in reply to Interesting insights from Software Estimation: Demystifying the Black Art
I often get asked for quick estimates of projects. My self-taught estimation technique had evolved like this over the years:
1. give a quick guess (usually turned out 3x too short)
2. make a quick guess, then triple that (usually closer, but still too short)
3. give a wildly pessimistic guess (never short, but not what my boss wants to hear)
Since reading the book, I feel my boss & I are both happier with the estimates/schedule that we figure out together.
In addition to presenting an easy-to-grasp summary of research into various individual factors that influence an estimate/schedule (like tilly's examples), the book leaves gives a lot of practical ideas for making better estimates.
Joe