Barbara Philbrick, Caslon Services Inc.
These notes are focused on estimating manuals that document installation, startup, operation, and troubleshooting of industrial hardware.
Determine the Size of the Project
Since most time estimates are done per page (for example, four hours per page), you need to have some page count before you try to estimate the job. This is the most daunting part of estimating.
Count the Easy Pages
To determine page count, start by breaking the project into the sections that make up most projects:
Each of these sections requires at least two pages, so you’ve got an estimate of 20 pages before you’ve gotten into any detail. (By the way, in my experience, a page takes the same amount of time to prepare despite its size, whether it’s 5½ x 7 or 8½ x 11.)
From these sections, break down the project into subsections and start a rough outline. Identify as many things as you can that need to be explained. Try to determine how many pages you will need to describe each item in the outline. For example, you can figure a paragraph each for each switch, potentiometer, and wiring terminal. Are there keypads? You’ll need a page just to show and label the keys, and additional pages to describe the function of each key.
Count the Variable Pages
Gather as much information as you can about the project. This includes preliminary mock-ups, engineering and marketing specifications, sales literature, and verbal descriptions. If the product is a new version of a project, see how much literature was needed for the previous version.
Use this information to help determine more about the length of the manual. Consider:
Fudge Factors to Consider
Are the people involved, especially the SMEs, difficult to work for? Difficult can mean a variety of things — always away on business? Territorially marks every project? Rude (for example, you are privileged to watch this person on the phone for hours)? If so, add an hour per page to your estimate.
Is the product stable? If not, add an hour per page.
Is your SME a human jellyfish? If he or she will give in to every bizarre demand from marketing and sales, add an hour per page.
Who’s doing the formatting? If you are responsible for final formatting, add some time. If someone else is responsible, you can probably subtract a little.
Who organizes the printing? If you have already worked with printers, you probably know how long it takes to prepare files and deal with them. Make sure you add this time into your estimate.
Who does the graphics? If you have to start from scratch, add time, especially if you’re not proficient with drawing or drawing tools.
How much project management is required? Allow time for reports, post-mortems, and any other project management required.
What’s your experience level with the technology? Allow yourself time to come up to speed.
What’s your experience level with the technical writing tools? If you need it, allow time to learn the new word processor or desktop publisher.
How many reviewers do you have? Is there one overriding opinion? If you have to mediate between lots of reviewers, add time.
Apply the Metrics and Fudge Factors
Now that you’ve got some kind of page count, it’s time to figure out how long
the document will take. When I talk about hours in this section, I mean hours. Many people
estimate by eight-hour day, which includes time spent fixing your computer,
e-mail time, chat time, and time spent dealing with other minor emergencies.
One other note: I have found that estimating the hours per page works best on manuals over sixty pages long. With shorter documents, one bad snag can set your hours off significantly. For example, I had eight-page documents that took anywhere from 20 to 80 hours to complete.
What are Your Hours per Page?
If you’re not already doing it, start logging your hours. Even if the metrics aren’t critical for your position, it’s an eye-opener to see how long it takes to do projects. The numbers you come up with can also be great lobbying material for getting help. I log time in fifteen minute increments.
It’s important to determine your own metrics, since every individual, and every individual within a corporation, will have different metrics. If you have not yet tracked your time on a job, a popular estimate is five hours per page. These five hours include research time, time to interview subject matter experts (SME), editing time, project management time, and writing time, and doing minor editing of screen captures and graphics.
Finalizing the Estimate
Multiply your page count by the hours per page.
Add another 20% to this time. For example, if you’ve estimated 100 hours, go for 120 hours.
If you have to present the hours, make sure you have identified the scope of the project. Give them the rough outline. Make it clear that substantial changes will change the time estimate. Give hours required, not specific done dates. There are usually too many outside factors (SMEs that don’t share, product changes, slow reviewers) to accurately predict dates.