1. Domain-Oriented Estimation Using the SEER CostIQ System Lee Fischman Galorath Incorporated

2. Imagine Obtaining Cost Directly From Limited Requirements

3. Case Based Reasoning (CBR)
“Domain” (Tanks)
“Cases”
Case-based reasoning (CBR) is the process of solving new problems based on the solutions of similar past problems.

4. A Change In Perspective
Focus shifts from specifying modeling parameters…
…to specifying system requirements.
This approach is enabled through case based reasoning.

5. CBR ‘Process’ RETRIEVE the most similar case or cases.
REUSE the information and knowledge in that case to solve the problem.
REVISE the proposed solution.
RETAIN the parts of this experience likely to be useful for future problem solving.

6. Advantages of Merging CBR With Parametric Estimating
Faster Project Workups
Embedding of Expert Knowledge
More Uniformity In Estimating Practice
Better-Specified Projects
Complete Projects From Very Basic Requirements

7. Required: Intelligent Merging of Past Cases
How do case get combined?

8. Basic Operation

9. Design Risks “Requirements are insufficient for detailed costing”
MITIGATION: Create cases as very detailed cost modeling projects. Let the user fine tune the resulting parametric modeling project.
“Too many systems are needed to train for new domains”
MITIGATION: Domain-dependant. Some domains require as few as a half dozen cases.
“New systems don’t look like past ones”
MITIGATION: Give the user ample opportunity to rate past cases’ relevance and include/exclude WBS elements based on which best reflect the configuration of a proposed system.
“Users must be expert in SEER”
MITIGATION: For ROM estimates, users need not access SEER.
“Domains rely on past cases, which may not exist”
MITIGATION: Partial. The most common domains have been created, and cases specified for these from publicly available information.

10. Select A Domain

11. Specify Primary Requirements

12. Review and Update Derived Requirements

13. Evaluate Relevance of Previous Cases

14. Edit the Derived Work Breakdown Structure

15. Determine How Parameters Should Be Set

16. Create SEER Project

17. Optional: Edit SEER Project

18. A Tool for Creating New Domains
Intended for the subject matter expert.

19. Summary of CostIQ
CostIQ accepts SEER projects (“cases”) within a particular subject area (“domain”) and stores these for later synthesis of new, unique projects that represent a composite of the most relevant prior cases. New SEER projects are created based on the requirements for a new system, rather than on detailed technical information. CostIQ integrates with all SEER models. Synthesized projects can, once laid out, be further refined.

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