Download the 2024 DORA Report!

Meet DORA’s Research Team

Derek DeBellis

Derek Debellis Derek is a quantitative user experience researcher at Google and the lead investigator for DORA. Derek focuses on survey research, logs analysis, and figuring out ways to measure concepts that demonstrate a product or feature is delivering capital-v value to people. Derek has published on human-AI interaction, the impact of COVID-19’s onset on smoking cessation, designing for NLP errors, the role of UX in privacy discussions, team culture, and AI’s relationship to employee well-being and productivity. His current extracurricular research is exploring ways to simulate the propagation of beliefs and power.

Dr. Kevin M. Storer

Dr. Kevin M. Storer Dr. Kevin M. Storer is a qualitative researcher at Google, where he leads ethnographic research for the DORA team. Kevin has been conducting human-centered studies of software developers since 2015, spanning diverse problem contexts, participant profiles, and research methods. Kevin’s research has been published in top scientific venues on the topics of artificial intelligence, ubiquitous computing, and interaction design.

Daniella Villalba, PhD

Daniella Villalba, PhD Daniella Villalba is a user experience researcher at Google. She uses survey research to understand the factors that make developers happy and productive. Before Google, Daniella studied the benefits of meditation training, and the psycho-social factors that affect the experiences of college students. She received her PhD in Experimental Psychology from Florida International University.)

Michelle Irvine

Michelle Irvine Michelle Irvine is a technical writer at Google, and her research focuses on documentation and other technical communication. Before Google, she worked in educational publishing and as a technical writer for physics simulation software. Michelle has a BSc in Physics, and an MA in Rhetoric and Communication Design.

Kim Castillo

Kim Castillo Kim Castillo is a user experience program manager at Google. Kim leads the cross-functional effort behind DORA, overseeing its research operations and the publication of this report since 2022. Kim also works on UX research for Gemini in Google Cloud. Prior to Google, Kim enjoyed a career in tech and working in technical program management and agile coaching. Kim’s roots are in psycho-social research focused on topics of extrajudicial killings, urban poor development, and community resilience in her country of origin, the Philippines.

Meet the DORA Collective

The collective includes current and former leaders, researchers, authors, and subject matter experts who have all made significant contributions to the research program.

Prior to 2018, The State of DevOps Report was published in partnership with Puppet.

Last updated: November 1, 2024