Research
This page lists curated research on developer productivity and experience, focus and flow, self-monitoring and self-reflection, brought to you by the FlowLabs team.
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2025: Better Balancing Focused Work and Collaboration in Hybrid Teams by Cultivating the Sharing of Work SchedulesKey Publication
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2023: Cultivating a Team Mindset about Productivity with a Nudge: A Field Study in Hybrid Development Teams
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2020: Detecting Developers’ Task Switches and Types
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2020: Supporting Software Developers’ Focused Work on Window-Based Desktops
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2019: Fostering Software Developer Productivity through Awareness Increase and Goal-Setting
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2019: Enabling Good Work Habits in Software Developers through Reflective Goal-SettingKey Publication
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2019: Fitbit for Developers: Self-Monitoring at Work
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2019: Developers’ Diverging Perceptions of Productivity
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2019: Reducing Interruptions at Work with FlowLight
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2019: Today was a Good Day: The Daily Life of Software DevelopersKey Publication
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2018: Design Recommendations for Self-Monitoring in the Workplace: Studies in Software Development
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2018: Sensing Interruptibility in the Office: A Field Study on the Use of Biometric and Computer Interaction Sensors
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2017: Characterizing Software Developers by Perceptions of Productivity
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2017: The Work Life of Developers: Activities, Switches and Perceived Productivity
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2017: Reducing Interruptions at Work: A Large-Scale Field Study of FlowLightKey Publication
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2014: Software Developers’ Perceptions of Productivity
Blog Articles
Learn more about our latest research
‘Stick to’ Three: Fostering Awareness, Intentions, and Reflections on the Top Daily Tasks
Many of us who navigate digital tasks throughout the day have experienced how difficult it can be to stay focused on what really matters. Between to-do lists, notifications, and shifting priorities, it’s easy to feel busy without actually making progress on the most important work. In this blogpost, we explore…
Forbes: 3 Ways Managers Can Make Teams More Productive
This post first appeared in Forbes on June 25, 2025 and was written by Prof. Dr. Lauren Howe, one of our research collaborators. Work today is full of interruptions. The constant influx of emails, notifications, and questions from co-workers can slow individual progress and create a sense of frustration. After…
Better Balancing Focused Work and Collaboration in Hybrid Teams by Cultivating the Sharing of Work Schedules
We are thrilled to announce the acceptance of our newest FlowTeams-paper that marks a continuation of our seminal FlowLight-paper. Access the pre-print here. Multi-tasking Craziness in Hybrid Teams A key challenge that knowledge workers in hybrid teams face nowadays revolves around finding a balance between focused work and collaborating with…