Project Management of Large and
Small
Multimedia Development Projects
These notes describe project
management methods for large and small
courseware development projects. They
first describe the role of management in
software and courseware development, and
what activities this management
involves. Three scheduling methods are
then described and the use of software
and schedules in project management. The
relationship between the project manager
and the development team is discused.
Costing methods are then described in
some detail, particularly the COCOMO
method. Its adaptation to multimedia
courseware development is described and
then practical methods of costing and
current rates are discussed. Finally,
guidance on the management of small
projects and teams is given.
1. Management in the development
process
The fundamental activities in
software and courseware development are
analysis, design, production (including
publication or installation) and
evaluation-revision (including testing).
The simplest model of courseware
development is the familiar waterfall
model which is a sequence of these
activities (Figure 1); other versions
add revision-evaluation at various
points. Management is not a separate
activity in the process, it is the
control of the development process
and each development activity.
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Figure 1
The waterfall model
Activity product
Analysis of requirements
V requirements specification
Design of software
V design specification
Production
V software
Testing
V working software installed
Maintenence
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Project Management (PMT) can be
contrasted with line management (Rickard
1994). Line management (so called
because there is a clear line of
responsibility) controls the continuous
activities of an organisation, for
example, human resource management or
management accounting. In contrast,
projects have a start and an end in
time (even if the end is later than
expected!). So PMT involves some
different procedures and skills to line
management, although it also shares
many. It is a notorious fact that
software development projects of all
kinds often finish late, or over budget,
or both. So PMT cannot be easy. It
attempts to achieve the project
objectives on time and on budget, by
managing the development activities. PMT
applies to any project. In software and
courseware development projects the
objective is installed, working software
(and related products).
The three variables to be managed are
the quality of the product
being developed (meeting the
requirements)
the time scale (the delivery
date)
the resources used (the cost).
These three are in tension -
improving one tends to damage the other
two. Higher quality costs more and takes
longer. Reduced development time (faster
delivery) could be achieved by using
more resources (hiring more developers)
or reducing quality (in functionality or
robustness).
The appropriate PMT methods depend
upon project size. The bigger the
project the bigger is the management
problem. A tiny project can be managed
informally, for example, one person can
manage the process of buying and cooking
food for a meal without formal methods.
Large projects such as getting a man on
the moon or building the Channel Tunnel
need project management as a major part
of the total activity and cost, and use
formal methods.
It is important to distinguish three
fundamental roles in a project (Britton
& Doake p. 169)
the client, (whose
requirements are being satisfied, and
who may be paying)
the developer (which may be a
team of analysts, designers,
programmers)
the project manager.
2. Management functions.
What is involved in the management of
software development? Britton and Doake
(1993) list the activities of
planning
estimating time, effort and cost
setting sensible tasks for the
development team
using prior experience in scheduling
work
using resources efficiently
monitoring and controlling progress
evaluating work and maintaining
quality
identifying problems and adjusting
plans
Sommerville (1989) presents a shorter
practical list:
proposal writing (to get a project
bid accepted)
costing
planning and scheduling
monitoring and reviewing
selecting and evaluating personnel
report writing and presentations
These lists are aimed at large
commercial software projects. The
activities of project management are
similar in general software development
and in non-computer instructional
development. Foster (1993) suggests that
even in an academic environment (where
PMT is generally weak or absent)
development of any course requires
management as
Planning - in advance of
development
setting objectives
programming (activities through time)
scheduling
developing procedures
budgeting
Leading - interpersonal
activities
championing the vision of the course
taking responsibility for decisions
selecting team members
developing the team (training)
motivating team members
communicating well
Organising - structures
designing an organisation structure
allocating tasks and defining roles
for team members
delegating responsibility and
authority
creating an effective environment for
team work
Controlling - keeping to the
plan
developing standards for evaluating
courseware design
measuring and evaluating the course
against those standards
taking corrective action on shortfall
keeping to plans and schedules
Many of these activities are
necessary in continuous line management
too. All these lists assume a medium to
large project with a team of several or
many people. We will next consider
methods specific to PMT.
3. Project Management methods
A schedule is the conversion of a
project plan into a real timetable.
Three methods are widely used in making
schedules and keeping to them: project
milestones, Gantt charts and critical
paths.
Milestones
Project milestones are used
universaly in monitoring and controlling
projects. Because software is an
intangible product, development progress
cannot be seen or measured as it can
with, for example, building a ship.
Information on progress can only be
provided through documents describing
work carried out. When a project is
planned a series of milestones are
established and, at each one, a formal
progress report is presented to
management and possibly the client. The
milestone will signal the completion of
a development task, even if the task
product is later revised after
evaluation.
Each main phase of development
(analysis, design, production) will have
a milestone but there will probably be
several for each phase, one for each
smaller task within them (e.g.
feasibility study, outline design,
interface design). Milestones should not
become too frequent or onerous, or
producing them will become a major
activity in its own right! A milestone
every few weeks is typical.
As well as signalling progress in the
schedule, the milestones are the
opportunity for quality evaluation and
review. In a commercial setting this
means that the client can evaluate the
products of development phases or tasks,
and their 'sign-off' is part of the
contractual relationship.
Figure 2 shows the development method
used in Sanderson CBT which includes
several sign-off points. Figure 10-7a
from Meredith and Mantel (1989) shows an
example project documentation. The
project is a network of activities,
including many sign-offs. The sign-offs
are actually signed in the boxes at the
top of the figure. For example, the
bottom line of the figure includes ''wax
sign-off" and this is signed in the
(penultimate) box labelled "sculpting".
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Figure 2 Sanderson CBT
Life cycle using the Toolbook authoing
tool
(analysis)
client call
initial analysis
prototype with Powerpoint
detailed needs analysis
report to client - sign-off
(design and production)
prototype developed with Toolbook
usability test
amendment cycle
sign-off
full content design in Toolbook
edit and test
Quality inspection
sign-off module by module
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Milestones are easier to plan in a
sequential development and their use is
a major advantage of the waterfall model
over more iterative prototyping models (Sommerville
1989). Nonetheless, if prototypes are
being used they should still be the
subject of milestones and sign-offs.
Otherwise the project cannot be
controlled.
Gantt charts
One of the oldest methods of
representing project activities was
invented by Henry Gantt in 1917. It
shows the activities as bars on a
horizontal time scale, both as planned
and as actually achieved. It presents a
clear picture of the current status of
the project for monitoring purposes. It
contains a lot of information but in an
easily understood form.
Figure 8-18 and 8-19 from Meredith
and Mantel (1989) show a Gantt chart of
a small project at the start and then
after 22 days with some activities
achieved. They show activities labelled
as a, b, c... vertically, and milestones
and the current date horizontally.
Figure 8.3 from Rickard (1994) shows
a Gantt chart for software development
with milestones shown as 'reviews'. Only
the planned activities, not the actual
ones, are included.
Variations on the Gantt activity
chart can be found. It is common to have
layered activities so that a top level
shows only the main phases but a lower
level shows the detailed activities.
Gantt charts do not show
interdependencies between activities
(one depending on a previous one being
completed) or the resources being used.
Critical Path Method (CPM)
One important feature of scheduling
is the dependencies of some activities
on others, which must therefore precede
them. The activities and their outcomes
can be shown as a network (of nodes and
arcs joining them) which displays these
interdependencies. The project start is
placed at the left and its end, at the
right. All the activities are placed
between them as nodes joined by arcs,
for example figure 8.2 from Rickard
(1994).
The nodes in the network can
represent either the activities
themselves or their outcomes (in which
case the activities are represented by
the arcs joining outcomes). Both are
used. Activities-on-node charts are
easier to draw, as in figure 8.2.
Activities-on-arc networks are better at
showing milestones, as outcome nodes.
The network chart has two main
functions. Firstly, it displays the
dependencies to help scheduling.
Secondly it allows the calculation of
which events are on the 'critical path'.
Each activity has a planned time period
to complete. Unless there is just a
single sequence of dependent activities,
some activities will be able to run in
parallel to others. In this case, one
activity x will take the longest
time to complete and any delay in x
will delay the whole project. Delay in
the other parallel activities would not
delay the project as x will still
be running anyway. Extending this to a
whole network it is obvious that one
route of arcs from the project start to
its end will involve the greatest total
time and this is the 'critical path'.
Delays in any activity on this path will
delay the project end. Delays in
activities off the critical path will
not necessarily do so. These activities
therefore have a 'slack' or 'float
time'; the time by which they can be
delayed in start or completion without
having knock-on effects on the project
deadline. It is possible to calculate
the critical path by hand, but for large
networks it is always done by software.
Note that the same information used
in a network chart is used in a Gantt
chart, and the one can be transformed
into the other. Figure 8-13 from
Meredith and Mantel (1989) shows a
network for the same project as the
Gantt charts 8-18, 8-19 above. It is an
activity-as-arc network and the critical
path is the top path. (EOT means
earliest occurrence time of the event,
when the activity ends).
Software support
The methods described can be
performed by hand but for large projects
they are now always performed by project
management software. This was
specialised and expensive until the
1980's but has become very common as
part of a managers desktop support, for
example, Microsoft's Project Manager and
Computer Associates Superproject. They
are often referred to as supporting PERT
(Project Evaluation and Review
technique) which is similar to CPM and
often confused with it. The advantages
of such packages include
speed of calculation and production
of charts,
consistency of data between different
charts and calculations as all are
produced from the same data of
activities, their time periods and
necessary resources,
better monitoring and control as
plans, calculations and charts can be
updated simply by changing data on any
of the charts,
automatic costing of projects as
resources can be given unit costs,
integration between different
projects using the same resources at
different times, for example special
equipment or personnel.
Using schedules
The project plan is written before
development work can start and is its
framework. It includes
project objectives,
assumptions made in estimating,
including risks and contingency
"buffer",
resource requirements and costs,
network and activity charts showing
schedules, milestones, and resource
allocations.
Scheduling is obviously essential to
project management, both as initial
planning and then as the yardstick for
controlling activities to meet project
objectives, deadline and budget.
However, it is a management tool and
should not become the manager. Steve
Maguire (1994, chapter 5) describes the
project management of the development of
Microsoft's Excel for Macintosh. This
two year project gradually slipped its
schedule and the programming team became
increasingly demoralised as milestones
"slipped". Weekly status reports were
written which gradually showed increased
slippage. Weekly meetings concentrated
on what was slipping and the time being
wasted by some staff as they waited for
others to finish work. A task list grew
of bug fixes that were going to be
needed before product shipping but could
not be done yet if the schedule was to
be met. The schedule drove the project
and demoralised the team.
The surest way to mismanage a
project and jeopardize the product is to
put so much emphasis on the schedule
that it demoralises the team and drives
them to make stupid decisions despite
their better judgements. (Maguire 1994,
p.105)
Schedules are inevitably somewhat
arbitrary so the real quantity and
quality of the development work must not
be damaged by attempts to meet the
schedule. The wrong assumptions in
Microsoft's use of scheduling on that
project included.
all tasks for the two year project
were known and on the schedule
each week each programmer would do 40
hours work on the scheduled tasks
the initial time estimates for task
were correct
all features would be implemented
perfectly.
Planning should be seen, not as a
once-and-for-all activity, but as an
iterative process. Change is a constant
factor in the life of a project; it
comes from the client, from the
development team and from external
circumstances. ..the project manager
must be prepared to react to it in the
way that brings the most long-term
benefits ... to the project as a whole.
(Britton & Doake 1993 p.179)
As well as using the schedule as a
PMT tool rather than as the manager,
long projects should be divided into
subprojects. When these are completed as
milestones there is something worthwhile
to show, thus motivating the team.
Successful PMT manages its most
important resource: the human resource.
4. The project manager and the
development team.
Structures
The project manager (PM) is not part
of the development team, and his/her
activities are outside the development
process. What is their relationship with
the development team? One model puts the
PM as a co-ordinator between
individuals, but this reduces the
decision making by the PM and therefore
their control of the project. After all,
its successful conclusion is their
responsibility. An alternative model is
the line management view of the project
with the PM as the top of a pyramid with
clear lines of control down to the team
and reporting up to the PM. Lines of
communication are vertical. This mirrors
the traditional and now largely
abandoned view of organisational
structure as a whole. All decisions are
in principle made by the PM - PM as
boss. But this is not a mass
production factory! The expertise for
many decision lies in the team members.
The best organisation structure
generally is a compromise between
these two (Rickard 1994). The PM has
authority and responsibility and must
exercise it (vertically) through, for
example, milestone reporting, but the
team members have expertise and
initiative and must communicate
(horizontally) with each other to
co-ordinate and motivate their work.
Perhaps this is just the general problem
of management leadership in a project
microcosm.
Golden rules.
The following have no scientific
basis but are good advice from various
sources
define specific project outcomes
schedule activities and milestones to
allow sufficient time
establish rapport with the clients
plan effectively but appropriately,
write a written plan and use it,
build and nurture a talented,
motivated team; recruit or allocate
staff so that existing expertise is used
and train others as early as possible
communicate, communicate, communicate
with clients and the development team
5. Costing methods and metrics
Different projects require different
development efforts, resources and
therefore costs. Costing is interesting
for two reasons. Firstly, it is a
practical need in project planning. A
client agrees requirements and wants a
firm estimate of cost. Secondly, in
attempting to describe what variables
affect development effort, we gain
insight into issues of courseware
development.
Metrics has been used in attempts at
costing. Metrics in software engineering
is the attempt to quantify (measure
numerically), for any purpose, aspects
of the development process, software
product or related products. The best
documented example is the size of
software in number of lines of code,
others are the person-days for
development and readability indices of
manuals.
Approaches to costing
There are several ways of estimating
in advance the effort needed for
developing a piece of software (Sommerville
1989, chapter 26).
Experts with relevant experience
arrive at a consensus.
By analogy with similar projects
already completed.
Parkinson's Law - work expands to
fill the resource available.
Pricing to win - it costs whatever
the client has to spend.
Top-down estimation, considering the
overall properties of the requirements.
Bottom-up estimation, considering the
cost of each component of the
requirements and adding them.
Algorithmic cost modelling. A model
based on historical data relates a
software metric (e.g. size) to
cost. The size is estimated and
therefore the cost.
All are really concerned with
estimating development effort before
multiplying in the unit cost of
different resources. Methods 1 and 2 are
similar and are of no help unless you
happen to be an expert and therefore do
not need a method! Methods 3 and 4 are
similar. Although perhaps cynical, in a
commercial setting this may be
realistic, and boils down to 'what can
we do for £X,000 ?' Bottom-up estimation
is a help if you can divide
requirements (not software functionality
or code - we don't have them yet) into
components that can themselves be costed.
Subdivision may help but we are left
with the original problem for each
component. Top-down is where we start
from - given the overall requirements,
what will it cost?
From the pessimistic tone of the
above you may be putting hopes into
algorithmic modelling, which will be
described below. However, there is no
escape from the basic problem that we
are trying to predict the future and
models are not crystal balls.
Metrics.
The best known software costing model
is Boehm's COnstructive COst MOdel (COCOMO).
It is an equation based on a mix of
statistical data fitting and expert
judgements. It exists in different
degrees of complexity, some of which we
do not need. At its simplest, it says
development effort = A (lines of
source code) ^b
where A and b are constants for
certain types of projects. In theory, b
implies that effort increases faster
than the number of lines of code - big
programs require disproportionately
large amounts of effort. In practice,
though, value of b are close to 1.0 so
that there is an almost linear
relationship between the total effort
and the number of lines of code. This is
not surprising, as much of the
development effort goes into writing
them, and the rest is related to the
analysis and design leading to the
source code lines and the management of
those activities. Sommerville discusses
the empirical data on lines of code per
programmer-month.
Three levels of project difficulty
are described which have different
values for A and b.
1. Small teams in familiar
environments developing an application
with which they are familiar.
2. Intermediate.
3. Projects with tight
specifications, fitting closely into
other hardware and software, regulations
and procedures. Validation is tight.
Developers are unfamiliar with such a
specialised requirement.
The values for A and b are low for 1
and high for 3, leading to the
effort/lines curve for 3 being steeper
and more upward curving (see figure 3).
Values of A and b have been found from
empirical data (past projects).
There are many detailed problems with
using COCOMO. The computer language
being used will have a big effect on the
actual values of A and b, and the model
was developed with languages like
FORTRAN and COBOL in mind. The constants
would clearly be different for modern
languages and 4GLs or authoring systems.
Also, for different working practices
and project management methods. In his
own organisation, Boehm found values for
intermediate projects of
Person-months = 3. (thousands of lines)
^1.12
As well as predicting the
person-months, extensions of it also
predict the months of development (and
hence the persons needed).
The constants A and b in the model,
and its predictive power, are going to
vary with circumstance and in the next
level of detail in the model Boehm
described 15 factors which affected the
constants. These include, for example,
the required software reliability,
database size, and software development
tools. Each variable (or 'cost driver')
is used as a multiplier of
person-months. For example, different
degrees of software reliability have
multipliers from 0.75 for very low
reliability, through 1.0 for normal to
1.4 for very high reliability. Combining
the multipliers of all 15 cost drivers
thus have a marked effect on
person-months of development effort.
Boehm's model thus becomes
person-months effort = A (lines of
code) ^b . m(X)
where m(X) is the composite
multiplier for the cost drivers. He used
63 projects to find values for the cost
drivers.
To be useful, COCOMO obviously has to
be tuned to the developer organisation
using historical data on their past
projects. Usually this is not available.
However, as you may have realised, there
is a more fundamental problem in using
it for cost prediction in that it
uses an attribute of the finished
product (lines of source code) as
its input. But until developed we do not
know this! And there is no reliable way
of predicting number of code lines from
the requirement specification (Sommerville
1989). So although interesting in
identifying variables affecting
development effort it is of little
direct use.
6. Costing multimedia development
an algorithmic cost model
Ian Marshall and his colleagues
(1994a, 1994b, 1995) have adapted COCOMO
for multimedia courseware development.
He presents a version of the model
effort = a (average training
delivery hours) ^b . CD(X)
a and b are constants and CD(X) is a
composite of multipliers for as many as
24 cost drivers (compare with the
algorithms above). These include number
of course objectives, the existence of
course content, the amount of animation,
audio, and video, and so on (see Figure
4). These drivers are identified from
accounts in the literature (not from
empirical data on effort).
_________________________________________________________________
Figure 4 Cost drivers for
multimedia development effort
Drivers are grouped into four
categories. Each driver has about 5
increasing levels of multiplier.
1. course difficulty
number of course objectives (20 to
80+)
difficulty level of course objectives
(concepts, principles, problem solving)
existence of course content (rewrite
of CBT, of text, new course)
2. Interactivity
complexity of interface (text ,
graphical, windowing)
level of interactivity (linear,
branching, adaptive)
question feedback (none, yes/no,
remedial)
question style (multiple choice,
words, free text, graphical)
graphics (none, existing, new
artwork, complex artwork)
graphics density (less than 1 per 20
frames to more than 1 per frame/screen)
animation (none, existing, new,
complex)
animation density (less than 1 per 20
frames to more than 1 per frame/screen)
audio (none, existing, new, complex)
audio density (less than 1 per 20
frames to more than 1 per frame/screen)
video (none, existing, new, complex)
video density (less than 1 per 20
frames to more than 1 per frame/screen)
simulations (none, existing, new,
complex)
simulation density (less than 1 per
20 frames to more than 1 per
frame/screen)
3. development environment
production tool (authoring system,
authoring language, high, low level
language)
instructional design (none, informal,
traditional, modern)
development team size (15+, 10-15,
5-9, 2-4, 1)
subject experience (expert through to
none)
multimedia development experience
(extensive through to none)
4. subject matter expert
expert's multimedia experience
(extensive through to none)
expert's availability (unrestricted
through to restricted contact)
_________________________________________________________________
The model is similar to COCOMO in its
structure and use of cost drivers. An
important difference is that it is
fundamentally driven by a metric that is
often available from the client as part
of the specification - the number of
training hours - not one in the finished
product. Thus, once constants are known
for a, b and the cost drivers this
promises to be of practical use.
In their initial study of 14 projects
(Marshall et al. 1994a) using only the
four cost driver aggregate groups,
course difficulty explained 75% of the
variation in effort. Adding development
environment to course difficulty
explained 85% of variation in effort.
Interactivity had little effect because
it was closely related to course
difficulty.
Costing in practice
In practice, how do commercial CBT
developers estimate costs? In some
cases, Pricing to Win or Parkinson's Law
are used. This is 'client pull' and
needs no further comment. The
alternative is 'developer push' where
real costing must be attempted from the
initial requirements, from
delivery/training hours or learning
objectives/instructional items.
For example, one medium sized U.K.
CBT developer charges £15,000 per hour
of training time (at 1995 prices). In
the model above, this means a.(1)CD(X)=
£15000 and b=1 (the cost relationship is
linear. In terms of the cost drivers,
this assumes one graphic on every
screen, and one interaction on every
other screen with about 90 screens per
hour. It assumes a subject expert in the
client organisation is readily available
and at their cost. It assumes one or two
learning objectives (concept or rule)
per screen. Costing could be done per
hour or per learning objective. If there
are no graphics at all, a.CD(X)=
£10,000.
If audio is used, the hourly cost is
at least £16,000. If there is video
involved, a.CD(X) = £20,000. So the cost
multipliers for audio is about 1.1 and
for video are 1.3 . Audio and video
production are expensive. The audio for
one hour's training might need a day's
use of a sound studio, sound engineer
and an actor, say £600. Video costs
about £3000 for 5 minutes including
camera, director and editor are
involved. If video clips are provided by
the client (say from a promotional
video) the cost (of integration) is
less.
Another much-used approach to costing
based on final training hours is the
ratio of development time to delivery
time. The development time can then be
multiplied by unit staff costs and
depreciation of equipment. Marshall et
al. (1994b) quote literature reporting
between 50:1 and 800:1. Hawkridge,
Newton and Hall (1988) report that
Austin Rover quote a ratio of 100:1 for
CBT but think that this is an
underestimate, compared to 15:1 for
conventional trainer-led training.
Canale and Wills (1995) report a survey
by Brown of Australian CBT development
costs. While people in the CBT industry
estimated 100:1, the data collected
indicated 217:1, although less for
larger projects. This resulted in costs
of between (about) £10,000 and £20,000
in 1991. (Exchange rate is AU$2.2= £1 in
1995.) Other projects Canale and Wills
report have costs per delivery hour of
AU$33,000 to AU$50,000, and AU$35,000.
If these seem high, they quote one
interactive video program for bank
managers at AU$100,000 per hour !
Tay Vaughn (1994) makes a number of
practical points about costing
multimedia production, including the
difference between internal rates
(costs) and external rates given to
clients (pricing), the difference being
profit. She quotes overall pricing rates
of between $55 and $170 per development
hour. At an optimistic 100:1 ration this
is $5,500 to $17,000 per delivery hour.
At a more realistic 200:1 it is $11,000
to $34,000 per delivery hour (exchange
rate is $1.6 = £1 in July 1995). This is
a little cheaper than the UK company
quoted above.
The ratio of development to delivery
time as a measure of productivity and
method of costing is well established
but can only be approximate. Marshall et
al. (1995) reviewed the real factors
affecting it, such as organisational
context and software quality. They also
noted inconsistencies in measurement of
the variables involved, learner time and
development effort. Development of a
more accurate costing method continues.
Canale and Wills (1995) looked in
particular at the anticipated and the
actual costs of project management in
multimedia courseware development. In
developing multimedia courseware for
managers they estimated 7% of total
labour costs for project management. In
fact it turned out to be 16%. The whole
project ran over budget, so that the
overrun on project management costs was
actually four-fold in cash terms.
Nonetheless, they insist that when
projects fail it is usually because of
project management rather than technical
obstacles. The value of project
management exceeds its quantifiable
cost, which they recommend as 15% of
labour costs.
7. Management of small projects
I have described project management
in general and costing in more detail.
Throughout, the assumption has been
medium to large projects with teams of a
few or many people. Some aspects of
project management are not applicable or
trivial. Based on the above, what
practical guide-lines can be given for
small projects with teams? (For example,
one or a few people developing a
multimedia application over a few
months, for a client.) This assumes no
financial transactions are involved and
the only resource is staff time.
Nonetheless this resource is limited,
and a quality product is required and on
time.
Referring to Foster's list above,
many of the Planning and Controlling
activities are relevant, and some
aspects of Leading and Organising.
1. Planning is important and should
produce a written plan.
- Objectives need to be stated in
detail,
- make clear what development model
is being used, that is, when evaluation
and revision will take place,
- development activities (analysis,
design, production, and evaluation)
need to be scheduled and their products
used as milestones.
2. Costing is not needed but the time
resources required do need to be
estimated so that the project being
planned is realistic in the time
available.
- Work on the assumption of a minimum
of 100:1 development:delivery hours.
This assumes about 90 screens in an
hour and about the same number of
instructional points, or rather more.
Increase this significantly if
- any media are used in addition to
text,
- if the course involves anything
other than verbal information or simple
concepts,
- if learner input and feedback are
more than simple yes/no,
- if a programming language rather
than an authoring system is being used,
- if the content and the subject
expert are not immediately available.
3. Leadership is hardly needed but
even with a client and one just one
developer/project manager clear
communication, rapport and positive
motivation for the project must be
maintained.
4. Unless the developer is expert in
the subject and in using the media
needed for the project, time must be
allocated to training in these.
5. Organising activities will be few
and authority is not relevant, but even
with as few as two or three developers
there must be a clear (written) and
agreed allocation of responsibilities
including project management.
6. Controlling is necessary if the
project is to meet its delivery date.
- Evaluation plans must be made and
appropriate standards used.
- Milestones must be monitored and if
not met on schedule the reasons must be
discussed. The effect on the final
delivery date and product quality is
what matters.
- A Gantt chart may be useful to show
activities and their products,
especially if they are overlapping
rather than sequential. If the PM is
not familiar with a project management
package it is not worth learning to use
one for this purpose.
- CPM is unlikely to be needed unless
the production of media can proceed in
parallel, in which case knowing the
critical path may avoid delays.
If a project report is to be written,
the project plan and management process
will form part of it, and the milestone
reports and development activity
products will provide much of the final
report content.
References
Britton, C. and Doake, J. 1993.
Managing the Project . Chapter 7 in
Software system development: A gentle
introduction. McGraw-Hill, London.
Canale, R. and Wills, S. 1995.
Producing professional interactive
multimedia: project management issues.
BJET 26 (2) 84-93
Foster, G. 1993 Managing course
design. BJET 24, (3) 198-206.
Hawkridge, D. Newton W and Hall C.
1988 Computers in company training.
Croom Helm , London
Maguire, S. 1994. Debuging the
development process Microsoft Press,
Washington
Marshall, I. , Samson, W. and Dugard,
P. 1994a. Predicting the development
effort of multimedia courseware.
Information and software technology
36 (5) 251-258.
Marshall, I. , Samson, W. and Dugard,
P. 1994b. Courseware - how much will it
cost to develop? pp.1-14 in Proc. 2nd
ALl-Ireland conference on teaching of
computing. Dublin City University, Sept
1994.
Marshall, I. , Samson, W., Dugard, P.
and Lund, G.R. 1995. The mythical
courseware development to delivery time
ratio. Computers and Education,
submitted 1995.
Meredith J. and Mantel, S. 1989.
Project management: a managerial
approach Wiley, NY.
Rickard, S. Delivering on time.
Chapter 8 in New frontiers of
learning: Guidelines for multimedia
course developers in Higher Education
ITTI at Nottingham University
Sommerville, I. Software
engineering 3rd ed. Addison Wesley,
Wokingham
Appendix materials
Meredith J. and Mantel, S. , Figures
10-7a, 8-18, 8-19, 8-13.
Rickard, S. Figures 8.2, 8.3
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