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Advance your understanding of how software developers work, learn, and thrive with evidence-based research focused on developer satisfaction and success.

Join Cat Hicks, PhD and the Developer Success Lab researchers for the Developer Success Summit

Developer Success Lab researchers

The Developer Success Lab researchers have a conversation with engineering managers about common challenges and success stories in transforming the teams they manage.

Reports

Evidence-Based Research to Improve Developer Success

Dive into the latest research on developer thriving, team culture, and developer productivity.

Successful Hackathons Increase Team Morale
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Article

LeadDev Flashback: How Hackathons Increase Team Morale

Carol Lee, PhD

Carol Lee breaks down how hackathons can increase belonging, decrease anxiety and help people imagine new identities in tech at LeadDev in New York.

Developer Thriving white paper series 2
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Research

How Visibility Leads to Higher Performing Teams and Better Business Outcomes

Cat Hicks, PhD, Carol Lee, PhD, Morgan Ramsey

We dive more deeply into how visibility contributes to improved engagement, performance, and productivity from both individuals and team members.

how successful hackathons can increase team development
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How Successful Hackathons Can Increase Team Development

Carol Lee, PhD & Cat Hicks, PhD

Decades of psychological and behavioral science consistently show that it’s the intangible outcomes that not only drive the tangible outcomes, but also key long-term sociocognitive processes for employees such as motivation, performance, and productivity.

Quantity is for Production, Quality is for Performance
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Quantity is for Production, Quality is for Performance

Carol Lee, PhD & Cat Hicks, PhD

Moving past misconceptions about how we define & measure productivity to unlock sustainable software team success.

why engineering management needs science
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Why engineering management needs an evidence science

Cat Hicks, PhD

You hear a lot about the outcomes and the frictions being felt by other teams, but you know that your job is to understand what’s really happening with this team.

The developer thriving framework
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Research

Whitepaper: The Developer Thriving Framework

Cat Hicks, Carol Lee, Morgan Ramsey

Based on the latest research from the Developer Success Lab, this whitepaper will dive into how to foster a thriving environment for software developers.

the four factors of developer productivity across industries
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Research

Developer Thriving: the four factors that drive Software Developer Productivity across industries

Cat Hicks, Carol Lee, Morgan Ramsey

Read the first major research project from the Developer Success Lab: The four factors that drive software developer productivity across industries.

feedback for performance
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Measuring developer experience: The superpower of today

Cat Hicks

As a social scientist and Pluralsight’s VP of Research Insights, Cat Hicks examines how employees respond to their work environment, colleagues, managers, and other senior leaders.

feedback for performance
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How to give feedback for performance in tech

Cat Hicks

When it comes to the developer experience, how you give feedback is as important as the metrics you’re delivering.

feedback for performance
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Building long term developer success through positive experiences

Carol Lee

Research shows that there are two key factors that increase behavioral engagement, while boosting mental wellness: self-efficacy and value building.

Team

Meet the Developer Success Researchers

Image of Cat Hicks, PhD

Cat Hicks, PhD

Social & Data Scientist

Cat Hicks is a social science leader in tech with expertise leading applied research teams to explore complex areas of human behavior, empirical intervention, and evidence science.

Cat is a research affiliate in STEM education research at UC San Diego and an advocate for increasing education access. She holds a Ph.D. in Quantitative Experimental Psychology from UC San Diego, was an inaugural Fellow in the UC San Diego Design Lab, and has led research at organizations such as Google and Khan Academy.

Image of Carol Lee, PhD

Carol Lee, PhD

Clinical Research Scientist

Carol Lee leverages her expertise in mental health and thoughtful measurement to study how developers cope and thrive through stressful circumstances. Carol has over a decade of experience leading academic and industry research in clinical health, measurement, and human behavior.

Carol serves as a research fellow at the Integrated Behavioral Health Research Institute and as a clinical science advisor for Bravely Mental Health. She holds a Ph.D. in clinical psychology from UMass Boston.

Image of Morgan Ramsey

Morgan Ramsey

Design Research Scientist

Morgan Ramsey utilizes her background in ethnography, design and UX research to strategize solutions to complex problems. She specializes in developing design research strategies to elevate underrepresented users’ narratives and thereby build excellent products.

Morgan holds a B.A. in Public Policy from Duke University and an in-progress Masters in Design Methodology from Illinois Institute of Technology, Institute of Design.

Announcements

Events

Catch up on all the latest updates with the Developer Success Lab team.

Engineering managers on the frontline of transformation
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Event

Join Cat Hicks, PhD and the Developer Success Lab researchers for the Developer Success Summit

The Developer Success Lab researchers have a conversation with engineering managers about common challenges and success stories in transforming the teams they manage.

LeadDev London 2023
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Join Cat Hicks at LeadDev London on June 27th

How I learned to stop worrying about Developer Productivity and love Developer Thriving

Watch dev thriving webinar on demand
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Developer Success Summit Series: The four factors that drive Software Developer Productivity across industries

Cat Hicks, PhD and the Developer Success Lab researchers present their findings from the Developer Thriving: the four factors that drive Software Developer Productivity across industries study.

How to thrive podcast
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How to Thrive, Belong, and Lead in the Tech World

Cat Hicks, PhD presents a framework based on her team’s research on over 1,200 developers called Developer Thriving, which engineering leaders can use to create high-performing development teams that are happier and more collaborative.