Master Thesis: Developer Experience Benchmark

Are you a master’s student looking for an innovative company to collaborate with on your master’s thesis during the spring semester of 2027? Look no further.  
 
ASSA ABLOY is the global leader in access solutions and provides the latest technologies to give access to physical and virtual spaces for millions of people every day. Joining ASSA ABLOY means being part of a fast-moving and highly innovative company with diverse opportunities in more than 70 countries worldwide. 

 
What can you expect as a master’s thesis intern at ASSA ABLOY? Cutting edge technology, a steep learning curve, dedicated supervisors from within the enterprise, a group of fellow master's thesis students to share the experience with – and much more. 
 
We have an exciting range of subjects. Please remember to indicate in your application if you're interested in other subjects as well and mark them in your order of preference. Please also let us know your thoughts on how you would approach the subject. Please note that most of your work will be done at one of our two sites in Stockholm.

Master Thesis Nr 2: Developer Experience Benchmark

Are you interested in software engineering, developer productivity, and how large organizations can make everyday development work smoother? We are looking for a master thesis student to explore the developer journey across R&D organization.

The thesis will investigate the topic: “Developer Experience Benchmark – Identifying Friction in the Software Developer Journey and Opportunities for Global R&D Services”

Modern software development depends on many shared services: development environments, tooling, platforms, processes, documentation, support, security, CI/CD, and collaboration practices. Yet developers often encounter friction that slows them down or makes their work unnecessarily complex. This project aims to understand where that friction occurs, how developer experience can be assessed and benchmarked, and which capabilities may be most valuable to provide centrally across a global R&D organization.

A possible guiding question is: What should we provide centrally to enable an efficient, consistent, and enjoyable developer experience—while still allowing teams enough flexibility to innovate

Suggested areas of exploration include:

• Mapping the end-to-end developer journey, from onboarding and local development to deployment and operations.
• Identifying common pain points in tools, platforms, processes, access management, documentation, and support.
• Reviewing existing developer-experience benchmarks, maturity models, and measurement approaches.
• Gathering insights through interviews, surveys, workshops, or analysis of developer feedback and operational data.
• Comparing internal practices with external industry approaches and leading technology organizations.
• Exploring the balance between centrally managed services and team-level autonomy.
• Identifying opportunities for shared platforms or “golden paths,” such as standardized environments, templates, CI/CD capabilities, observability, developer portals, or self-service support.
• Proposing a practical framework, prioritization model, or roadmap for improving developer experience across global R&D Services.
  
  We are looking for a student who is:

• Studying software engineering, computer science, information systems, industrial engineering, or a related field.
• Curious about developer productivity, platform engineering, organizational design, or digital workplace experience.
• Comfortable working with qualitative and/or quantitative research methods.
• Able to structure an open-ended problem and communicate findings clearly in English.

This thesis offers the opportunity to work on a highly relevant real-world challenge at the intersection of technology, people, and organizational effectiveness.

We look forward to receiving your application with your resumé and hearing your ideas on how you would approach this subject! 

We are the ASSA ABLOY Group
Our people have made us the global leader in access solutions. In return, we open doors for them wherever they go. With nearly 63,000 colleagues in more than 70 different countries, we help billions of people experience a more open world. Our innovations make all sorts of spaces – physical and virtual – safer, more secure, and easier to access. 

As an employer, we value results – not titles, or backgrounds. We empower our people to build their career around their aspirations and our ambitions – supporting them with regular feedback, training, and development opportunities. Our colleagues think broadly about where they can make the most impact, and we encourage them to grow their role locally, regionally, or even internationally.

As we welcome new people on board, it’s important to us to have diverse, inclusive teams, and we value different perspectives and experiences.