Software Estimation: Demystifying the Black Art

Chapter 22. Estimate Presentation Styles

Applicability of Techniques in This Chapter

	Matching Presentation Style to Estimate Accuracy
What’s estimated	Size, Effort, Schedule, Features
Size of project	S M L
Development stage	Early–Late
Iterative or sequential	Both
Accuracy possible	N/A

The way you communicate an estimate suggests how accurate the estimate is. If your presentation style implies an unfounded accuracy, you lay the groundwork for a difficult discussion about the estimate itself. This chapter presents several options for presenting estimates.

Communicating Estimate Assumptions

An essential practice in presenting an estimate is to document the assumptions embodied in the estimate. Assumptions fall into several familiar categories:

• Which features ...