Nicole Forsgren

Researcher & Author at Author of Accelerate & Frictionless

Nicole Forsgren is the creator of the DORA and SPACE frameworks for measuring developer productivity, author of the award-winning book Accelerate and forthcoming Frictionless, and the foremost expert on developer experience measurement.

The Scientist The Craftsperson 2 appearances

Dimension Profile

Strategic Vision 63%

Execution & Craft 68%

Data & Experimentation 95%

Growth & Distribution 23%

Team & Leadership 55%

User Empathy & Research 50%

Key Themes

DORA framework SPACE framework developer productivity measurement developer experience inner and outer loop distinction engineering culture transformation

Episode Summary

Nicole Forsgren dives deep into measuring and improving engineering team productivity using the DORA and SPACE frameworks she created. She reveals that 80% of organizations struggle because they don't clearly define what problem they're solving, and explains the critical difference between culture, toolchain friction, and inner vs outer loop developer experience.

Leadership Principles

→ Start with what is your problem or goal — 80% of teams fail because they skip this step
→ Developer experience means different things to different people — you must define it precisely
→ If you're talking about culture vs toolchain friction, you're heading in completely different directions

Notable Quotes

"Starting with what is your problem or what is your goal — I would say this is a bigger challenge than most people recognize. 80% of the folks that I work with, this is their biggest problem."
— On the most common failure in developer productivity initiatives

"If you're talking about culture, this is totally different than if you're talking about friction in toolchains. If you're on different pages, you're heading in completely different directions."
— On why precision in defining developer experience matters

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