Somewhere (or some-when) I wrote up an analysis of agile estimation, based on Mike Cohn’s work. Maybe an old blog article that I can’t find, but I think it was something for a client. The key element was that using velocity to manage / predict “rough estimates” based deliverability distinctly from detailed (PERT) estimates for tasks made sense, because you still get the feedback loop that removes uncertainty from the estimation process. Can’t find the write-up.

Long story short, I think the calculator can come in handy for that ‘planning estimation’ phase.

If you’re doing iterative development you might find interesting the calculators (“Release Calculator” and “Wiggle Room Calculator”) that you can find in the sidebar of my website positiveincline.com. Tweet me (@asplake) if you find them interesting/useful or have suggestions for others.

Mike