CSULB EE 400D – Senior Design By Sara Gonzalez Burndown chart CSULB EE 400D – Senior Design By Sara Gonzalez

What is a burndown chart? “A [burndown] chart is a visual representation of the amount of work that still needs to be completed before the end of a project” [1]. Linear plot of percentage of tasks remaining versus the total time allocated for the project. Assume progression of tasks for project is linear Excellent visual to see progress of task completion Example: On time, behind or ahead of schedule Figure 1: Burndown chart [3].

Step 1: listing Time, total tasks and Ideal Remaining Task Percentage In an blank Excel sheet: Column A = Time Time allocated to complete project Listed by day, week, month (etc.) Example: 1 – 15 weeks for EE400D Column B = Total Tasks Total number of tasks needed to complete the project Number must stay consistent, if number of tasks increases with time, adjust this number accordingly for entire column Column C = Ideal Ideal percentage of work remaining Line should terminate week of final project submission Calculate ideal plot decrement: Time decrement = 100%/(# of weeks to completions – 1) Example: 100%/(15 weeks – 1) = ~7.14% Figure 2: Input time, total number of tasks and ideal task remaining percentage. *Generated using Excel.

Step 2: Actual tasks started, Total tasks started and Remainder Column D = Actual Tasks Started Number of tasks started in the week Note: These tasks were started and were not completed by the end of the week Started task = 50% complete Column E = Total Tasks Started Running total of tasks started from week to week Column F = Remainder Number of tasks available to be complete for the week Remainder = Total Number of Tasks Started – Actual Number of Tasks Completed 7 15 Running Total Figure 3: Input actual tasks started, total number of tasks started and remainder. *Generated using Excel.

Step 3: Actual Tasks completed and Total tasks completed Column G = Actual Tasks Completed Number of tasks completed for the week Column H = Total Tasks Completed Running total of tasks completed over the life of the project up to the most recent documented week Figure 4: Input actual tasks completed for the week and total of actual tasks completed. *Generated using Excel.

Step 4: Total Tasks remaining and Percentage of Tasks Remaining Column I = Total Tasks Remaining Calculates number of tasks remaining after accounting for tasks started and completed Tasks Remaining = Total Number of Tasks – ((0.5*Actual Tasks Started) + Actual Tasks Completed) *Actual Tasks Started are multiplied by 0.5 = task was started but not completed Column J = Actual Calculates percentage of tasks left to be completed Actual = (Total Tasks Remaining / Total Tasks) * 100% Figure 5: Calculate number of tasks remaining and percentage of actual tasks remaining. *Generated using Excel.

Step 5: Plot Time versus Percentage of Tasks remaining Generate burndown plot: Select/highlight columns to be plotted Hide Columns B, D - I Under ‘Charts’ tab, select ‘Line’ and choose ‘Marked Line’ option Provides a more jagged and realistic representation of percentage of actual tasks completed Points that stay the same week to week exemplify tasks have not been completed during that period of time. Lastly, edit chart’s axis labels, axis scaling and titles as shown in the sample burndown chart (Fig. 7) Figure 6: Sample data to generate burndown plot. *Generated using Excel.

Sample burndown chart Figure 7: Sample burndown chart. *Generated using Excel.

references [1] "Burn Down Chart", SearchSoftwareQuality. [Online]. Available: http://searchsoftwarequality.techtarget.com/definition/burn-down-chart. [Accessed: 02- Nov- 2016]. [2] "Microsoft Excel", Office.live.com. [Online]. Available: https://office.live.com/start/Excel.aspx. [Accessed: 02- Nov- 2016]. [3] Burndown Chart. Input and advice provided by Fabian Suske, President EE 400D (Wednesday)