I'd like to get better at estimating how long it will take me to complete tasks. When estimating things I know little about, I think it's best to start with base rate information and adjust it based on things I do know, rather than to go on 'gut feeling' which is what I normally do, and is generally optimistic. What I lack is that base rate information.Are there any statistics available which give typical ideal man-hour costs (or some other metric) based on some property/properties of the task in question?For some context, I work as a programmer in the video games industry, and I'm talking about chunks of work that typically take somewhere between 2-16 hours, though occasionally drag on far longer than that... ;)I realise this is a big ask, but I have to start somewhere!Things I've already tried:google - my search terms appear to be too general - lots of irrelevant results.This question - asks for overall estimate, in a different domain. Unsatisfactory answers.
Are there any public statistics on the implementation time of software tasks?
time estimation