Re: Rules of Thumb in Estimating...

[Jim McAward <jimmc -at- CHYRON -dot- COM>]

Matthew:

I landed a similar job as you, but it was many years ago.  My boss was an
old-salt Navy man close to retirement, who'd done the craft for a lot of
years.  He offered a few choice estimation methods that have done me in good
stead both on the job and in freelance gigs; I've adapted these to keep up
with the times.

Page Count:
Estimate a page count, based on previous versions of this product, or on a
product with similar complexity.  (OK, so page sizes are all different these
days with DTP and laser printers...  therefore use 8.5 x 11 as a benchmark.)

I figure on two man-hours per page of finished text, which includes research
and draft(s).  Adjust up or down (a little) for complexity, based on your
prior experience with the product line, etc.

Illustrations:
Add an additional hour for each illustration (but don't add anything for
simple screen-grabs).  Then, adjust accordingly; if there is an exploded
view drawing required and you can't hire an expert illustrator, expect it to
take a day or even several days...  if the illustrations are simple ones, do
a few and see how long they take you.  Good tools make this work go faster.

Editing:
Writers should edit as they write; this should be covered in the two-hours
per page metric. Add time for inexperienced writers, if this applies...
just put it under the training budget.

Indexing:
If you have excellent tools, such as FrameMaker, you could index up to 100
pages per day (for a rudimentary index; fewer pages per day for something
more detailed.)  Of course, professional indexing is an entirely different
skill set; and I'd *highly* recommend bringing in a pro if the product and
budget warrant.

Finish Work:
Finally, add time to button up the book (my typical books run somewhere in
the order of an hour per 20 pages to make them press-ready).

Adjustments:
Top management wants calendar dates - however these estimating methods
produce man-hours, not dates.  Be prepared to scream loudly if you encounter
late product changes, unavailability of equipment (or of subject-matter
experts), or slow/sloppy engineering reviews.

Slack Time:
I've found estimating work to be easier than estimating "slack time" when
the writers are kicking around the coffee maker waiting for
equipment/people/coffee ;-)

Oh, and if you are assigning groups of writers:  Two writers produce (at
best) 80% more than one writer.  The remaining 20% goes to "overhead"
required in the collaboration.


My $0.02; I'd be interested in anyone else's comments/methods etc.

Best of luck,

Jim.



<snip>
>
>Date:    Tue, 8 Jul 1997 08:44:17 -0400
>From:    Matthew J Long <mjl100z -at- MAIL -dot- ODU -dot- EDU>
>Subject: Rules of thumb in estimating
>
>
>
>
>When I read your comment (above), I thought it would be a good idea to ask
>you, but also anyone else, how to estimate the amount of time it should
>take to produce a manual.
>
>
>
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James G. McAward                        Chyron Corporation
Manager,                                Melville, NY  11747
Technical Publications                  http://www.chyron.com
<<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>>
                "So many facts, so little time!"
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