Technical Complexity Factors

Technical Complexity Factors are used in the Use Case Metrics estimation technique. You can add or modify these factors using the Estimation Factors dialog.

To open this dialog, select the Settings | Estimation Factors menu option. Click on the Technical Complexity Factors tab.

Defined Technical Types

This editable list should contain all factors that could affect the technical complexity of the project environment.

These configured factors, whose summed Ex Values yield the Unadjusted TCF value, work together with the Environment Complexity Factors to skew the overall complexity up or down, depending on the level of technical complexity and the corresponding level of environmental support.

Weight

The TCF Weight indicates how much technical complexity you assign to a factor. For example, 'the system is to be developed in ADA' might warrant a higher weight than 'the system is to be a shell script'. A weight evaluates its respective factor, but is irrelevant to a project; the Value field assesses each factor's role within a project. The supplied factors and their associated weights are defined by the Use Case Points Method, although they can be adjusted to suit a project's specific requirements.

Value

For most purposes, the only table column requiring adjustment is Value, which indicates the degree of influence a particular factor has on the project. As a suggested gauge, a value of 0 indicates no influence, 3 indicates average influence and 5 indicates strong influence.