What is estimation?

Estimation is the process of making an educated guess about how much time, effort, money, or resources a tech project or task will need. It’s not an exact calculation, but a reasoned prediction based on available information, past experience, and known variables.

Let's break it down

Think of estimation as a recipe:

  • Size - How big is the piece of work? (e.g., number of features, lines of code, pages)
  • Complexity - How hard is it to build? (e.g., new technology, tricky algorithms)

- **Resources** - Who will do it and what tools will they use?

  • Risk - What unknowns could slow things down? (e.g., unclear requirements, integration issues)
  • Technique - The method you choose to estimate, such as expert judgment, analogy, story points, or function‑point analysis.

Why does it matter?

Estimates give teams and stakeholders a realistic picture of what can be delivered and when. They help set budgets, schedule work, allocate people, and manage expectations. Without estimates, projects often run over time, cost too much, or miss important deadlines.

Where is it used?

  • Software development - sprint planning, release road‑maps, budgeting.
  • IT infrastructure - server upgrades, network roll‑outs, cloud migrations.
  • Hardware design - prototyping, manufacturing, testing phases.
  • Product management - feature prioritisation, market launch timing.
  • Consulting & services - client proposals, resource planning.

Good things about it

  • Provides a shared baseline for planning and communication.
  • Highlights potential bottlenecks early, allowing teams to mitigate risks.
  • Helps prioritize work by comparing effort against value.
  • Enables better budgeting and resource allocation.
  • Encourages learning; each estimate can be compared to actual results to improve future predictions.

Not-so-good things

  • Estimates are inherently uncertain; they can be wrong if assumptions change.
  • Over‑reliance on a single number can hide underlying risks.
  • Pressure to “look good” may lead to overly optimistic estimates.
  • Frequent re‑estimation can cause scope creep and planning fatigue.
  • Bad estimates can damage trust between teams and stakeholders if they consistently miss the mark.