Software Estimation: Demystifying the Black Art

Chapter 9. Individual Expert Judgment

Applicability of Techniques in This Chapter

	Use of Structured Process	Use of Estimation Checklist	Estimating Task Effort in Ranges	Comparing Task Estimates to Actuals
What’s estimated	Effort, Schedule, Features	Effort, Schedule, Features	Size, Effort, Schedule, Features	Size, Effort, Schedule, Features
Size of project	S M L	S M L	S M L	S M L
Development stage	Early–Late	Early–Late	Early–Late	Middle–Late
Iterative or sequential	Both	Both	Both	Both
Accuracy possible	High	High	High	N/A

Individual expert judgment is by far the most common estimation approach used in practice (Jørgensen 2002). Hihn and Habib-agahi found that 83% of estimators used “informal analogy” as their primary estimation technique (Hihn and Habib-agahi 1991). ...