cover

Estimating
Document

hy estimate? Because estimating enables

BY MAKARAND M. PANDIT, India Chapter

8 November 2001
 cover

ation Projects
Over several years as a technical writer, 4. Put the value of variables in the equa- value (in page numbers) depends on the
I developed an intuitive sense of how to tion and see the effect on output. complexity of the software application,
work out an estimate. As my team grew, 5. Change the variables until the out- or a constant, whose value is fixed regard-
however, I needed to teach others how put meets the original estimate. less of the software design.
to estimate a project. I sat down with my 6. Apply the equation to a different case
colleagues to develop a system to help us and see if the output meets the esti- Constants
estimate the cost of a project, as well as mate for that case. Table 1 lists constants. Their typical val-
answer the following questions our 7. Test again. ues (in page numbers) are listed in the
clients frequently asked: 8. Test again. last column. If the user’s guide does not
• How much time does it take to develop 9. Test again. include a specific component, the value
a typical manual/help file? 10. Make changes. of that component will be zero.
• How much time do you need to write a 11. Test again. Not all constants will be present in any
100-page manual? given user’s guide.
• How many pages do you write in a Although we are satisfied with the util-
day/week? ity of the system we finally developed, we Variables
• How many pages can a reviewer review continue to test and update it. We’re The client may or may not choose
in a day? always trying to improve it. to include the components in Table
2. When they are included, the corre-
While our estimating method isn’t per- Developing an Equation sponding variables apply to the estimate.
fect, we have achieved an accuracy rate of We began by developing an equation The possible values (in page numbers)
85 percent using it. You’ll have to modify for paper documentation, figuring that are listed in the last column.
it to fit the particulars of your company, would establish a baseline for estimating Obviously, V13 and V14 are important
but I think the process will be worth it. By online help. To estimate the time numbers in determining the overall size of
using our system or developing a similar required to develop a user’s guide, we the job. V14 = R / 5 where R = the number
one, you can give your clients the infor- first had to find out the number of pages. of reports the application can generate (if
mation they need and turn over profits We made a list of all the possible compo- any). You can determine this from either
for your company. nents of a user’s guide and identified the application itself or the customer.
each of them as either a variable, whose V13 is a bit more complicated. You
Approaching the Problem
When my colleagues and I began work- Table 1. Constants
ing on this system, I had already made a
number of estimates for past projects. Constant Component represented Value of the constant
They provided us with both a starting by the constant (if present) in pages
point for developing our formula and
C1 Front page 1
data with which to test it.
C2 About the document & typographical conventions 2
We began by logically parsing out the
elements of estimates I had made success- C3 Hardware & software requirements 2
fully. Eventually, we identified the follow- C4 Users & responsibilities 1
ing steps toward building the tool we later C5 List of appendices 1
named the “Technowrites Estimator”: C6 Shortcut keys 1
1. Identify the components in user’s C7 Quick reference 2
guides and online help. C8 Reader’s feedback form 1
2. Develop a mathematical equation C9 Registration form 1
using these components. C10 User access permission request/record form 1
3. Find the value of constants in the C11 Last page (blank) 1
equation.

November 2001 9
cover

Table 2. Variables

Variable Component represented by the variable Value of the variable (if present) in pages
V1 License agreement & copyright notice Estimate the value based on information you have or
ask the client.Typical value can be 3.
V2 Introduction Estimate the value based on information you have or
ask the client.Typical value can be 2.
V3 Need for the product Estimate the value based on information you have or
ask the client.Typical value can be 1.
V4 Features of the product Provided by client.Typical value can be 3.
V5 Installation procedure Estimate the value based on information you have or
ask the client.Typical value can be 1 (if the installation
is done by a wizard).
V6 Appendices Ask the client what information can be included in
Appendix. It could be an explanation of some
formulae or commands. Put a value based on what
could be included.
V7 Troubleshooting Estimate the value based on information you have or
ask the client.Typical value can be 10.
V8 Bibliography or recommended reading Estimate the value based on information you have or
ask the client.Typical value can be 1 or 2.
V9 Bug report form Ask the client how long the form is or can be.Typical
value can be 2.
V10 Enhancement request report Ask the client how long the form is or can be.Typical
value can be 2.
V11 Error message description Ask the client how long the form is or can be.Typical
value can be 2–10.
V12 Table of contents (V13+V14) ✕ 0.05
V13 How-to pages (procedures) (see below)
V14 Description of reports (see below)
V15 FAQs (V13+V14) ✕ 0.06
V16 Glossary (V13+V14) ✕ 0.06
V17 Index (V13+V14) ✕ 0.05

must first make a list of all screens in the ment. Some parameters are always pre- Refer to the application or the client to
application, then count the number of sent (e.g., front and back pages); others find out how many reports (if any) the
fields on each screen. The number of are included at the client’s request. Table application can generate. Each report
fields places the screens into different 4 shows sample values. requires one-fifth of a page of explana-
size ranges, and the number of screens in Next, determine how many pages are tory text. In this example, the applica-
each range is multiplied by a different needed to explain the procedures (V13). tion generates five reports. Therefore,
number. V13 is the sum of all these mul- Refer to the client (or the application) to V14 = 1.
tiplications. Table 3 gives details. find out the number of screens and the Other values can be calculated from
(Note: I do not think that a screen with number of fields on each screen, as V13 and V14, as shown in Table 6.
more than fifty fields indicates a good shown in Table 5. Total number of pages in the user’s guide =
application design, but they may some-
times be necessary. In such cases, you can Table 3.V13:The Sum of All Rows in This Table
add pages to the final total on the basis of
your intuition.) Determine how many screens have... ...and multiply that number by:
Finally, we add these together to esti-
mate the number of pages. Less than 5 fields 1
Total number of pages in the user’s guide = 6–10 fields 1.2
C1 + C2 + … + C11 + V1 + V2 + … + V11 + 11–14 fields 1.8
V12 + V13 + V14 + V15 + V16 + V17 15–19 fields 2
20–28 fields 2.5
An Exercise 29–34 fields 3
Let’s calculate an estimate for a user’s 35–42 fields 4
guide. First, gather information from the 43–50 fields 5
client on the parameters of the docu-

10 November 2001
 cover

C1 + C2 + … + C11 + V1 + V2 + … + V11 + achieved an accuracy rate of 85 percent Table 6. Calculating Other Variables
V12 + V13 + V14 + V15 + V16 + V17 = 66 using it. We have developed an estima-
pages. tor that can run these calculations V12. Table of 30.4 x 0.05 = 1.52 = 2
Contents V12 = 2
Now you can use this value to esti- quickly. It is available online for free at
V15. FAQs 30.4 x 0.06 = 1.824 = 2
mate the number of days required to www.technowrites.com. V15 = 2
design and write the user’s guide. At my V16. Glossary 30.4 x 0.06 = 1.824 = 2
company, we approximate a writing Of course, this estimator is not specific V16 = 2
pace at four pages per day. The number to your products and output. If you want V17. Index 30.4 x 0.05 = 1.52 = 2
of pages (66) divided by the number of to fine-tune your estimating process, con- V17 = 2
pages per day (4) results in an esti- sider the following factors: pages may change with different fonts
mated seventeen working days to write or font sizes, the writing time will be
the user’s guide. • Our estimator calculates the number the same.
While this estimating method is not of pages based on a body text font of • Writing speed can vary from two to
per fect, we have, as noted earlier, Arial 10 point. While the number of eight pages a day, depending on sub-
ject complexity.
Table 4.Values for a Sample Project • Editing speed can vary from thirty to
forty pages a day, depending on the
Constants & Variables Client’s Request Pages quality of writing and style sheets.
C1. Front page — 1 • If the first draft requires X days
C2. Information about the document and typographical conventions Yes 2 to complete, we’ve estimated that the
C3. Hardware and software requirements Yes 2 second draft takes 0.4 X days, and
the final draft takes 0.2 X days to
C4. Users and responsibilities No —
complete.
C5. List of appendices Yes 1
• Calculations for online help are
C6. Shortcut keys Yes 1
roughly the same as those for a user’s
C7. Quick reference information No — guide.
C8. Reader’s feedback form Yes 1 • We’ve calculated that producing a
C9. Registration form No — deliverable of both online help and
C10. User access permission request/record form No — paper documentation would take 1.5
C11. Back page — 1 times as long as producing only the
V1. License agreement and copyright notice No — paper documentation.
V2. Introduction Yes 2 Many of you may have developed simi-
V3. Utility of the product Yes 1 lar methods to estimate documentation
V4. Features of the product Yes 2 projects; if you don’t have one, or wish to
adjust your current estimating proce-
V5. Installation procedures Yes 2
dures, I hope I have triggered your think-
V6. Appendices Yes 5
ing processes.
V7. Troubleshooting No —
V8. Bibliography or recommended reading No — Makarand Pandit has over six years’ expe-
V9. Bug report form Yes 1 rience in technical writing and has handled
V10. Enhancement request report No — more than 100 projects for clients in India,
V11. Error message description Yes 5 the United States, Singapore, Japan, and
Australia. Currently he is the managing
Table 5. Determining the Value of V13 director of Technowrites Pvt. Ltd. He has
been a member of STC since 1997 and cur-
Fields/Screen Number of Screens Number of Explanatory Pages rently serves as membership manager of the
Less than 5 fields 5 1x5=5 India Chapter STC. He can be reached at
6–10 fields 2 1.2 x 2 = 2.4 [email protected].
11–14 fields 10 1.8 x 10 = 18
15–19 fields 2 2x2=4
20–28 fields 0 2.5 x 0 = 0
29–34 fields 0 3x0=0
35–42 fields 0 4x0=0
43–50 fields 0 5x0=0
V13 = 29.4

November 2001 11