Agile Effort Estimation Usage in the Sri Lankan Software Industry

Abstract

Accurate effort estimation in the software development industry remains a significant challenge due to requirements’ complexities, technology variability, and insufficient skilled members. To provide up-to-date insights on the state of effort estimation practices in Sri Lanka, we surveyed agile practitioners to identify the effort estimation techniques, types of metrics employed, levels of accuracy, and reasons for inaccuracies in estimates. Our analysis of 93 valid responses reveals that Planning Poker was the most popular estimation technique at 50.5%, while story points were the most widely used metric utilized by 61.3% of participants. Expert estimation was employed by 30% of respondents, and man-hours were used by 23.7%. The combination of Planning Poker and story points was most used, with a prevalence of 70.2%. Regarding the accuracy of estimations, respondents who used a combination of Planning Poker (61.7%) and expert estimation (25.5%) could complete their work within the estimated time without any extra effort. The top three categories of inaccurate estimates were quality-related, project management, and team-related issues.