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Timeline

pageplanconverge

Force sequence and expose what must happen before what.

Variants

  • default

Data fields

The fields a spec's page can set for this component (see switchback show timeline --json):

  • horizon
  • marks

Grounding

Helps: when a task has many parts and you are tempted to guess its end date whole: writing the steps out in order makes the work visible before you commit to a time, though no study tests ordering steps as this page does

Backfires: when the steps turn into a story of how everything will go right, since plan-focused scenarios are what make time predictions too optimistic, and when the finish date is set without comparing it with how long similar work took before

  • DBreaking a task into its ordered component steps before predicting when it will be done reduces optimistic bias in completion-time predictions.Buehler, Griffin & Ross (1994)

What the grades mean