A story was estimated at eight ideal hours. A working day is eight hours. Developers can get about six hours of work done on a daily basis. What is the elapsed time required to complete the story?

Question

Options

• A1.25 days
• B1.33 days
• C2 days
• DThis cannot be determined without knowing the velocity.

• A
  2% (1)
• B
  74% (32)
• C
  7% (3)
• D
  16% (7)

Explanation

Option B (1.33 days) is correct because elapsed time is calculated by dividing ideal hours by the actual productive hours available per day: 8 ideal hours ÷ 6 productive hours/day = 1.33 days. The key insight is that "ideal hours" represent pure focused work, not calendar time - so you must account for the gap between an 8-hour workday and the ~6 hours of actual productive work.

A (1.25 days) is wrong because no calculation in this scenario yields 1.25 - it likely tempts test-takers who guess an arbitrary fraction. C (2 days) is a common trap for those who confuse "8 ideal hours" with "8 calendar hours" and then mistakenly apply a 50% efficiency factor (as if only 4 hours were productive). D is wrong because velocity (story points per sprint) is only needed to convert story points into time estimates - since the story is already expressed in ideal hours, velocity is irrelevant here.

Memory tip: Think of it as a ratio - ideal hours on top, productive hours per day on the bottom. "Ideal" hours are the numerator you're trying to spend down, and daily productive capacity is how fast you spend them.

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