The influence of non functional characteristics in effort estimation using function point analysis

Software engineering is the discipline which paves the road map for the development of software within the given schedule and effort with the desired quality. The process begins with estimating the size, effort and time required for the development of the software and ends with the product. In most existing research on the effort estimation, the Function Point Analysis (FPA) method is used to estimate the effort, but not ensure the nonfunctional characteristics and quality factors of the project. In this paper, we study the uncertainty of effort estimation in the project and the impact of non functional characteristics in the effort estimation in detail. The refined model shows that the influence of non functional characteristics increases the accuracy of effort estimation in software project. By implications, the research suggests somewhat the impacts of non-functional characteristics in estimation is the most effective approach to improve the estimating accuracy may be to make estimators and developers more accountable in the software estimation.