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In all candor, making project time estimates is truly a talent acquired
over time and much learning. The more experience one gains in this area,
the better they beome at estimating. A thorough understanding of standard
project management principles and concepts can be helpful. I recommend a
simple layperson's book called "Fundamentals of Project Management," by
James P. Lewis. You can purchase this via Amazon for a small price.
The Hackos book is, of course, of bible of our industry, but it can't begin
to cover a complex subject, and unfortunately, this subject is one simply
mastered over time.
Scott Holstad
At 07:28 AM 8/26/98 -0400, Stephen D. Murphy wrote:
>Peter, I just bought "Managing Your Documentation Projects" by JoAnn
>Hackos. It is a big book and I have not read it, but it was highly
>recommended by many people. I don't know if it would help you (or just
>give you more work to do!) but it might be worth a look.
>
>Also, when I was at the STC Conference in Toronto, I attended a workshop
>on "Estimating Scope and Schedule for a Help Project." I still have the
>hand-out they gave me. There is (or at least, was) an outfit called
>"KNOWware" that specialized in providing spreadsheets and other tools
>for helping you do this. I don't have Web access here, or my copy of the
>conference proceedings, but you might want to do a web search for
>KNOWware and see what you come up with!
>
>I'll be interested to hear what you discover...
>
>Steve Murphy
>Senior Technical Writer, Shepard-Patterson & Associates
>2001 Jefferson Davis Highway, Suite 209
>Arlington, Virginia
>Voice: (703) 412-5072 Fax: (703) 412-5078
>sdmurphy -at- shepard-patterson -dot- com
>http://www.shepard-patterson.com
>-------------------------------------------
>Adobe Certified Expert - FrameMaker, Acrobat
>murphus -at- idsonline -dot- com
>http://www.murphus.com
>
>
>
>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Peter Pappas [SMTP:ppappas -at- SILK -dot- NET]
>> Sent: Tuesday, August 25, 1998 3:50 PM
>> To: TECHWR-L -at- LISTSERV -dot- OKSTATE -dot- EDU
>> Subject: Project Estimating
>>
>> Can anyone offer any guidelines or rules of thumb or checklists for
>> estimating the time required to complete print-based or on-line help
>> projects?
>>
>> These formulas would be applied to new work and revisions to existing
>> documentation. Graphics (screen captures) are usually required and
>> some
>> would be annotated.
>>
>> Many thanks.
>>
>> ======================================================================
>
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Scott C. Holstad email: sholstad -at- earthlink -dot- net
Senior Documentation Specialist phone: 626-296-5067
EarthLink Network fax: 626-296-5113
3100 New York Drive pager: 213-307-6341
Pasadena, CA 91107 URL: http://www.earthlink.net
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