Environment Complexity Factors are used in the Use Case Metrics estimation technique. You can add or modify these using the Estimation Factors dialog.

To open this dialog, select the Settings | Estimation Factors menu option. Click on the Environment Complexity Factors tab.

Defined Environment Types

This editable list should contain all factors affecting the general design and development environment, including team experience and knowledge, team size, expertise and other non-functional environmental factors.

These configured factors, whose summed Ex Values yield the Unadjusted ECF value, work together with the Technical Complexity Factors (TCFs) to skew the overall complexity up or down, depending on the level of technical complexity and the corresponding level of environmental support.

Weight

A Weight evaluates its respective factor's complexity in comparison to other factors, but is irrelevant to a project; the Value field assesses each factor's role within a project. The supplied factors and their associated weights are defined by the Use Case Points Method, although they can be adjusted to suit a project's specific requirements.

Value

For most purposes, the only table column requiring adjustment is Value, which indicates the degree of influence a particular factor has over the project. As a suggested gauge, a value of 0 indicates no influence, 3 indicates average influence and 5 indicates strong influence.