Asking for Estimates: The Telltale Sign of Ineffective Software Development Practices
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When I think back to my early days of software development, one thing hits me hard: the obsession with estimates.
I'm sure many of us have been in this situation. I’m seated in a conference room, sketching out the next big thing in mobile app development for a retail project. My mind is spinning with technical challenges and roadblocks, but there’s always that one question hanging over me: “When will it be done?”
At first, it seems like a reasonable question. After all, clients and stakeholders need to know when they can expect to see results.
However, as I’ve progressed through various retail and e-commerce projects, I’ve come to realize that relying on estimates can often be more of a hassle than a help.
Let me take you through this realization and how it reshaped my approach to software development.
The False Assurance of Estimates
Estimates are indispensable in software development. We use them to predict how long tasks will take, to plan sprints, and to manage client expectations. In my experience, estimates were often seen as a mark of professionalism.
The more accurate your estimates, the more competent you seem.
However, I started noticing a pattern:
No matter how precise our estimates were, they often proved to be unreliable.
Deadlines would approach, and suddenly, we were trying to get everything done. It wasn’t just a matter of working faster; it was about compromising quality, rushing through testing, and cutting corners wherever possible. This wasn’t an isolated issue—it was a recurring problem.
I remember one particular e-commerce project where we were tasked with integrating a new payment gateway. The estimate for this feature was two weeks. As the deadline closed, it became clear that we were nowhere near ready.
The team started making last-minute changes, sacrificing thorough testing to meet the deadline.
The result?
A problematic integration that caused issues for users and required immediate fixes post-launch.