Documentation project metrics
The time to complete a project is dependent on many things. Therefore, we cannot give you a price until we know more about your problems. However, we can give you guidelines that are based on previous documentation projects.
Project time
For each unique screen, dialog box, and tab in which users enter data, we estimate that on average 5 hours will be needed for documentation. This estimate is calculated from the project data, which shows that for a range of software documentation projects, we produced user documentation for 543 screens in 389 project days. In most projects, the range is between 2 hours and 7 hours for each entry screen.
In an initial estimate, we do not analyse the complexity of the screens. All software has some screens that are simple and some screens that are complex. We find that initially, a simple count of the screens is sufficient. We do not count read-only screens and messages.
For projects of more than approximately 20 project weeks, possibly employ a full-time in-house technical writer. To find a technical writer, use a technical writing recruitment agency.
Elapsed time
If your team answers our questions quickly, then the duration for a documentation project can be as short as 1.5 times the number of project days. For example, when we waited for answers for projects 3o and 2c, we worked on other parts of the projects.
Most projects last between 2 and 3 times the number of project days.
Sometimes delays occur, and small projects can take a long time to complete, for example, projects 1p and 1o. In both cases, the software was simple and the project was simple, but the duration was long compared to the number of project days. The delays were because of the following reasons:
- Software was being developed and there were delays with new versions
- Client staff were not available to answer questions.
Project data
The following tables show data for some of our software documentation projects.
| Ref. | Unique screens | Document type | Pages | Project days | Duration (days) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1p | 20 | User guide | 23 | 8 | 65 |
| 2p | 39 | User guide | 91 | 26 | 46 |
| 3p | 54 | User guide | 48 | 18 | 137 |
| 4p | 79 | User guide | 130 | 79 | 462 (66 weeks) |
| 5p | 110 | User guide + reference manual | 260 | 60 | 124 |
| Ref. | Unique screens | Document type | Topics | Project days | Duration (days) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1o | 14 | User guide + reference | 17 | 8 | 186 (27 weeks) |
| 2o | 37 | User guide + reference | 31 | 46 | 425 (61 weeks) |
| 3o | 59 | User guide + reference | 100 | 54 | 83 |
| Ref. | Unique screens | Document type | Pages or topics | Project days | Duration (days) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1c | 41 | User guide (printed) + reference (online) | 34 (printed) 63 (online) |
45 | 171 |
| 2c | 90 | User guide (printed) + reference (online) | 32 (printed) 118 (online) |
45 | 69 |
Other opinions
Printed documentation takes approximately 3 to 5 hours a page and online documentation takes approximately 4 to 6 hours a topic according to Fredrickson Communications (www.fredcomm.com/articles/detail/stop_guesstimating_start_estimating/).
For high-tech industries, 7 hours a page is a good estimate according to Hackos. (JoAnn T Hackos, 'Managing your documentation projects'. John Wiley & Sons, 1994.)
Writing and editing tasks are approximately 13 hours a page according to Jody Lorig's Estimating Worksheet (www.techwr-l.com/articles/estimatingworksheet).
For an excellent discussion, see Geoff Hart's article about estimating project times and costs (www.geoff-hart.com/resources/2006/estimating.htm).
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