Software Estimation Pro Tips

ESTIMATION PROTIPS ATLANTA PHP USER GROUP SEPTEMBER 2013

ABOUT ME • Director of Development • 5+ years of full-time web development • Learned estimation from the school of hard knocks

YOUR ANSWER?

PROTIP #1: ESTIMATES ARE NOT PROMISES

“GOOD” ESTIMATES A good estimation approach should provide estimates that are within 25% of the actual results 75% of the time. Conte, Dunsmore, and Shen (1986)

SEEKING CERTAINTY Sadly, people asking for control or visibility really want certainty. Which doesn’t exist. Dan North https://twitter.com/tastapod/status/116271851767992320

DISTINCTIONS Target: a stated desirable business objective Commitment: a promise to deliver a specific product within a timeframe

E T TA A RTGIM ET S E

DEFINITION A good estimate is an estimate that provides a clear enough view of the project reality to allow the project leadership to make good decisions about how to control the project to hit targets. Steve McConnell, Software Estimation

PROTIP #2: GUTS LIE

HEAVIEST BLUE WHALE EVER RECORDED 380,000 LBS

REALISTIC?

BOOK RECOMMENDATION

HOFSTADTER’S LAW “It always takes longer than you expect, even when you take into account Hofstadter’s Law.” Douglas Hofstadter Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid

TIME FRAMES “With software estimation you’ve only realistically got a choice of 5 mins, 1 hour, 1-2 days, about a week, and then all bets are off.” Rob Bowley https://twitter.com/robbowley/status/115430969825181696

WHY ARE ESTIMATES SO HARD?

IT’LL BE DIFFERENT THIS TIME!

THE PLANNING FALLACY Students estimated their senior thesis completion time in a 1994 study: 60 55.5 50 48.6 40 30 20 33.9 27.4 Best Case Expected Case Worst Case Actual 10 0 Source: Wikipedia

E S T AT IM E T H IS !

PROTIP #3: PREMATURE ESTIMATION IS SABOTAGE

DON’T ESTIMATE If there’s as much chance of you coming up with something meaningful by rolling some dice or rubbing the estimate goat then what purpose are you satisfying by doing so? Rob Bowley

CONE OF UNCERTAINTY

OVERESTIMATION • Inflated prices – might lose the job • Lack of urgency – project time fills up the estimate when it could have been done faster • Procrastination

UNDERESTIMATION • • • • • • • • Inadequate planning Missed deadlines Overwork, burnout More bugs Technical debt Damage control Unplanned interim releases Meetings proliferate

PROTIP #4: BIG TEAMS ARE SLOWER THAN SMALL ONES

TIME = ESTIMATE ÷ AVAILABILITY

TEAM EFFICIENCY Developers Communication Paths Individual Efficiency Team Capacity 1 0 100% 1x 2 3 75% 1.5x 3 6 67% 2x 4 10 63% 2.5x 5 15 60% 3x 6 21 58% 3.5x 7 28 57% 4x 8 36 56% 4.5x 9 45 56% 5x 10 55 55% 5.5x Source: Paul M. Jones, http://paul-m-jones.com/archives/1591

PROTIP #5: BEWARE UNWARRANTED PRECISION

“533.5 hours” vs “13 days” vs “3 weeks”

PROTIP #6: COUNT ALL THE THINGS

TIME FRAMES “With software estimation you’ve only realistically got a choice of 5 mins, 1 hour, 1-2 days, about a week, and then all bets are off.” Rob Bowley https://twitter.com/robbowley/status/115430969825181696

DECOMPOSITION AND RECOMPOSITION 1. List all the features 2. Break the features into subfeatures 3. Break the sub-features into components 4. Estimate the components 5. Add the estimates up

LAW OF LARGE NUMBERS The tendency for errors on the high side and errors on the low side to cancel each other out. i.e., The accuracy of the sum is greater than the accuracy of the individual estimates.

PAUL JONES’ METHOD 1. List all the controllers required for each feature 2. List all the methods required for each controller 3. Estimate 1 dev-pair day per controller method

BRANDMOVERS METHOD 1. List all the logical features required 2. Break down each feature into small logical components 3. List all the pages and modals required for each feature 4. Estimate the back-end time required for each logical component 5. Estimate the front-end time required for each page 6. Sum up the back-end and front-end totals

PROTIP #7: WHEN IN A PINCH, USE A PROXY

PROXY ESTIMATION 1. Assign a size classification to each feature 2. Compute the average time required for similarly-sized features from actual past projects 3. Create estimate ranges for each feature based on past performance 4. Sum the result

PROS • Easier • Faster

CONS • Less accurate • Requires collection and archival of project historical data on a perfeature basis

STORY POINTS • Uses a point scale: 1, 2, 4, 8, 16 • Break down the project into epics and stories • Assign a point value to each story • Schedule releases at regular intervals • The number of points completed per release is known as “velocity” • Use the velocity to plan and estimate the delivery dates for future releases

EXAMPLE Iteration 1 • 27 story points delivered • 12 staff weeks expended over 3 calendar weeks • Effort = 27 points / 12 weeks = 2.25 points/week • Schedule = 27 points / 3 weeks = 9 points/week Iteration 2 projection • 33 story points scheduled • Effort = 33 points / 2.25 points/week = 15 staff weeks • Schedule = 33 points / 9 points/week = 4 calendar weeks

T-SHIRT SIZING • Assign a T-shirt size for development cost • Assign a T-shirt size for business value • Create a table of business value to development cost ratios • Look up the net business value for each feature based on the dev cost and business value T-shirt sizes • Prioritize the features in order of net business value

EXAMPLE Feature Feature A Feature B Business Value L S Dev Cost S L Feature C Feature D Feature E L M M L M L

VALUE TO COST RATIOS Business Value Development Cost XL L M S XL 0 -4 -6 -7 L 4 0 -2 -3 M 6 2 0 -1 S 7 3 1 0

BIZ VALUE EXAMPLE Feature Feature A Feature C Feature D Feature E Feature B Business Value L L M M S Dev Cost S L M L L Net Value 3 0 0 -2 -3

PROTIP #8: YOU CAN’T NEGOTIATE MATH

E T TA A RTGIM ET S E

PROBLEM SOLVING When the estimate and target conflict: • Negotiate features • Negotiate time • Negotiate price

ATTITUDE • Try to be helpful, offer solutions • Be creative • Examine what can be done in parallel to save time • Be firm – you can’t change the laws of physics

QUESTIONS?

ONE FINAL WORD A HORROR STORY

THE SETTING • Former employer of mine • Start-up, naïve and inexperienced • Needed cash bad

THE CLIENT • Local company in Atlanta • Had four separate systems in place for managing customer data, billing, inventory, and fulfillment • Wanted this unified and streamlined into a web-based backoffice application • Wanted a customer-facing portal for online ordering and bill paying

THE ESTIMATE • Estimated at 1,039 man-hours • Normal hourly rate was $120/hr • We did a fixed-bid for $50k, at an effective hourly rate of $48/hr

THE FALLOUT • 18 months later… • 2,500 man-hours • 1,500+ Subversion commits • Lots of “unknown unknowns”, hidden complexities, and scope creep

THE MORAL • Don’t succumb to pressure to be optimistic when estimating • Use a good estimation methodology • Try not to do fixed bidding • Always have a thorough scope before starting

THANK YOU! • http://brandmovers.com • http://jonathonhill.net • @compwright

ESTIMATION PROTIPS ATLANTA PHP USER GROUP SEPTEMBER 2013