Estimates
Show how much effort each issue will take.
Overview
Use estimates to describe the complexity or size of an issue. Cycles, projects, and insights use those values to calculate scope and related statistics. You'll opt into estimates on a team and choose which scale to use.
Estimates start off. While they are off, the property is hidden, and Pulse counts each issue as 1.
Configure
Go to Settings → Your teams → <team> → General and use the Estimates
section. Team managers and workspace admins can change the settings.
Open Issue estimation and pick a scale — Pulse, T-Shirt, Fibonacci,
or Exponential — or leave Not in use. Teams can use different scales even
when they work on the same project. Sub-teams do not inherit these settings
from a parent team.
Turning estimates back to Not in use hides the property. Values already on
issues are kept and return if you enable estimates again.
Scale range options
| Scale | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Exponential | 1 | 2 | 4 | 8 | 16 |
| Fibonacci | 1 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 8 |
| Pulse | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| T-Shirt | XS | S | M | L | XL |
When T-Shirt sizes need a number — in graphs, for instance — they follow the Fibonacci scale.
Extended estimate scales
Enable Extended estimate scale to add two additional values to your scale.
| Scale | ||
|---|---|---|
| Exponential | 32 | 64 |
| Fibonacci | 13 | 21 |
| Pulse | 6 | 7 |
| T-Shirt | XXL | XXXL |
Zero estimates
Enable Allow zero estimates to assign an explicit estimate of 0. This is
different from leaving an issue unestimated. By default, unestimated issues
count as 1 point; turn off Count unestimated issues to count them as 0.
A zero is useful when a parent issue should not add points to the total.
Changing the scale
Saving a new scale remaps existing estimates to the nearest allowed value.
When two values are equally near, Pulse picks the lower one. A 0 becomes
the smallest allowed point if zero is no longer permitted.
Add, edit, or remove estimates
Add estimates when creating or updating issues with the keyboard shortcut
Shift E. The same shortcut edits or removes the estimate on an open issue
and in a bulk selection. In the create dialog, use the Estimate control.
Pick No estimate to clear the value. That is not a zero.
Personal issues have no team, so they have no estimate. If the destination team has estimates off, the control is hidden.
An issue template can pre-set an estimate, or ask for one as a property question. If the destination team has estimates off, the composer leaves that value out and says so.
Filter for estimates
Find issues with specific point values by filtering for estimates. The
shortcut F opens the filter menu. You can match a value, several values, a
range, or No estimate. This is especially helpful when creating custom
views and searching through the backlog.
The filter follows the team's scale and is hidden when estimates are off.
Analytics
When estimates are not enabled, Pulse calculates statistics using a default value of 1 point per issue. T-Shirt estimates map to the Fibonacci scale.
If you've enabled estimates, those values drive percentage completion and
scope in cycle and project graphs — Scope, Started, Completed,
burndown, and capacity. Insights can measure Estimate (Sum) or
Estimate (Avg), or slice a chart by Estimate. Unestimated issues follow
Count unestimated issues in those totals.
When estimates are too large, refine issue scope. Larger estimates usually mean there is uncertainty about the issue's complexity. Breaking it into smaller issues is the better approach.
FAQ
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