How To Get Accurate Software Testing Cost Estimation?

Does your software development team face issues while making accurate costing estimates? 

Fret not because you’re not the only one!

Being developers, it happens at times, that we miss the mark and break the budget!

Making accurate estimates is no less than art, and takes years of practice to get it right. But you can master this superpower with ease and speed if you are good at making the right decisions. 

In this article, we’ll discuss the actual meaning of software testing estimation, its importance, and why it’s so hard to make accurate estimations. What’s more, we will reveal some of the golden tips and techniques to help you make better software estimates with less pain in your neck. 

What is software testing estimation?

Assessing the effort required for testing stands as an important task in the software development journey. Software Test Estimation (STE) plays a significant role in measuring both the time and cost involved in the testing process.

The following factors need to be taken into consideration to estimate:

Time Estimation for Testing:

The success of the testing team relies on meeting deadlines, necessitating the estimation of testing efforts in man-days or man-hours. Managers calculate optimal durations for each project phase, creating a detailed schedule to ensure timely task completion. Accurate time estimation is crucial for building a positive reputation.

Cost Requirements:

Conducting tests demands specific resources, including infrastructure, technical capabilities, specialists, time, and money. Insufficient resources can hinder timely task completion. Estimating available and needed assets is essential to align with the project’s budget and address any discrepancies.

Team Member(s) Needed:

Full consideration of the estimated budget is vital in test preparation, ensuring alignment with the client’s budget and addressing potential expenditures.

Interconnected Factors:

Various factors, such as time, tools, budget, and available skills, are interdependent and influence one another. The schedule is impacted by resources, human skills, and the budget, creating a dynamic relationship.

The process of software test estimation has evolved with advancements in processes, methodologies, and tools over time. Testers must account for these changes in their estimations.

Skills Required:

Evaluation of team members’ professional skills and experience is necessary, as a lack of knowledge can slow down the process and potentially increase costs.

All aspects mentioned are intertwined and can influence each other. The schedule is influenced by resources, human skills, and the budget, while the budget is affected by human skills, resources, and time. Resources include both time and professional knowledge.

What is the importance of software cost estimation?

Let’s list down the reasons for estimating the costs of software testing: 

Efficient Project Planning:

Accurate estimations play a major role in maintaining control over the overall project timeline. Project managers can devise realistic schedules and allocate resources accordingly, ensuring effective synchronization with development and other project tasks.

Appropriate Resource Allocation:

Upon finalizing time estimates, resource allocations, including the number of testers, required testing environments, and tools, can be done meticulously. This prevents underutilization or over-allocation of resources, promoting efficient resource management.

Also read: How to Hire a Perfect QA Tester for Your Startup?

Risk Management:

Estimations provide visibility into potential risks associated with testing, highlighting areas requiring extra attention or resources. Proactive implementation of risk mitigation strategies becomes possible with this insight.

Project Optimization:

Precise estimation facilitates thorough planning and optimization of testing activities. This identification of opportunities for process improvements, automation, and resource optimization enhances efficiency and productivity within the testing process.

Stakeholder Expectation Management:

Estimation aids in setting realistic expectations with project stakeholders, encompassing clients, managers and the software development company

Control and Budgeting:

Budgets are a critical element of project success. Efficient estimation of testing efforts allows for accurate predictions of expenses, including infrastructure, personnel, and tooling costs. This clarity aids in effective cost control and budgeting for the project.

Why is it difficult to get software estimation accurate?

Front-end developers frequently encounter challenges arising from insufficient technical details. 

For eg., estimating efforts based on wireframes with minimal functionalities or animations becomes a common scenario. Often, specifications for devices and screen sizes are not provided.

Some project managers and clients, lacking a tech background, mistakenly perceive certain designs as easy to implement. Their detachment from the process may lead them to pressure on the team to reduce both budget and time.

Meanwhile, back-end developers face various obstacles. 

A new team member may struggle to grasp the overarching business logic. The project may involve unfamiliar third-party services or technologies. Additionally, evolving project requirements can pose challenges.

What’s more, issues just come up because we’re human…

We often have an idealistic view of our compatibilities like how much work can we do within the specified timeframe. Sometimes, we even tend to ignore disagreements among clients and other unexpected disruptions. 

Furthermore, many of us have a strong urge to satisfy our clients’ unreasonable demands by telling them what they want to hear. This tendency causes us to overpromise and under-deliver. 

Software Testing Estimation Techniques

This article outlines some effective and widely used methods for estimating software testing efforts:

• Work Breakdown Structure (WBS):

This approach involves breaking down large tasks into smaller, more manageable groups for easier execution.

• 3-Point Software Estimation Test:

Tasks are divided into smaller segments, and each segment is estimated based on three points: Best case, Most likely, and Worst case scenarios.

• Wideband Delphi Method:

In this technique, a group of experts collaborates to determine the most likely outcome, reaching a consensus based on their collective expertise.

• Agile Estimation:

This method utilizes current data and experience for estimation, continuously integrating new information into the project to enhance the estimation process.

• Distribution in Percentage:

Assigning or assessing each stage in terms of percentages to determine the effort needed at various stages of the testing cycle.

• Functional Point Analysis:

Breaking down large tasks into smaller components and estimating each based on factors like project size, cost, and duration.

How can you achieve optimal accuracy of software project estimation?

Understand project requirements

Ensure you understand the project requirements prior to starting the estimation process. Inaccurate estimates may result from any confusion or incompleteness in the requirements. Therefore, gather as much precise information and documentation as feasible through collaboration with stakeholders to understand their business objectives.

Use multi-point estimation

Rather than relying on a single-point value, opt for a range or three-point estimate, such as “low/probable/high” or “low/high/confidence.”

For instance, consider the Program Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT) method. This approach aids in calculating a practical cost estimate by factoring in an optimistic case estimate, a pessimistic case estimate, and a most likely case estimate. The combined probability of each scenario contributes to a more realistic assessment.

Split the project into phases

Investigate and assess the requirements thoroughly to outline the project’s scope. Consider key elements such as high-level architecture, infrastructure design, tech stack, wireframes, team structure, and a tentative timeline to guide the project’s structure.

Next, segment the project into distinct phases, such as discovery, design, development, testing, and implementation. Within each phase, establish milestones, tasks, subtasks, and other components. This approach enables specialists from various domains to concentrate on their respective responsibilities.

Visualize the timeline

Following the determination of the total time required for each task and milestone by each team, construct a project timeline to visually represent the execution of various tasks, either concurrently or in a sequential manner. Additionally, establish dependencies to comprehend the potential impact of one milestone on another.

Gantt charts stand out as a widely adopted method for visualizing timelines. In the context of an agile methodology, generate one task item per feature, ensuring that all items within each iteration possess a start-to-finish dependency leading to the testing period for that iteration.

Document your assumptions

Every estimation relies on assumptions, necessitating a keen awareness of these parameters. If you identify any misalignment with an assumption as the project nears completion, it is advisable to revisit the estimation promptly for correction.

For example, when estimating the integration time with a web service, document the assumption that the service is already defined. This ensures availability for development and testing cycles, with the client providing a clean set of test data.

Consider your confidence level

When setting up multiple points for your estimation, ensure each scenario is weighted appropriately to counter the inclination towards excessive optimism about your capabilities. It is imperative to assess your confidence level grounded in factual considerations.

Conduct a reality check by posing these questions: How familiar is the team with this situation, and have they encountered something similar before? Do they possess all the necessary information? Are there any blind spots or unknown factors necessitating a proactive scope of action?

Use timeboxing for standard tasks

Rather than starting from scratch, leverage timeboxing to allocate specific time for common project activities. This method entails pre-assigning a fixed maximum time frame for a task and ensuring its completion within that designated time frame.

This approach proves particularly effective in project setup activities that exhibit little variation from one project to another. It is also beneficial in situations involving knowledge transfer to client development teams, where the timeline may extend over a period.

Incorporate organizational friction cost

Regardless of whether you’re collaborating with an internal or external client, your team will dedicate time and effort to work closely with the customer. This involves reaching a consensus, outlining requirements, presenting designs, iterating as needed, and completing the deployment process.

Integrate these activities into your project plan and allocate specific time slots for various review and approval processes. Additionally, ensure clear communication of expectations with the client team and document assumptions, such as the expected turnaround time for client feedback.

Conclusion 

This blog has emphasized that test estimation techniques extend beyond testing software and can prove valuable throughout the entire software development life cycle (SLDC). If you’re seeking precise testing cost estimates, consider consulting with an expert software development company like DianApps, which takes into account all the factors mentioned above.

As highlighted earlier, for quality results within your budget, connect with our team of custom software development experts. They possess expertise in crafting solutions tailored to specific industry needs. Hire software developers who are expert at handling varying levels of solution complexity, ensuring exceptional development outcomes.