Mining of Repositories to Understand Productivity in Remote Work Environments

While the WHO declared the end of the pandemic in May 2023, remote work remains prevalent in the software industry. However, productivity among development teams in remote settings has varied, and there is a lack of consensus on how to evaluate it effectively. Recognizing this challenge, our research group initiated a project involving industry practitioners and academics to investigate factors influencing team productivity in remote environments and propose strategies to mitigate any negative impacts. The project’s phases include scoping indicators, mining software artifacts, conducting focus groups/surveys, and co-creating strategies. The first two phases of the project are detailed in this paper. Indicators were scoped to evaluate productivity, focusing on activities such as code contributions, bug fixes, and code review processes. A tool called GitSight Pro was developed to mine GitHub repositories, providing visualizations of team contributions, developers’ pace, and contributions by experience level. Evaluation of the tool’s usability was conducted through a survey, with respondents generally rating their experience as very good and providing constructive feedback for improvement.