A Framework for Supporting Transparency in Software Ecosystems Portals from the Point of View of Developer Experience

Web portals play an important role within a software ecosystem (SECO), as they facilitate the onboarding of third-party developers with its common technology platform. One factor that engages third-party developers in SECO is directly related to their developer experience (DX) on its portals. However, software developers have reported difficulties in accessing, using, and understanding the information provided by keystones (i.e., organizations responsible for sustaining the SECO platform) on their SECO portals. This situation is related to the lack of transparency of SECO portals. When transparency is insufficient, it contributes to increased barriers to entry for SECO and a cumbersome start for newcomer third-party developers. It affects the DX, leading to a lack of engagement among developers on the platform. In this context, we propose a framework to support professionals in improving transparency in SECO portals from the point of view of DX. Under the aegis of the Design Science Research (DSR) method, our research method comprises three phases: characterization, development, and evaluation. As a contribution, the proposed framework can support the platform management team at Keystones in diagnosing transparency issues within their SECO portals and providing suggestions for improving their transparency.