Web DNA Report

Welcome to the second edition MDN Web Developers Needs Assessment (DNA) — a global, annual study of developer needs on the web. MDN Web DNA aspires to be the voice of developers and designers working on the web.

On single-vendor platforms, only one organization has to research developer needs and decide how to address them in the future. It’s not that straightforward on the web, where multiple organizations need to be involved in feature decisions, from browser vendors to standards bodies and industry. As a result, change can be slow to come, which means that pain points may take a long time to address.

Like the community, this assessment is not owned by a single organization. It is not tailored to fit the priorities of participating browser vendors, or to mirror other existing assessments. These findings are published under the umbrella of the MDN Product Advisory Board, and the survey used for data collection was designed with input from more than 30 stakeholders representing board member organizations including browser vendors, the W3C, and industry.

This report would not exist without the input of our respondents from 2019 and 2020 who took an average of twenty-one minutes to complete the survey. Between last year and this year, the community has contributed more than 10,000 hours to provide an understanding of the pain points, wants, and needs of people working to build the web.

The input provided by survey participants is already influencing how browser vendors prioritize feature development to address the needs of developers on the web. By producing this report annually, it will be possible to track changing needs and pain points over time, enabling all stakeholders to see the impact of their efforts on the future of the web.

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