Interview Guide

1. The Interviewee

  • Could you please tell us a little about yourself and your work here?

    2. The Firm, Products, Services, and Type of Clients

  • Could you please tell us about your company?
  • Describe your typical client and their needs?
  • What kind of software products do you specialize in?
  • How many people work here? Describe their positions?

    3. Projects and Development Cycle

  • Which projects have you participated in?
  • What was your role?
  • Who do you work together with?
  • Could you walk us through a typical project development from beginning to end?
  • How much % of time is spent on each phase?
  • Do you use some kind of Rapid Application Development for tight schedule projects?
  • Do projects actually comply with the model or set of guidelines or there will always be some discrepancies?

    4. Software Project Estimating Factors

  • Describe your current method of estimation.
  • Identify the resources that you require for typical projects.
  • What factors are considered (human resources, time, historical data, etc.)?
  • How do you measure job complexity?
  • How do you decide if you will take the project or not?
  • What are the profitability analysis criteria?
  • How much % of the total budget do you spend for estimation right now?
  • How do you gather the right people for a certain project?

    5. Time Constraints

  • How soon the clients need the software, does it affect the estimation?
  • How does the existing project (already going on) affect the decision?
  • How long do you spend for estimation?

    6. Problems With Existing Estimation System

  • How do you rate the current system?
  • What are the problems?
  • How often are you over budget and past the estimated time?

    7. Improvements and Features of an Ideal Estimation System

  • What improvements do you need from the current system?
  • Where/which part would you like us to fix?

    8. Security Issues

  • What levels of security do you need?
  • Do your clients require security features?
  • Do you limit access to certain information, e.g. salary, project cost, etc.?

    9. Other Problems, Concerns or Comments

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