Hacker News Reader

Problem is not technological. Words are just a bit ambiguous.

“Estimate for X is 5 hours”. Does this estimate only source code change, or full release process with installation to production?

Speech converted to text contains same ambiguities.

People just like to assume that whole group have matching assumptions. (Which have pros and cons)

View on HN

> “Estimate for X is 5 hours”. Does this estimate only source code change, or full release process with installation to production?

Also is that 50 % chance done in 5 hours, or 90 % chance, or a virtual guarantee? Makes a huge difference to planning yet nobody specifies it.

I wanted to say that this "obviously" means "5 hours median" i.e. 50%, but I just realised my managers and clients would almost always understand this as "I swear on everything I hold dear this will take 5 hours and not a single minute more" (which is why I avoid sharing my estimates publicly). Funny how it works. Great observation, thanks.

These are all questions that managers (in my org) are typically expected to ask. They aren't one-offs, but are critical information to share information between people.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com