Immerse > Engineering Estimations

Why

An estimate is a best faith prediction of the effort that is expended to perform a task. It has tolerance, distribution, and may depend on other factors beyond the estimator’s control. An estimate is the opinion of a professional. Engineering estimations convey to the product managers the cost and effort required for various engineering activities. It helps them to make informed decisions to control the project more efficiently and effectively.

How

There are several methods to perform engineering estimations. They each has their advantages and disadvantages. The most popular engineering estimation method is the Task/Method Estimation, also known as “Bottom up Estimation”.

  • Task/Method Estimation: We break large tasks or stories in to discrete, easy to understand, incremental tasks. These tasks can easily be assigned among project team members. Each task comprises of task specification, Condition Of Satisfaction (COS), estimated time of completion, test functionaries, etc.. Eventually, the more granular estimations are added up to understand the full picture.

  • Heuristic Method/Comparison to Actual: This is also called analogous estimation. You use the knowledge of the company to find similar tasks to the one you are anticipating.

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