What is the normal/average keyboard and mouse interaction of a client? (software development)

[iamisti]

Hi Everyone,

We're working with a client for couple of months now and he is the first one we hired on this platform, so we don't have experience about what is the normal activity level for a software developer.

We are suspecting something, but first I wanted to hear from you and your experience.

Can you tell me what is the activity rate (keyboard and mouse events) of a software developer that is considered 'acceptable' in these 'screenshots' ?

Currently for every 10min screenshots we get around 20-30 keyboard events and 100-300 mouse events. (example attached)

What does even the keyboard event mean? Every single button press is 1 keyboard event?

Thank you for your response in advance!

[spectralua]

1 keyboard event is one key press.

Developer should type some. But he can wait for compilation or debugging, no key press required there.

[the3dguru]

This is a good question. Looking at my own work diary, most of the 10 minues slots are near the top of the activity bar, but not all of them. Often the first and last ones are lower though I'm not 100% certain why, perhaps they are counting as only part of the 10 minutes?

The number of key events varies quite a lot, although its commonly several hundred, I'd guess 300 to 800. The number of mouse events is about 10 times smaller, 30 to 80. In one image I can see I'm reading documentation for an API and that still has the bar almost fulI. Still, it's difficult to say without knowing exactly what the developer is doing in that time. You would assume that software development involved more keypresses than mouse clicks, but maybe they are editing graphics for a webpage or something like that?

On the other hand, I'm productive and count my time diligently. I would be a little irritated if a client queried the number of keypresses in of those 10 minutes slots. I think the better way to look at it is whether the contractor is producing the work or not. It sounds like you have some doubts about that. Is there is a pattern of low activity?

[iamisti]

Thank you for thour reply.

To answer your question, yes there is some problem with the resulting pace of development. Nothing really gets done and things are moving extremely slowly.

And we're not checking every 10 min of his work, but the most common workload and keypresses he does is the one I posted here.

[prestonhunter]

re: "To answer your question, yes there is some problem with the resulting pace of development. Nothing really gets done and things are moving extremely slowly. And we're not checking every 10 min of his work, but the most common workload and keypresses he does is the one I posted here."

The average number of keyboard/mouse clicks per minute is irrelevent.

Your problem has nothing to do with this one freelancer.

Your problem is with your project manager.

Your project manager is supposed to be assigning work to freelancers to get the project done on time.

If the project isn't getting done quickly, on time, and on budget, then it is the project manager's fault.

The project manager considers the work done by all team members.

The project manager makes sure that there is not just ONE freelancer working on a project of significant size and scope.

(Just ONE freelancer for a project like this? Obviously that's not the right approach.)

The project manager evaluates their work, and assigns the most work to the most valuable, most effective members of the team.

If a freelancer on the team delivers work more slowly than the other team members, the project manager doesn't assign much work to that freelancer.

The project manager MIGHT look at mouse/keyboard activity levels. But that is among the least important factors that the project manager considers.

[the3dguru]

If I had to guess based on the stats in that image, I'd say they were using their computer but not writing code. But I can't really say what any developer is doing. If it seems like nothing is getting done, well, I'd say those stats suggest that not much is happening.

[feed_my_eyes]

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Istvan F wrote:

To answer your question, yes there is some problem with the resulting pace of development. Nothing really gets done and things are moving extremely slowly.

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If you're not satisfied with the work, the number of keystrokes doesn't matter. You can end the contract and hire somebody else. It's unfortunately the case that Upwork has many freelancers who lack skills and experience, so you should cut your losses instead of wasting more of your time and money. Many clients try to be nice and let the freelancer make excuses and go for months and months without producing anything, but you need to put your needs first.

[20947c08]

Hello Istvan, I work often with software developers, and I do not use the mouse and keyboard events at all. Why? First of all, software development is a lot of "brain work". What, if your freelancer needs time to think of a task? Or the best case is debugging. This is a task with a very low keyboard and mouse action, because "compiling" and reprogramming takes some time. On the other hand, there are tools around to simulate mouse clicks. Or, what if a freelancer needs to solder a wire or set up a test bench? These are all things, without any mouse and keyboard action. I go a different way: I describe the goal and the deliveries very precisely. And the deadline, if there is any. And I ask the freelancer, how much time he will need. I allow the freelancer to add manual time, but I tell him, that I prefer, if he uses the time tracker.  Usually, you need to trust your freelancers, and most of them are honest. In my opinion, the screenshots are more meaningful. And sometimes, I can even learn something new 🙂