HackerHow can you estimate the work behind a deliverable?
Writing involves checking evidence before delivery, and prototyping involves adjusting tooling. List those steps and ask which ones can only be estimated after you learn more.
Questions in this reading · 1
When the deliverable is specified, how do you estimate the work that comes before it?
Dan Olson set himself a word count and deadline for a personal writing exercise. He recalls how research, sourcing quotes, and fact-checking took time away from drafting. He could adjust his own rules, and his income did not depend on meeting the deadline. Destin Sandlin describes another kind of work that the finished product can hide. After the metal parts for his grill-cleaner project were machined, mold makers still had to assemble and adjust them, drawing on specialized knowledge. The two accounts suggest questions to ask when estimating work before delivery. Which steps depend on what research or trial production reveals? Who needs to be involved at those steps?
Passages and timestamps · 3
look stuff up, source quotes, and fact-check claims.self-imposed as a creative exercisea machinist is not enough to be an injection mold designer and maker.Try it on your own example
Take an upcoming deliverable. Write down one check or trial it needs and who can tell when that work is done.