Refactoring Technical Support to Reduce Interrupts of Developers

TL;DR

This paper analyzes six months of technical support data to identify process improvements that reduce developer interrupts, demonstrating how targeted refactoring can optimize support workflows and minimize disruptions.

Contribution

It introduces a data-driven approach to analyze support processes and evaluates the impact of refactoring actions on reducing developer interrupts.

Findings

Support process analysis identified key interruption sources.

Refactoring actions led to reduced support-related disruptions.

Advantages and drawbacks of refactoring were documented.

Abstract

In this paper an analysis of a technical support data with the goal of identifying process improvement actions for reducing interrupts is presented. A technical support chat is established and used to provide internal developer support to other development teams which use the software code developed by a core team. The paper shows how data analysis of a 6 months support time helped to identify gaps and action items for improving the technical support process to minimize interrupts from other developer teams. The paper also shows effects (advantages and drawbacks) of refactor actions taken based on this analysis.