Archive for the 'Planning' Category

Estimation Rule of Thumb
Monday, December 21st, 2009

An time estimation rule of thumb for software development in startups. (Somewhat tongue-in-cheek.) The rule Make a good estimate of the work (in any time unit). Multiply that number by itself in months plus one. What you get is a reasonable estimate for release date (in the original time unit). Examples Some examples: Work estimated [...]

Not Converging on an Estimate
Monday, October 27th, 2008

In his great book User Stories Applied, Mike Cohn suggests that “the goal is for the estimators to converge on a single estimate.” While discussing this with a senior product owner at a major Swedish telco (guess which one!), I came to realize that there might be a point in not converging on a single [...]

Story Cards on a Whiteboard
Friday, February 8th, 2008

I just found what might be the greatest thing since sliced bread. It is so smart, so ingenious, that it made me excited like a child on Christmas for a whole week.