How to Implement the SPACE Framework: Step-by-Step Guide

Introduction

What Is the SPACE Framework?

Who Created the SPACE Framework?

What Are the SPACE Metrics?

SPACE Framework Organizational Levels

What Is the Difference Between the SPACE Framework and DORA?

How to Calculate SPACE Productivity (Step-by-Step)

SPACE Framework: Best Practices

SPACE Framework Template

Implement the SPACE Paradigm with Axify

The SPACE framework is transforming how we evaluate developer productivity.

Traditional methods focusing solely on individual outputs fail to capture the complete picture of team performance and well-being.

The SPACE framework offers a more comprehensive approach, combining key metrics on different dimensions to encompass software development, team health, and output.

In this article, we’ll break down the framework, show you how to use it, and explain why these multidimensional metrics help you build effective teams.

What Is the SPACE Framework?

The SPACE framework, introduced by GitHub and Microsoft Research researchers, redefines how we think about developer productivity. For decades, teams and organizations have grappled with measuring productivity effectively, usually relying on overly simplistic metrics like lines of code or the number of pull requests.

However, the paper The SPACE of Developer Productivity explains that these approaches fail to capture the complexity of software development. This mistake can lead to unintended consequences, such as focusing on output at the expense of quality or well-being.

The SPACE framework challenges several pervasive myths about developer productivity that have persisted in the industry:

Productivity is all about developer activity. Metrics like the number of commits or pull requests only tell part of the story because they don’t measure collaboration, creativity, or problem-solving.
Productivity is only about individual performance. The truth is productivity is inherently team-based. Focusing solely on individual metrics can harm collaboration and, as a result, your team’s outcomes.
One productivity metric can tell us everything. Productivity is multidimensional and cannot be reduced to a single measure.
Productivity measures are helpful only for managers. Productivity metrics can empower developers to improve their workflows and time management when implemented well.
Productivity is only about engineering systems and developer tools. Cultural factors, work environment, and team dynamics are equally important. However, they’re typically invisible in traditional metrics.

The SPACE framework addresses these myths by providing a multidimensional view of productivity. You won’t just focus on individual or team activity but also consider satisfaction, well-being, collaboration, and flow efficiency. This holistic perspective will help you deliver high-quality software while maintaining developer engagement.

Pro tip: Axify integrates key principles of the SPACE Framework to give teams an accurate picture of their productivity. Our intuitive dashboard helps you see key metrics and set business objectives. You can also view detailed maps of all your software engineering processes. That way, you can avoid risks and prioritize your activities better.

Who Created the SPACE Framework?

The SPACE Framework was developed in 2021 by a group of Microsoft researchers, including Margaret-Anne Storey, Nicole Forsgren, Chandra Maddila, and Thomas Zimmermann.

These experts have backgrounds in software engineering and developer productivity research. They used this specialized knowledge to design a framework that captures the complexities of measuring developer performance, product quality, and overall team success.

Their expertise illuminates misconceptions about developer productivity and provides tools for more comprehensively assessing software development teams.

That brings us to the next section:

What Are the SPACE Metrics?

SPACE is an acronym for the five dimensions that compose it. So, let’s review these five SPACE metrics and see some examples.

metrics in space framework

Quick note: In the examples above, the metrics in blue are available as is or by proxy in Axify. The metrics marked with (*) are not metrics we recommend following as they don't provide valuable information. Some can even mislead you into bad behaviour, so you should be cautious.

Satisfaction & Well-being

This metric focuses on developer happiness and overall job satisfaction. It is critical to ensure that healthy teams can sustain productivity in the long term.

Example: Survey responses or feedback scores can help measure employee satisfaction by focusing on team interactions, work-life balance, burnout, or learning and growth opportunities. The point is to identify areas for improvement.

Pro tip: If you want to measure your team morale, Axify offers an in-depth Well-Being Tracker. We’ll need two weeks to collect data from your team, but we’ll also send them periodic, anonymized questions about their well-being. That way, you’ll see your team's morale in terms of stress, motivation, inclusion, psychological safety, and alignment.

Team well-being metrics in the Axify dashboard

Performance

Performance metrics typically emphasize engineering outcomes at a team level, but people can assess their individual performance using SPACE. Teams are evaluated on how effectively they ship software or complete tasks. These metrics can also be extrapolated at an organizational level.

Example: Metrics like reliability and customer satisfaction offer valuable insights into team performance. Reliability can be measured using metrics like change failure rate or lead time for changes, which track the success of deployments and how quickly teams can implement updates or fixes. Additionally, customer satisfaction helps gauge the product's overall success from the user’s perspective, providing a direct measure of the impact of the software on end users.

This is how Axify shows change failure rate, for example.

change failure rate (dora metric) graph in Axify

Activity

Activity metrics track observable actions taken by software developers. These focus on the frequency and volume of work that contributes directly to the development process. That's why you'll track metrics like the number of pull requests (PRs) submitted, code commits, and issue resolutions.

Example: The frequency of pull requests submitted and the speed at which they are reviewed and merged are good proxies for small batch flow of work and the team's workflow efficiency and engagement.

Pro tip: Axify helps you track deployment frequency. Optimizing this metric will result in a smoother, faster software delivery pipeline.

Collaboration & Communication

This dimension assesses effective communication and how well teams share knowledge and work together to achieve common goals. Collaboration is crucial to high-performing teams.

Example: Metrics like the number of cross-team meetings, collaborative coding sessions, or perception about knowledge sharing help gauge team productivity. You can even include the number of interruptions here.

Pro tip: Use Axify’s Daily Digest to see your SDLC's exact tasks, priorities, and high-risk items. This will help you better organize your daily standup rituals and keep team members aligned and clear on their tasks.

Efficiency & Flow

Efficiency and flow metrics focus on how smoothly the software development process runs, identifying delays and bottlenecks in the engineering systems.

Example: Time to review PRs or the reduction of unplanned work provides a measure of how streamlined and efficient the team is. There should be minimal delays or interruptions; team members should have good chunks of uninterrupted work to increase efficiency.

Axify’s Value Stream Mapping helps you identify which phases of SDLC are longer and what slows you down.

Value stream mapping in the Axify dashboard

Cycle time and deployment frequency track the speed and reliability of software delivery. Flow efficiency measures the rate at which your team ticks down items during an Agile sprint. Flow distribution shows you the number of tasks or the workload for each item, like features or bugs. That way, you can see your resource allocation fast and reprioritize if needed.

Remember: To get an accurate picture of your team’s performance, it’s essential to analyze DORA and flow metrics together and in the context of each project.

Pro tip: Axify simplifies tracking each SPACE metric. You can easily click the left-hand tab to choose sections you want to highlight, such as Process, Technical, or Team Morale. Additionally, Axify lets you switch between Team View and Organizational View. This establishes Axify as a single source of truth, ensuring the entire organization is aligned and working toward the same goals with complete visibility.

SPACE Framework Organizational Levels

The SPACE framework can be applied across various organizational levels—individual, team, and organization—allowing you to assess developer productivity and well-being in different contexts. Each level has a unique focus on interpreting metrics and outcomes.

Here’s what to consider:

Organizational Level

At the organizational level, metrics provide a more comprehensive view of the software development lifecycle, focusing on engineering outcomes, alignment with strategic business goals, and positive business outcomes.

Here, you’ll need broader metrics to track the efficiency of the entire development pipeline, including product quality and developer performance across teams.

Pro tip: Use Axify’s Objectives and Key Results feature to set business goals and keep your priorities in check. You can also set customizable metrics here, like your NPS score or the number of application users.

Example: Organizations may track deployment frequency, CI/CD pipeline satisfaction, or overall knowledge-sharing documentation. The point is to understand how well the engineering system works and how well it supports broader objectives at the system level.

Team Level

At the team level, the framework focuses on team performance metrics such as effective communication, collaborative activities, and team productivity. This level examines how well teams work together and contribute to shared common goals.

Example: A team might monitor the Failure Rate or efficiency in code review processes to evaluate activity. They might also monitor feedback loops and handoffs to measure how well they communicate.

Individual Level

At the individual level, metrics focus on developer activities, satisfaction, and personal productivity measures. This includes data highlighting an individual’s contribution, like the number of code reviews completed or even the outdated lines of code (LOC) written. At Axify, we don’t promote lines of code because it’s a misleading metric, often ignoring quality, efficiency, and actual team productivity.

That said, this level also includes data about job satisfaction and well-being.

Example: An individual developer may track onboarding or cycle time to improve personal efficiency. You may also track their employee satisfaction or their developer focus time to ensure they have sufficient uninterrupted work periods.

What Is the Difference Between the SPACE Framework and DORA?

DevOps Research and Assessment (DORA) goes beyond just the four widely recognized DORA metrics (deployment frequency, lead time for changes, change failure rate, and time to recovery). It focuses on driving high-performance teams by covering various capabilities, including lean product management, team culture, and continuous delivery practices.

The main difference: While both SPACE and DORA emphasize team performance, they do so from different angles. DORA is highly focused on software delivery performance and operational efficiency, encompassing technical metrics and broader team practices. On the other hand, the SPACE Framework takes a more holistic, multidimensional approach to measuring developer productivity and well-being. SPACE encourages teams to select at least three metrics across its five dimensions (Satisfaction, Performance, Activity, Collaboration, and Efficiency) for a more comprehensive view of technical and human factors.

Use Cases:

Use DORA when optimizing your delivery processes, and team culture is the primary focus. The DORA capabilities give a strong foundation for improving software delivery and broader organizational practices like continuous delivery and lean management.
Use SPACE when you need a broader, more holistic approach that factors in developer experience, well-being, and collaboration.
Combine both frameworks to achieve well-rounded insights into engineering productivity and team well-being.

Regardless of which framework benefits your current goals, Axify can help you track DORA and SPACE metrics, ensuring your team has the tools to balance delivery speed with sustainability and overall team health.

Dora metrics organization-wide insights in axify for software development teams

How to Calculate SPACE Productivity (Step-by-Step)

Step 1: Identify Key Metrics

Determine which SPACE metrics are most relevant to your team. This might include satisfaction surveys to measure developer happiness, cycle time for performance, and collaborative activities to assess teamwork. To start, you need three metrics across three dimensions.

Step 2: Collect Data

Collect data through surveys and tools like Axify. Ensure you're gathering data on your team's three most important dimensions that reflect your business goals.

Step 3: Analyze Results

Compare performance metrics with well-being scores to identify correlations. For example, a decrease in onboarding time might correlate with higher team performance and job satisfaction.

Step 4: Set Benchmarks

Establish benchmarks tailored to your team's goals and unique context. These can serve as a baseline to track improvements over time.

Step 5: Continuous Improvement

Use the insights gained from analyzing the data to iterate and adjust your processes. Focus on improving both engineering outcomes and developer experience for sustained productivity gains.

Pro tip: Axify automates much of the data collection and analysis, making it easier to calculate and track SPACE productivity metrics. The Axify dashboard has the most relevant metrics across all five SPACE dimensions.

SPACE Framework: Best Practices

Focus on at least three metrics across three dimensions: Focusing on multiple dimensions (like Satisfaction, Performance, and Activity) rather than just one gives a fuller, more holistic view of developer productivity. It's crucial to pick the most actionable metrics within each dimension to track meaningful progress.
Start at the team level, then scale up: Begin implementing SPACE metrics at the team level. This allows you to test their impact on team dynamics before scaling the framework to higher organizational levels.
Look for patterns, not just numbers: Patterns, like consistent dips in team productivity after a long sprint, can provide valuable insights into team health. Use the metrics to detect burnout risks or identify teams needing more support in code review or collaborative activities.
Educate your team: You need a deep understanding of how metrics work and what they measure. Conduct team workshops or training sessions to ensure everyone understands how the SPACE dimensions reflect their software development lifecycle.
Incorporate feedback loops: Retrospective meetings and satisfaction surveys provide direct insights into satisfaction and well-being metrics. Creating consistent feedback loops allows teams to adjust continuously based on real-time feedback. That way, you’re improving both individual and team performance.

SPACE Framework Template

Let’s see a SPACE Framework Template example with different metrics for each organizational level. This framework is excellent for software engineering teams because it focuses on multiple dimensions. The point is to get a more holistic view of your productivity and well-being together.