1

Estimate Based on Experience

• Base estimates on how long it took to complete a similar task.
• Consider other development tasks for the scenario or quality of service requirement and their integration costs.
• Factor in the cost of writing unit tests.

2

Balance Load

• If the estimated cost results in more development work than can be accomplished in the iteration, consult the project manager and development manager to either load balance the task or defer it to a later iteration.

3

Refine the Task

• For large development tasks, examine the development task for development work that can be refined into smaller development tasks. Link the new task work items to the larger task work item.
• Assign the new task work items to the appropriate developers.
• Consult the project manager to add new development tasks to the iteration plan.

4

Define the Integration Points

• Work with the other development team members to establish a clear understanding of how this functionality will integrate with other functionality.

All development tasks for the iteration have a development cost in terms of time.