On May 29, 2008, I presented “Increasing Test Effort Estimation Effectiveness” to VANQ.org, the Vancouver Software Quality Assurance User Group, and I wanted to share that material with you.
Estimates Provide Visibility to Stakeholders
- To know how much we will do, we need to know how big it is (Vision) relative to our constraints (Capacity)
- For each scenario (Choices) of effort, resources and constraints we can determine impact (Consequences) on Scope and level of Risk
- Scope and Risks and Mitigation Approaches (Strategy) are inputs to the test strategy/plan
- All of the above and the task level effort (work) estimates are inputs to the project plan
Estimates Provide a Foundation for Planning
- A good estimate makes the project achievable.
- Identifies the winning combination of features and options.
- Establishes the initial risks for risk management.
As this was a presentation where participation was expected, you can read the article Estimating Test Effort – From Billiard Balls to Electron Clouds for additional details.
