Improvement of Continuous Integration Workflow with User Research

Abstract

In a fast-paced, continuously changing IT industry, it is important for organizations to deliver their products both quickly and with high quality. Continuous practices help achieve that. Specifically, Continuous Integration (CI) aims at submitting code frequently and consistently, checking every new piece of code with automated tests. Therefore, software malfunctions are caught early. At the same time, improper implementation of CI can hinder the development process. Thus, a proper CI assessment is required. The work utilizes a survey to gather employee feedback regarding CI, and then analyzes it with a thematic matrix. Even though employees' general attitude towards CI is positive, they highlight its instability, slowness, lack of documentation, and unclear error messages, among other findings. Additionally, the study revealed deep-rooted issues like shortage of employees and no communication channel between developers and the CI team. In the end, we produced a CI improvement plan with a list of tasks to implement to achieve user goals of the employees.