Abstract
Software development is a multifaceted endeavor, requiring a profound
grasp of both social dynamics and technical intricacies. Poor
collaboration often leads to the accumulation of social debt,
manifesting as unforeseen project costs due to sub-optimal team
interactions. Community smells have emerged as indicators of
these socio-technical inefficiencies and potential social debt. While
previous research has focused on automated detection of community smells
through analyzing developer communication patterns, our study offers a
complementary approach. We emphasize the critical role of project
managers in assessing socio-technical dynamics and propose a novel,
tool-supported catalog of symptoms. This catalog can be used for manual
inspections to identify early signs of community smells at the
individual level, allowing managers to address issues before they
escalate. Using a mixed-method design that leveraged an existing
literature review and a user survey, we cataloged symptoms related to
four community smell types. Additionally, we developed TOAST, a tool
that operationalizes this catalog, and assessed its usability. The paper
concludes by shedding light on the potential impact of our work and its
contribution to advancing the detection and analysis of community
smells.