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To improve software developers' productivity has been the holy grail of software engineering research. But before we can claim to have improved it, we must first be able to measure productivity. This is far from trivial. In fact, two…
As artificial intelligence (AI) tools become increasingly embedded in software development workflows, questions persist about their true impact on developer productivity and experience. This paper presents findings from a mixed-methods…
Measuring developer productivity is a topic that has attracted attention from both academic research and industrial practice. In the age of AI coding assistants, it has become even more important for both academia and industry to understand…
How much does AI assistance impact developer productivity? To date, the software engineering literature has provided a range of answers, targeting a diversity of outcomes: from perceived productivity to speed on task and developer…
AI coding assistants have become prolific in recent years. Through a longitudinal mixed-methods investigation, we examined how professional software engineers perceive the effects of AI coding assistants in regard to task focus, developer…
Task switching and interruptions are a daily reality in software development projects: developers switch between Requirements Engineering (RE), coding, testing, daily meetings, and other tasks. Task switching may increase productivity…
In the constantly evolving world of software development, switching back and forth between tasks has become the norm. While task switching often allows developers to perform tasks effectively and may increase creativity via the flexible…
About 32% of a software practitioners' day involves seeking and using information to support task completion. Although the information needs of software practitioners have been studied extensively, the impact of AI-assisted tools on their…
Multitasking has always been an inherent part of software development and is known as the primary source of interruptions due to task switching in software development teams. Developing software involves a mix of analytical and creative…
Despite the widespread availability of generative AI tools in software engineering, developer adoption remains uneven. This unevenness is problematic because it hampers productivity efforts, frustrates management's expectations, and creates…
Background: Studies on developer productivity and well-being find that the perceptions of productivity in a software team can be a socio-technical problem. Intuitively, problems and challenges can be better handled by managing expectations…
Despite the increasing presence of AI assistants in Integrated Development Environments (IDEs), it remains unclear what different groups of developers actually need from these tools and which features are likely to be implemented in…
Prior work has mapped which workplace tasks are exposed to AI, but less is known about whether workers perceive these tasks as meaningful or as busywork. We examined: (1) which dimensions of meaningful work do workers associate with tasks…
Agentic AI systems are deployed with expectations of substantial productivity gains, yet rigorous empirical evidence reveals systematic discrepancies between pre-deployment expectations and post-deployment outcomes. We review controlled…
Digital Assistants (DAs) can support workers in the workplace and beyond. However, target user needs are not fully understood, and the functions that workers would ideally want a DA to support require further study. A richer understanding…
Generative AI is showing early evidence of productivity gains for software developers, but concerns persist regarding workforce disruption and deskilling. We describe our research with 21 developers at the cutting edge of using AI,…
Software development is a dynamic activity that requires engineers to work effectively with tools, processes, and collaborative teams. As a result, the presence of friction can significantly hinder productivity, increase frustration, and…
AI-powered coding assistants are rapidly becoming fixtures in professional IDEs, yet their sustained influence on everyday development remains poorly understood. Prior research has focused on short-term use or self-reported perceptions,…
AI agents are continually optimized for tasks related to human work, such as software engineering and professional writing, signaling a pressing trend with significant impacts on the human workforce. However, these agent developments have…
Background: The increasing adoption of AI assistants in programming has led to numerous studies exploring their benefits. While developers consistently report significant productivity gains from these tools, empirical measurements often…