Re[2]: Estimating Hours/Page

[Vince Putman <PUTMV -at- MAIL -dot- SYNTRON -dot- COM>]

     Hey its MGIM,

     The following was sent directly to Win Day, and after reading some of the
     other replies, I could not resist taking on another tough question. . .


     There are many answers to the "time per Page " question -- its a
     question of productivity and a real PIA.  Please provide more
     information about who does the actual original writing and how
     complete is the content?  How much research are you required to do to
     make it complete?  How many graphics?  Who does the graphics?  What
     style and format are you using?  Reference or tutorial?  Color?  Any
     support services?  How accessible is your information sources?

     The list of considerations goes on, but you get the idea.  If you do
     it all, plan on an average of one page per day at best.  If five hours
     per page is high to you, I wonder about your method of accounting for
     the time required on your last manual.  What was the time and how many
     pages?  How did you determine the 230 pages estimate?


        Vince Putman             | Avoid polishing the fire truck
        putmv -at- mail -dot- syntron -dot- com   | while the building burns down!
        713-647-7139 Houston, TX | Aka, Eschew Gratuitous Obfuscation


______________________________ Reply Separator _________________________________

Subject: Estimating Hours/Page
Author:  Win Day <winday -at- CML -dot- COM> at INTERNET_MAIL
Date:    2/3/95 5:47 PM


Greetings, all you techwhirlers. I have a question...

I'm new to the contracting game. I'm working on a series of software
manuals on a reimbursable basis (thank heaven!). I've never done software
manuals before, and I just started estimating the time to complete one.

The manual will be around 230 pages including index. JoAnn Hackos, in her
recent book "Managing Your Documentation Projects", recommends using
about 5 hours per page. That seems really high to me. Does anyone out
there have a feel for this sort of thing?

I should mention that the company I'm contracting to has never hired a
tech writer before; their engineers and programmers always wrote the
documentation in their spare time. Sometimes the docs lagged behind
product release by as much as a year!

Thanks in advance to anyone who can help.

Win Day
E-Mail winday -at- cml -dot- com