We estimate our work in hours. The standard estimation is 1 hour = $45.
Each individual task goes a long way before it is delivered to the client.
A queue of tasks (backlog) is formed every Monday. First of all, the backlog includes the tasks of customers who use our maintenance plans.
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Why would one of the plans be useful to you?
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Story points
The price for any development services is formed based on the complexity of the task. Thus, the simplest tasks that take less than two hours of work are estimated at 1 sp; tasks that require a full-time average developer at the middle level - 3 sp, 5 sp; a task that will require about a week of work, as well as its testing - 13 sp, 21 sp
The price for any development services is formed based on the complexity of the task, time it will take as well as the risks and uncertainties associated with the task. This unit of measure is called storypoint (sp). The price of 1 sp is $100. Storypoints are not directly tied to hours, but in our experience, on average, 1 sp might be equal to 2-3 hours of work. We use Fibonacci numbers(1 story point, 2 sp, 3 sp, 5 sp, 8 sp, 13 sp, 21 sp). This allows us to make an accurate assessment, taking into account all the factors that go into the concept of a storypoint. Storypoints are not directly tied to hours, but in our experience, on average, 1 sp equals 2.5-3 hours of development.
Storypoints allow us to avoid estimation bias. Estimation in hours of development is less accurate and can vary greatly due to the difference in time spent on the same task by developers of different levels.
Thus, storypoints system lets us take into account all the factors influencing the final result of the development. The formed price reflects the totality of resources required to complete the task. This estimation is the closest to reality and does not depend on the developer working on the task or the project manager.
The video below has a more detailed explanation of the storypoint concept:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VsSaolMtkKU&t=373s
The stages that each task goes through sprint:
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We work on sprints. Each sprint is one week and it is planned in advance. We do not take tasks to work immediately after the ticket appears. Increasing the number of tickets requires more careful planning. |
0. Before getting to the queue, each task is discussed and estimated by the entire team;
Team backlog - here the task is waiting for one of the developers to take it;
In progress- the task is under development. The status of your ticket also changes to “In progress”;
Code review - is a code analysis to identify errors;
Test queue - the finished task is waiting for its turn for testing;
Testing on dev - the task is being tested on the developer's server;
Release queue - the task that has successfully passed testing on the developer’s server is waiting for its release queue;
Released - the task is released on your site and tested there;
UAT (User Acceptance Testing) - the manager checks the readiness of the task and gives it to the client for review. In this case the Ticket status changes to Customer Review;
Done - if the task is approved by the client, it goes to Done.
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Accordingly, the estimation is influenced by many factors.