A user story was estimated at five ideal hours. On a normal eight hour working day, the team gets about four hours of actual work time. What would be the elapsed time required to complete the Story?

Question

Options

• AOne day and two hours
• BTwo days
• CFive hours

• A
  79% (55)
• B
  7% (5)
• C
  14% (10)

Explanation

Option A is correct because ideal hours measure focused work time, not clock time. With 5 ideal hours needed and only 4 productive hours available per 8-hour day, Day 1 consumes 4 ideal hours, leaving 1 ideal hour remaining. Since the productivity ratio is 4 productive hours per 8 elapsed hours (1:2), that final ideal hour takes 2 elapsed hours on Day 2 - totaling 1 day and 2 hours (10 elapsed hours).

Option B (Two days) is wrong because two full days would yield 8 productive hours, which overshoots the 5-hour estimate by 3 hours - the team finishes mid-day, not at end of day.

Option C (Five hours) confuses ideal hours with elapsed hours. Because only half the workday is productive, 5 ideal hours cannot be completed in 5 clock hours.

Memory tip: Think of it as a conversion formula - Elapsed time = Ideal hours ÷ Daily productivity rate. Here: 5 ÷ 4 = 1.25 days, and 0.25 of an 8-hour day = 2 hours. Whenever you see "ideal hours," remember they always expand when mapped to a real calendar.

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