Estimating and metrics

Improving the estimating process by minimising the guesswork

Some quotations

On estimating duration

"... multiply that figure by two and change the unit of measure to the next higher unit. So, in this way, you allocate two days to a one hour task."

• Westheimer's Rule

On calculating project costs

"... then multiply the result by pi (3.1416). I have seen this technique used more than once with decent results"

• Susan Kramer, NASA

Estimating and metrics

Estimating should be more than unguided guesswork. But how can we make reasonable estimates of future events when so little about a project is known?

By the end of this lecture you should be able:

• to list what sort of things project managers need to estimate
• to categorise approaches to estimating in several different ways
• to explain the role of software metrics in the estimating process, and problems associated with them
• to describe why managers must monitor progress on a project

Other topics

Comments please to: dwfarthi@glam.ac.uk

© 1999, University of Glamorgan