Estimate quote for a Flash Application with server side interaction

Question

I am building a Flash AS3 application that allows users to modify images, (drag and drop, select, scale, alter saturation, etc) and then submit-save them to a server.

The user will then have the ability to log in and access these saved images via a separate admin tool in a thumbnail gallery. They can either delete an image or click a thumbnail to view it at original size.

I am architecting and building the front end only and will have design ready assets supplied.

Since I have been burned in working to fixed quote before, would appreciate ANY feedback advice on quoting this project!

Thanks in advance!

Answer 1

I've done a lot of estimating, and I've found that the only way I can get a reliable estimate is to break down all of the tasks and subtasks to as granular a level as I can, estimate all of those elements, and then add it up. This usually takes me several passes, and a couple of times waking up in the middle of the night.

It's time-intensive, but works out really well in at least three ways.

1. Obviously, the first way is that you end up with a pretty reliable estimate.

2. You also think of all kinds of things that you wouldn't have thought of if you hadn't sat down and wrote everything out (which is a big part of why estimates turn out to be wrong, in the first place). You also give yourself the chance to really think through your overall approach, and you end up making better decisions on things like which framework to use.

3. Writing everything out to the detail level helps a lot in sequencing the work you're doing with the work of other teammates. Makes it easy to see that at a given point you'll be roadblocked if you don't have an API from the server team, etc. Also helps you realize how you will potentially roadblock your teammates, and gives you the ability to deal with that.

Hope that's helpful. Making myself work hard at the estimation end of a project has really helped me be successful in the actual development aspect.