This document outlines the process for estimating project requirements and planning a software release. It discusses estimating story sizes, accounting for variability, determining development capacity, adjusting estimates based on velocity, calculating the number of iterations, creating a timeline, and finalizing resources and contingency plans. The goal is to develop an informed release plan to manage scope, schedule expectations and changes to deliver working software in a sustainable way that keeps customers and the team happy.

2. Why did you
make this deck?

3. To avoid...

4. Disappointed
Customers

5. Reduced
Margins

6. Unnecessary
Stress

7. Estimation Release Planning

8. Estimation

9. An Informed
Guess

10. We want to know...

11. Size

12. Speed

13. Uncertainty

14. Cost

15. Schedule

16. Requirements Estimation

17. What makes a
good story?

18. INVEST

19. Independent

20. Negotiable

21. Valuable

22. Estimable

23. Small

24. Testable

26. Non Functional Requirements

27. Requirements Variation

28. Complexity

29. Volatility

30. Completeness

31. To recap

32. Requirements Variation

33. Requirements Variation

34. Requirements Variation

35. Requirements Variation

36. Remember...

37. Take Notes

39. Quantifying Risk

40. Complexity
Volatility
Completeness
Simple (1)
Standard (2)
Complex (3)

41. Complexity
Volatility
Completeness
Low (1)
Medium (2)
High (3)

42. Complexity
Volatility
Completeness
Complete (1)
Incomplete (2)
Unknown (3)

43. Calculate
Risk

44. Story Size

45. A mile is a mile...

46. regardless of
who’s running

47. Story Points...

48. 3 estimates

49. Minimum

50. Likely

51. Maximum

52. Yet again...

53. Take Notes

54. Take Lots of Notes!

55. Use the Likely Estimate...

56. for Planning & Tracking...

57. T-shirt
sizing

58. Team Estimation

59. For each story...

60. For each story...
X 3

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65. Now what are
we estimating?

66. Assumptions?

67. Agree your
constraints

68. Determining
initial velocity

69. Remember....

70. Don’t forget the
notes!

71. Estimation Release Planning

72. Release
Planning

75. Get Raw Scope

76. Get Raw Scope

77. Get Raw Scope
Get Raw
Velocity

78. Get Raw Scope
Get Raw
Velocity

79. Get Raw Scope
Get Raw
Velocity
Adjust for
Variation

80. Get Raw Scope
Get Raw
Velocity
Adjust for
Variation

81. Get Raw Scope
Get Raw
Velocity
Adjust for
Variation
Build dev
capacity plan

82. Get Raw Scope
Get Raw
Velocity
Adjust for
Variation
Build dev
capacity plan

83. Get Raw Scope
Get Raw
Velocity
Adjust for
Variation
Build dev
capacity plan
Adjust for
Velocity change

84. Get Raw Scope
Get Raw
Velocity
Adjust for
Variation
Build dev
capacity plan
Adjust for
Velocity change

85. Get Raw Scope
Get Raw
Velocity
Adjust for
Variation
Build dev
capacity plan
Adjust for
Velocity change
Determine no
of iterations

86. Get Raw Scope
Get Raw
Velocity
Adjust for
Variation
Build dev
capacity plan
Adjust for
Velocity change
Determine no
of iterations

87. Get Raw Scope
Get Raw
Velocity
Adjust for
Variation
Build dev
capacity plan
Adjust for
Velocity change
Determine no
of iterations
Prepare
Timeline

88. Get Raw Scope
Get Raw
Velocity
Adjust for
Variation
Build dev
capacity plan
Adjust for
Velocity change
Determine no
of iterations
Prepare
Timeline

89. Get Raw Scope
Get Raw
Velocity
Adjust for
Variation
Build dev
capacity plan
Adjust for
Velocity change
Determine no
of iterations
Prepare
Timeline
Finalize
Resource Plan

90. Get Raw Scope
Get Raw
Velocity
Adjust for
Variation
Build dev
capacity plan
Adjust for
Velocity change
Determine no
of iterations
Prepare
Timeline
Finalize
Resource Plan

91. Get Raw Scope
Get Raw
Velocity
Adjust for
Variation
Build dev
capacity plan
Adjust for
Velocity change
Determine no
of iterations
Prepare
Timeline
Finalize
Resource Plan Publish!!

92. Adjust for Scope Variation

93. Project Risk Profile

94. Inception RFP Response
Time&
Materials
FixedPrice
,IQ?MN 2CME
(CAB?MN 2CME
Uncertainty
CommercialRisk

95. Build a Dev Capacity Plan

96. Identify....

97. available dev pair days...

98. Consider...

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101. Adjust for Velocity
Variation

103. Number of Iterations

104. Prepare Timeline

108. Initiation
•Iteration 0 deprecated
•Size & resource this
carefully/ appropriately!

111. Testing
•System Integration/
UAT/ OAT, Usability...
•Phased? Incremental?

113. Deployment
Test environments,
testing, rehearsals, data
conversion, training....

115. Finalize Resource Plan

116. 0
50
100
150
200
I 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
Likely Scope Maximum Scope CumulativeVelocity
Contingency
Release Plan

117. What happens next?

118. The Start

119. Things Change

120. If we manage change
well...

121. Clients are happy!

123. Your margins are
intact!

125. Sustainable Pace, a
Successful project...

126. and a happy team

127. Questions?

128. Thank You