  Context: Software process improvement (SPI) is known as a key for being
successfull in software development. Measuring quality and performance is of
high importance in agile software development as agile approaches focussing
strongly on short-term success in dynamic markets. Even if software engineering
research emphasizes the importance of performance metrics while using agile
methods, the literature lacks on detail how to apply such metrics in practice
and what challenges may occur while using them. Objective: The core objective
of our study is to identify challenges that arise when using agile software
development performance metrics in practice and how we can improve their
successful application. Method: We decided to design a mixed-method study.
First, we performed a rapid literature review to provide an up-to-date overview
of used performance metrics. Second, we conducted a single case study using a
focus group approach and qualitativ data collection and analysis in a
real-world setting. Results: Our results show that while widely used
performance metrics such as story points and burn down charts are widely used
in practice, agile software development teams face challenges due to a lack of
transparency and standardization as well as insufficient accuracy.
Contributions: Based on our findings, we present a repository of widely used
performance metrics for agile software development. Furthermore, we present
implications for practitioners and researchers especially how to deal with
challenges agile software development face while applying such metrics in
practice.
