Use Case Estimation

Metrics and Estimation

Project estimation is the task of working out how much time and effort is required to build and deploy a solution.

The Use Case metrics facility in Enterprise Architect provides a starting point for estimating project effort. Using this facility you can get a rough measure of the complexity of a system and some indication of the effort required to implement the model. Like all estimation techniques, this one requires some experience with previous projects to 'calibrate' the process.

There is additional information available on Use Case metrics at www.sparxsystems.com/UCMetrics.htm.

Calibrating

The following values must be carefully calibrated in order to gain the best possible estimates:

• Technical Complexity Factors, which are values that attempt to quantify the difficulty and complexity of the work in hand
• Environment Complexity Factors, which are values that attempt to quantify non-technical complexities such as team experience and knowledge
• Default Hour Rate, which sets the number of hours per Use Case point.

Estimating

Once you have entered all the calibration values, you can estimate the project timescale through the Use Case Metrics dialog.