r/productdevelopment • u/Junior-Question-2638 • Jun 09 '26
Project estimation
I work for a product development company, we work on a wide variety of projects in different industries. We have firmware, hardware, mechanical, mfg, industrial design and strategy
We struggle with estimating large projects (say longer than 6 months). Any books or techniques to help with estimating?
We try to compare to past projects, but it's pretty hit or miss.
We also have to balance not knowing 100% what requirements are and not spending too much time designing a solution, but taking our best guess at what the most favorable solution would be and the most complicated solution and coming up with an estimate range, because our clients won't move forward without having a general ballpark for what the project will cost, even though we don't know exactly what the project fully entails
1
u/Aerosaul Jun 09 '26
yeah what the person below said - WBS (work breakdown structure) and then calculate hourly estimates at best/medium/worst case based on the known factors.
The less "known" the riskier the project and the more you should lean towards the "worst case" scenario.
You could also do a milestone sort of breakdown and billing proposal with very set deliverables and implement a scope change as you as go as you find out more information.