Emanuel Eriksson, Keiwan Mosaddegh:
Establishing Feedback in Continuous Delivery - Benefits and Approaches,
summary, report, January 2021.

Abstract:

It is generally understood that feedback is the oxygen of continuous software development systems. When software velocity is high, continuous feedback can ensure that quality is maintained without sacrificing throughput. However, the precise impact and value of feedback in modern development paradigms like CI/CD is not thoroughly explored. Distinctions between different types of feedback, as well as descriptions of how a feedback loop is to be established, are incomplete in literature.

Based on literature analysis and data gathered from a company transitioning to CD, we have attempted to categorize and evaluate the urgency and utility of different types of feedback within CD - specifically distinguishing between process and product feedback. We also explored the value of feedback by analyzing feedback-related problems at the company. To address a subset of these problems, a number of approaches to feedback design in practice were evaluated.

Overall, our results show that any generalizable feedback system, even a rudimentary one, is an extreme necessity to achieve sustainable Continuous Delivery. This is especially true when multiple teams cooperate, as one improvised ad hoc solution per team is likely to hinder comprehension across teams. In practice, this system should be centralized but tailorable after specific team needs.