Use estimates to describe the complexity or size of any issue. Cycles and projects use estimates to calculate effort and related statistics.
Enable estimates
Enable estimations under team settings. You'll be asked to select the estimate scale and choose the range. We support the following estimate scales (with or without the 0 option):
- Exponential (1, 2, 4, 8, 16)
- Fibonnaci (1, 2, 3, 5, 8)
- Linear (1, 2, 3, 4, 5)
- T-Shirt (XS, S, M, L, XL). T-shirt sizes translate to the following point values: XS = 1, S = 2, M = 3, L = 5, XL = 8 and extended XXL = 13, XXXL = 21.
We count unestimated issues as 1 point. This makes sense for most teams so we've made it the default, but you can change this behavior in your team settings. You can also extend the scales to have two additional point values.
ProTip: When estimates are too large, refine issue scope
Larger estimates usually mean that there is a lot of uncertainty about the complexity of an issue. We find that breaking up issues into smaller ones is the best approach.
Use estimates
Use
Shift E to add estimates to any issues. Estimate counts will show up instead of issue counts in column and list headers when you've enabled this feature. You can filter issues by estimate as long as the feature is enabled for issues in that view.Keyboard Shortcuts
Shift E to assign an estimateDid we miss something? Have a question? Email us at hello@linear.app to let us know.