Fuzzy Use Case Points as a Basis for Effort Estimation

Abstract

Many software development projects encounter problems related to over- or under-estimation of effort. Accurate effort estimation is crucial for successful project management, but it can be challenging when resources are limited, and little is known about the project. The commonly used method for effort estimation is Use Case Points (UCP), which is mainly used for application-based objects and takes use cases as input. However, UCP has weaknesses, particularly in the high variation of weight factor values for Unadjusted Use Case Weight (UUCW). To address this problem, Fuzzy Use Case Points (FUCP), which is a combination of fuzzy logic and use case points, can be used. By applying fuzzy logic to the UUCW category, FUCP derives new weight factor values for UUCW. The implementation of FUCP to calculate effort estimation in ten government-based projects in this research has shown that FUCP yields the closest value to the actual effort required. It has also been demonstrated that FUCP outperforms UCP in terms of accuracy, with an improvement of 6.51%.