Nicole Forsgren

VP Research and Strategy at GitHub. Previously a researcher at Google. Co-author of Accelerate: The Science of Lean Software and DevOps and lead researcher on the annual State of DevOps Report. Creator of the DORA four metrics (deployment frequency, lead time, MTTR, change failure rate) and co-creator of the SPACE framework for developer productivity. Later developed the Frictionless framework — a seven-step diagnostic and improvement model for developer experience. Argues that developer satisfaction is not a soft metric but an early-warning signal for engineering performance. The DORA research overturned the industry assumption that speed and stability trade off against each other.

Episodes

• Nicole Forsgren on DORA, SPACE, and Measuring Developer Productivity — Lenny’s Podcast
• Nicole Forsgren on AI, Developer Experience, and the Frictionless Framework — Lenny’s Podcast