Solution validation for suggesting merge request reviewers
Problem to solve
When I create a merge request, I don't know who to ask for a review. Code owners can help, but need to be manually maintained and in a multi-round review workflow should be the final reviewer. Having the right personal review my change improves quality and reduces the delay in having my change merged.
Microsoft found that reviewers with experience reviewing or editing the file provided more useful feedback.
Based on these results, we conclude that developers who have either changed or reviewed an artifact before give more useful comments. One possible explanation for these results is that reviewers who have changed or reviewed a file before have more knowledge about the design constraints and the implementation. Therefore, they are able to provide more relevant comments. Also, a first time reviewer may not know the design and context, they may ask questions to understand the implementation, or identify false issues based on their incorrect assumption. Unsurprisingly, first time reviewers of an artifact are providing less valuable feedback.
Intended users
Further details
Proposal
When an member of the project with developer permissions or above is viewing a merge request, offer a list of suggested reviewers who are:
- project members with developer permissions or above,
- have previously reviewed or edited more than 50% of the files changed in the merge request