Designing dashboards – visualizing software metrics for Continuous Delivery

Sammanfattning: Feedback is an essential part of the software delivery process. Software metrics, as feedback, can give knowledge about the essential parameters that affect the software development process. An improved understanding of the software development process can facilitate more effective software management. With new software development methodologies emerging, such as Continuous Delivery, new information needs arise. The new methodology requires a new way of thinking when designing and developing dashboards for software development. A dashboard is a communication tool that can provide up-to-date information through at a glance interaction. The purpose of this thesis was to investigate how different software metrics related to Continuous Delivery can be visualized in a dashboard system at the company Saab. This thesis used a user-centered approach to find the appropriate visualization and user context to provide the user with feedback that supports the software development. The thesis work included user observations in the form of interviews and contextual inquiry. Thereafter, prototyping and usability testing were conducted in two iterations to design the dashboard and gather feedback. The result of this thesis work was a final prototype that was implemented in the program Kibana using real-time data from a software project. This thesis presents a set of elements that should be included when designing a dashboard for software development based on the findings of this study.