GUI support for diagnosing and remediating problems that threaten on-time delivery of software and systems

A method of providing graphical user interface support for diagnosing and remediating problems that threaten on-time delivery of a project, comprising:

• displaying by a processor on a display device a set of graphical presentations associated with a probability distribution for completion time for the project,
• the set of graphical presentations comprising at least:
• a Likelihood of Delivery chart showing a probability distribution of predicted delivery dates for the project;
• a Delivery Date Risk Trend chart showing how the completion time for the project predicted according to the Likelihood of Delivery chart has changed over time;
• and
• a Burndown chart that shows at least work-items of planned work for the project, a graphical position on the Burndown chart of a work-item of said work-items representing date on which the work-item is completed or to be completed, and how much more work remains to be done on the project after the work-item is completed,
• each of the Likelihood of Delivery chart, the Delivery Date Risk Trend chart, and the Burndown chart having a timeline axis,
• wherein the Likelihood of Delivery chart, the Delivery Date Risk Trend chart, and the Burndown chart are displayed with their timeline axes aligned,
• wherein the Delivery Date Risk Trend chart maps a plurality of project completion times over the and the Delivery Date Risk Trend chart's timeline axis and an expected delivery date axis,
• wherein each of the plurality of project completion times is predicted at different dates according to information available at the different dates of prediction being represented on the Delivery Date Risk Trend chart's timeline axis,
• wherein for each of the plurality of project completion times that is predicted, the Delivery Date Risk Trend chart graphs earliest predicted delivery date, most likely predicted delivery date, and latest predicted delivery date, and
• wherein the Delivery Date Risk Trend chart further shows a visual selected from a group consisting of:
• a line that represents a planned delivery date for the project provided by a user;
• an area between the earliest predicted delivery date and the latest predicted delivery date visually coded to represent status of the predicted delivery dates with respect to the planned delivery date;
• and
• a textual display of dates that represent the earliest predicted delivery date, the most likely predicted delivery date, and the latest predicted delivery date associated with a current prediction,
• wherein the set of graphical presentations further comprises a selectable slider bar comprising a timeline displayed in alignment with the timeline axes, which allows a user to select one or more dates on the timeline and allow the user to play back a history of delivery date predictions made for the project using data that was known at the one or more selected dates, wherein using the slider bar the user is allowed to go back in time and play forward a development history to a current date and visualize how a changing likelihood on-time delivery evolved in time, wherein the Likelihood of Delivery chart, the Delivery Date Risk Trend chart and the Burndown chart respond to display delivery estimates as of the selected one or more dates.

A non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing a program of instructions executable by a machine to perform a method of providing graphical user interface support for diagnosing and remediating problems that threaten on-time delivery of a project, comprising:

• displaying by a processor on a display device a set of graphical presentations associated with a probability distribution for completion time for the project,
• the set of graphical presentations comprising at least:
• a Likelihood of Delivery chart showing a probability distribution of predicted delivery dates for the project;
• a Delivery Date Risk Trend chart showing how the completion time for the project predicted according to the Likelihood of Delivery chart has changed over time;
• and
• a Burndown chart that shows at least work-items of planned work for the project, a graphical position on the Burndown chart of a work-item of said work-items representing a date on which the work-item is completed or to be completed, and how much more work remains to be done on the project after the work-item is completed,
• each of the Likelihood of Delivery chart, the Delivery Date Risk Trend chart, and the Burndown chart having a timeline axis,
• wherein the Likelihood of Delivery chart, the Delivery Date Risk Trend chart, and the Burndown chart are displayed with their timeline axes aligned,
• wherein the Burndown chart further shows current predictions for completion dates to a given percentage of work remaining on the project,
• wherein the current predictions comprise earliest predicted delivery date to the given percentage of work remaining on the project and latest predicted delivery date to the given percentage of work remaining on the project,
• wherein the earliest predicted delivery date to the given percentage of work remaining on the project corresponds to a left tail of the Likelihood of Delivery chart's probability distribution of predicted delivery dates, and
• the latest predicted delivery date to the given percentage of work remaining on the project corresponds to a right tail of the Likelihood of Delivery chart's probability distribution of predicted delivery dates,
• wherein the set of graphical presentations further comprises a selectable slider bar comprising a timeline displayed in alignment with the timeline axes, which allows a user to select one or more dates on the timeline and allow the user to play back a history of delivery date predictions made for the project using data that was known at the one or more selected dates, wherein using the slider bar the user is allowed to go back in time and play forward a development history to a current date and visualize how a changing likelihood on-time delivery evolved in time, wherein the Likelihood of Delivery chart, the Delivery Date Risk Trend chart and the Burndown chart respond to display delivery estimates as of the selected one or more dates.