Using an engineering approach to understanding and predicting Web authoring and design

Software practitioners recognise the importance of realistic estimates of effort to the successful management of software projects, the Web being no exception. Having realistic estimates at an early stage in a project's life-cycle allows project managers and development organisations to manage resources effectively. Prediction is a necessary part of an effective process, whether it be authoring, design, testing or Web development as a whole. The first part of this paper describes a case study evaluation (CSE) where we measured characteristics of Web applications and the effort involved in designing and authoring those applications. The second half explores how we can use the measurements obtained to predict the effort involved in designing and authoring future Web applications. The prediction models employed were two algorithmic models - linear regression and stepwise multiple regression. Although the models generated did not have good prediction power, we believe that by using techniques that are more flexible, we will have better results.