How to Reduce Code Review Bottlenecks with Data-Driven Insights

The Four Horsemen of Review Hell

I've seen these same patterns destroy team velocity across dozens of companies:

• The "Forever PR" — That 500-line monster that's been open for two weeks because nobody wants to review it
• The "Review Hog" — One person gets tagged on everything while others rarely review
• The "Guidelines? What Guidelines?" — Everyone has different standards, leading to inconsistent feedback
• The "Moving Target" — PRs that keep growing with new commits during review

Here's the thing: these aren't really people problems. They're process problems that data can help you solve.

The Numbers Don't Lie: What to Track

Instead of guessing what's wrong, let the data tell you. Here's what actually matters:

• Time to First Review — Should be under 24 hours. If it's longer, people are ignoring notifications
• Review Load Distribution — If one person is doing 60% of reviews, you have a problem
• PR Size vs Review Time — 10-line PRs shouldn't take 3 days to review
• Back-and-forth Count — More than 3 rounds usually means unclear requirements

Real example: One team discovered their "slow" reviews were actually caused by PRs averaging 15 files changed. When they set a 5-file limit, review time dropped by 60%.

The 30-Day Review Revolution

Here's a step-by-step plan to fix your review process in one month:

Week 1: Measure Everything
Don't change anything yet. Just measure your current state. How long do reviews really take? Who's doing them? What size are your PRs?

Week 2: Set Rules
Based on your data, set clear guidelines. Maybe it's "PRs under 10 files" or "reviews within 1 business day." Share these with the team.

Week 3: Redistribute Load
If Sarah is reviewing everything, teach others. Pair junior devs with senior ones. Create review rotation schedules.

Week 4: Automate Reminders
Set up bot notifications for stale PRs. Create templates for common review feedback. Make the process smoother, not harder.

The best part? DevLyTicks tracks all of this automatically. You'll see your improvements in real-time and can prove to management that your process changes are working. No more "I think our reviews are getting faster"—you'll know they are.