to be mindful of the stress caused by the workload and have measures in place to mitigate it before it's too late. It’s absolutely crucial to include this dimension of SPACE metrics when tracking developer productivity.

Exhaustion is caused by excessive workplace stress and often when the team is over-committing. Looking at the trends in individual developers’ efforts can help you be proactive in detecting signs of burnout and take preventive action before it actually happens.

/02. Performance

SPACE framework suggests the best way to track performance is by measuring outcomes rather than output. Often the outcome of individual contribution is dependent on the type of work that is assigned to the individual. Thus measuring outcomes at a system level can help you understand the performance of your team.

The absence of bugs is a great indicator of the quality of work and the productivity of your team. Lesser bugs = More time for your team to focus on the planned items and deliver new features faster.

/03. Activity

Developer activity when tracked across different phases of the SDLC, can help you with limited insights into the developer productivity and efficiency of your team and engineering processes. However, individually the activity dimension of SPACE metrics will not help you understand true developer productivity.

A summary of development activities like story points shipped, pull requests merged, code reviews completed, and bugs resolved to help you understand the efficiency of your team across the different phases of your development lifecycle.
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“Developers often say that productivity measures aren't useful. This may come from the misuse of measures by leaders or managers, and it's true that when productivity is poorly measured and implemented, it can lead to inappropriate usage in organizations.“

/04. Communication and collaboration

This dimension of SPACE metrics is crucial to capture the aspect of how well the team can collaborate and whether there is an optimal flow of information amongst the team members. A team that communicates better and has a culture of transparency is bound to be more productive as team members know about the priorities and what others are working on which makes it much easier to coordinate dependencies.

How quickly a new piece of work is integrated and deployed to production is a clear indication of how efficiently the team communicates. Tracking cycle time across different stages of development from planning to production helps you understand how efficiently the team collaborates in each stage and also easily pinpoint the areas that need your attention.

/05. Efficiency and flow

This dimension of SPACE metrics attempts to capture how well work is done across the team and whether development activities continue without interruptions. Flow tries to capture how many hours can developers dedicate to uninterrupted work and also how swiftly can a piece of work, flow through different processes. DORA metrics do a great job of capturing the flow metrics at a team level.

Deployment frequency and Change lead time help you capture the overall efficiency and speed of your processes. The higher the deployment frequency and the lesser time it takes for a commit to reach production, the better efficiency and flow you have across your different engineering processes.
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“The most important takeaway from the SPACE framework is that productivity cannot be reduced to a single dimension (or metric!).“

Misconceptions about developer productivity

Read answers to the most common misconceptions and myths about tracking developer productivity.




Does tracking developer productivity mean I don't trust my team and want a way to measure it?


Developer productivity is not a “taboo”. The reason for running away from developer productivity is that leaders have often represented it as metrics that are easy to track, and not the ones that make more intuitive sense. When developer productivity is tracked for the right reasons it becomes a motivator for the team, where everyone understands that optimizing the right metrics ultimately leads to a happier and more satisfied development team.


Are these the only SPACE metrics to track?


Historically developer productivity is either something the leaders run away from or reduce to one metric, which is clearly the worst way to deal with it. The SPACE framework clearly sets out the areas that matter and gives examples of metrics that could be tracked in each dimension. However SPACE metrics are not a fixed set of metrics to track, but more like guidance for teams to select metrics that make the most sense for them.


Is developer productivity only for engineering managers and leaders?


Not at all. The way developer productivity has been defined in the past is the primary reason for developers’ perception that “productivity measures aren’t useful”. However, developer productivity when measured correctly can also be used by the developers to measure themselves and understand areas of improvement. Given there is a high correlation between productivity and happiness, it becomes even more important for developers to track this.


Can I start with a few metrics and then incrementally track others?


The underlying ideology of the SPACE framework is, you shouldn’t say Developer productivity = Story points shipped BUT when you say Developer productivity = Story points shipped AND PR cycle time AND Customer satisfaction it completely changes the way you track developer productivity. Starting small is absolutely okay, however, do ensure you track one metric across at least three out of the five dimensions.


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