Transforming Developer Experience: A Tale of Recovery and Innovation

GOTO Amsterdam 2024

In this talk, we delve into the critical role Developer Experience (DX) plays in the productivity, satisfaction, and overall success of software development teams. Through a compelling narrative, we explore the journey of a software development team plagued by inadequate testing infrastructure, accumulated technical debt, and a cumbersome software delivery process. This story serves as a backdrop to introduce and discuss key DX factors identified in recent research and their significant impact on a team's efficiency and morale.

We further examine the coping mechanisms developers resort to when faced with poor DX, such as focusing on external projects or withdrawing from work and the long-term negative outcomes that can arise, including decreased productivity, diminished job satisfaction, and increased turnover. The presentation highlights the pitfalls of implementing performance metrics without consideration of their impact on DX and proposes an actionable framework for measuring and improving DX, linking theory with practice.

By mapping these research findings and strategies back to our initial story, attendees get a holistic understanding of DX's importance and practical steps for enhancing it within their teams.

Target audience:

• Software development professionals
• Team leads
• Managers