Product Design Effort Estimation Worksheet
A structured approach to size design work from design to hand-off
“How do I calculate the size of my design efforts? How do I align stakeholders on the scope of my work streams and better capacity plan for the month, quarter or half?” These are the kind of questions you might ask yourself while working in a cross-functional team full of dependencies. I have created a design worksheet to help you provide a more sophisticated approach to estimate your design work.
This method breaks down efforts to be completed (what), parties that should drive those efforts (who), and the level of effort involved (how much) behind design sizing decisions.
Why do we need it?
Empower designers to better influence and inform roadmaps.
Flag dependencies and risks early to ensure timely reprioritization, if necessary.
Build XFN understanding of what it really takes for design to deliver against roadmap goals.
Improve team health and work/life balance.
Methodology
Before deciding on the cost of the project, we need to understand the various levers affecting the size of an engagement. The model looks at 4 key elements:
Project Size
What is the scope of the design task?
Is it a new feature, a redesign, an existing feature enhancement, or a strategy / vision effort?
Partner Dependencies
What are some of the team dependencies that might affect the timelines of this project?
Who are you collaborating with? This could include core product partners like Content Designers, Product Managers etc., as well as external product teams.
Operational Levers
Factors that add additional time to deliver a design initiative.
Operational tasks including bug bashes, leads reviews, design <> engineering share-outs (prototype walkthrough for the engineers, including preparation and presentation).
Buffer
Extra effort required to factor in any last minute quick fixes, unforeseen UI changes and iterations based on feedback.
Formula
(Project SizeｘPartner Dependencies) + Operational Levers + Buffer = Time to Completion
where
Project size is measured in weeks, based on t-shirt sizing as described below.
Partner dependencies is set as a multiplier, with base set at 1ｘ.
Operational levers are measured in weeks.
Buffer = 20-25%ｘ(Project TypeｘPartner Dependencies).
This is assuming there is one dedicated product designer owning the deliverables alongside meeting their organizational commitments.
Below is a detailed explanation of assigning values against each of the above elements. Note that these estimates are purely illustrative — Feel free to adjust the list of activities, sizes & terminologies, depending on your team capacity and the rate of product lifecycle in your organization.
Step 1: Size the Design Tasks
T-shirt sizing is one way to determine the complexity of design projects by estimating whether you think a design task is extra small, small, medium, large, or extra large. As the name suggests, t-shirt sizing frames effort similar to what you find on t-shirt labels. The idea is to go over your list of design tasks and assign a size to each of them depending upon their complexity. The actual value of these sizes can be decided by the team itself. I usually set:
XS: 0.5 weeks or less
S: 0.5-1 week
M: 1-3 weeks
L: 3-5 weeks
XL: 5+ weeks
Examples of design tasks based on t-shirt sizing:
XS: Fixes, single small features to the interface, design and content audits.
S: Adding features to an existing service, crafting sitemaps, information architecture, prototypes for an existing flow.
M: Running a user research session, designing end-to-end flows for an MVP.
L: Running a design sprint / workshop.
XL: Radical design innovation, a 0>1 product strategy.
Step 2: List out Partner Dependencies
Use a multiplier of 1-3 to factor in partner dependencies requiring collaboration and alignment with internal and external team members.
Examples:
1ｘ: Collaboration with core XFN (PM, Content Designer).
1.5ｘ: Collaboration with core XFN + Privacy & Legal.
2ｘ: Collaboration with external product teams.
So on and so forth.
Step 3: Estimate Operational Levers
There is no one size that fits all for operational levers, use what best works for your team and organization. However, factor in tasks including design critique sessions, leads reviews etc.
Examples:
0.5 weeks: Writing design briefs, PRDs, filing bugs etc.
1 week: Design reviews, design critique sessions + revisions
2 weeks: Company leadership reviews
Step 4: Add a Buffer
On an occasion one too many, unforeseen scope changes pop up during a project. You might have missed on an edge case, or a usability session warranted for some extra design changes. Make sure to add enough buffer for yourself to account for these surprises by adding a buffer time of 20-25% on your ‘Project TypeｘPartner Dependencies’.
Download the worksheet here. Make sure to make a copy of this to play around with your own values and estimates, and let me know if you have any thoughts.
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