Accelerate

CHAPTER 2

MEASURING PERFORMANCE

There are many frameworks and methodologies that aim to improve the way we build software products and services. We wanted to discover what works and what doesn’t in a scientific way, starting with a definition of what “good” means in this context. This chapter presents the framework and methods we used to work towards this goal, and in particular the key outcome measures applied throughout the rest of this book.

By the end of this chapter, we hope you’ll know enough about our approach to feel confident in the results we present in the rest of the book.

Measuring performance in the domain of software is hard—in part because, unlike manufacturing, the inventory is invisible. Furthermore, the way we break down work ...