[HN Gopher] Ask HN: How do you start researching for a project i...
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Ask HN: How do you start researching for a project idea?
How do you start researching for an idea you have? How do you look
for if it is even worth the effort, what innovation can be made if
a similar app exists? If you completely don't have an idea, but
want to work on one, how do you look for ideas? Do you have a
process that works for you, or some resources that help you
generate ideas?
Author : justforreading
Score : 66 points
Date : 2022-02-24 16:01 UTC (7 hours ago)
| wildekek wrote:
| Find out first if you can get a market for it. It is better to
| have a product with competition than a monopoly on something
| nobody needs.
| fxtentacle wrote:
| No idea
|
| I tried an Ask HN with my idea, but nobody cared.
|
| Another time, I booked Facebook ads for people to subscribe to a
| pre launch email list, but nobody cared.
|
| So mostly I just build stuff that me our my friends want. Or
| where a prospective customer comes to me with their project idea.
| umvi wrote:
| Usually ideas arise out of frustration. I'm trying to accomplish
| X, but the tools to accomplish X are clunky, slow, ill-suited,
| etc. So I start to think I could build a solution for
| accomplishing X that others might find useful as well.
| wepple wrote:
| Keep a list of "why can't I X?"
|
| For example, "why can't I hail a taxi from my phone?". At some
| point, all the ingredients were there but it didn't exist. Uber
| answered the question.
|
| Things that you wish existed, especially if they are a
| combination of existing ingredients.
|
| Then you have to ask "so why hasn't someone already done it
| really well?"
| t0astbread wrote:
| Coincidentally, I've been thinking about this as well recently.
| Especially your second major question:
|
| > If you completely don't have an idea, but want to work on one,
| how do you look for ideas?
|
| (But also the one before.)
|
| My line of thinking was there oughta be a community online where
| people can pitch their ideas and get opinions on it or look for
| collaborators, also cross-discipline. Like "hey I have this cool
| idea for an, idk, gardening app but I don't know how to code,
| wanna help?" or "I'm working on this thing, any ideas to make it
| better", etc.
|
| From what I've seen, there are some forums like that on Reddit
| but they look more focused on momentary thoughts and whacky ideas
| rather than projects people are actually attempting. And it
| doesn't help that Reddit is mostly focused on recent posts (like
| HN or Twitter), so your post would only really be "active" for a
| few days.
|
| GitHub could work like that in theory. You can push an empty
| repository with your idea in a README and people can use
| discussions to, well, discuss it. Tags could help others discover
| ideas to work on. But I haven't really seen anyone use GitHub
| like that, especially not people who aren't involved with IT in
| any way.
|
| I guess what I would like to have is some kind of "Product Hunt
| but there is no product yet" (and with more useful discussions).
| Is anyone aware of anything like that? Or is this perhaps a niche
| that's not filled yet?
| eternityforest wrote:
| r/programmingbuddies
| mindcrime wrote:
| There are some sub-reddits that are sorta like that.
|
| /r/SomebodyMakeThis
|
| /r/somebodybuildthis
|
| /r/stealmyidea
|
| /r/startupideas
|
| etc. come to mind.
| fidor wrote:
| I'm a big fan of this concept. I'm always coming up with ideas,
| or more importantly problems I think tech could solve (or solve
| better). Some of them I might work on myself but most of them I
| know I'll never touch them for a multitude reasons like lacking
| the technical expertise or not knowing the right people to talk
| to. I'd happily put these online for someone else to solve. In
| the end it would still be solving my initial problem.
|
| As far as I can tell, nothing like this really exists. A quick
| search gives r/startup_ideas and a few other low traffic
| forums.
|
| I think structuring it around the fundamental problem, rather
| than the solution would provide a nice space for lots of
| solutions to flourish.
|
| Users could easily like problems that they also have, giving a
| nice ranking of the 'most important' problems, and which would
| provide a ready list of people to present an MVP to, get
| feedback from, and you may even find a cofounder amongst them.
| t0astbread wrote:
| Agreed, the focus should definitely be on exploration rather
| than promotion. Although I feel like allowing some level of
| promotion while still shaping the thing being built would
| attract more ambitious projects which might help give the
| platform a better reputation for collaboration-seeking.
|
| Maybe allow a mix of both? Like, people can open a thread
| starting from a pure problem and throw in some ideas for
| solutions. Or start with an idea and, as part of it, describe
| the problem. Let people filter if they only wanna see one
| type. And of course people can always link threads.
| joshuajomiller wrote:
| I would say never actually look for problems. Certainly, never
| start with the solution and work back to find the problem. Train
| yourself to stop and think when you encounter a difficulty. Learn
| to ask yourself if there can be a better (faster, cheaper,
| automated) way. If you have an answer, THAT is your idea
| mindcrime wrote:
| _Certainly, never start with the solution and work back to find
| the problem._
|
| I'm going to play contrarian here and say I slightly disagree.
| OK, I mean, yes, as a _general rule_ you don 't want to start
| with a solution and work backwards. That I agree with. I just
| don't consider it an absolute. And I think that as an exercise
| done _occasionally_ it can be worthwhile to look at some
| "solution" (that is, some bit of potentially usable technology)
| and work backwards and ask "What could I do with this?" I find
| that that can lead to some interesting ideas in its own right.
|
| The danger, of course, is the possibility of getting overly
| enamored with the technology for its own sake, and wind up
| building something nobody needs or wants. But things like Steve
| Blank's "Customer Development" process can be used to help
| avoid situations like that, or at least before you invest very
| much in such an un-needed "solution".
| iforgotmypass wrote:
| There's a nice iterative process called Customer Development from
| the Lean Startup methodology. Use this to validate your initial
| assumptions, to fine out the Business Model (Value Proposition
| and the target audience) and generally understand pain points of
| your potential customers (how much does the problem currently
| cost them, how they solve it currently, what are the possible
| alternatives, etc.).
|
| Hard to give a complete advice im just a few sentences, but
| basically this framework gave me the understanding necessary to
| quickly build out (validate) business ideas before anything is
| really developed. To oversimplify it - try selling before
| building it. That will give you a very good understanding of the
| potential market size, the actual needs of people and so on.
| tabtab wrote:
| Every few years Hacker News has a discussion on research ideas.
| If anyone can find links to past HN idea-lists, that would be
| great!
|
| "Factor Tables" (AI), "Dynamic Relational", and a stateful GUI
| markup standard are my pet suggestions. They are based on
| _practical_ needs I observe, not pie-in-sky. (Desktops aren 't
| going away, so let's stop making them a 2nd class citizen per
| UI's. Mobile is more "sexy" right now, but desktops get the real
| work done. Office Space's Milton probably does the real work.)
| throwawaynay wrote:
| pyjarrett wrote:
| I keep a lot of notebooks of general problems I run into and ways
| I think problems can be solved. I sketch out a bunch of ideas in
| a notebook and let it sit. I might do some research to see if
| it's been done before, and if so how, and if that solves the
| problem. If I keep coming back to the idea to add things, or see
| where it can be used, it goes in my queue of "things to do".
|
| I prototype with basic materials (post-it notes, notecards,
| paper, etc.) to see if the idea is fleshed enough and has legs. I
| do this because a lot of my "failed projects" were just really
| not well-defined enough to proceed. It also helps build out the
| idea and helps illustrate deep-ends you should avoid in a
| prototype, and what an MVP might look like. Simple material
| prototypes help demonstrate the sorts of capabilities your
| program will need.
|
| Once a project receives enough attention, I consider actually
| coding it up. I boil down the idea to the core of what's to be
| done, and try that. If it fails, maybe it wasn't a good idea, so
| try alternative approaches if I have any sketched out or any
| lessons learned from the initial attempt. I try to build up
| knowledge around the area of the project in-case it deserves a
| return in a few months or years.
|
| If a project does actually work out, then I justify further
| development based on effort vs. what I need from the program.
| minimoose wrote:
| Books are a great starting place. google scholar for searching
| the research landscape. scihub for getting details.
|
| as for fishing for ideas, meditation, doodling, keeping a journal
| mindcrime wrote:
| If I was really truly stuck for an idea and could not get
| anything to pop into mind, here's something I might try:
|
| Apply the "take an old idea and reinvent it in light of newer
| discoveries, new technology, or in application to a new problem"
| approach.
|
| To do that, read about old ideas in some area of interest to you,
| that didn't catch on, or were abandoned for whatever reason. Use
| Google, Wikipedia, Sci-hub, old print magazines, old newspapers,
| whatever it takes. Look at things through a lens of "Could I
| resurrect this idea with a new twist that wasn't available when
| it was first proposed?" Do that for enough "things" there's a
| chance it'll spark something.
|
| Extra hint: if you're looking for a startup idea specifically,
| Google for one of the multiple lists of "startup ideas that never
| work" that are out there. Of course it should go without saying
| to be very cautious about jumping into a project where many other
| people have failed with the same idea: there's probably a good
| reason for their failure. But _IF_ you can find a new angle or
| hook that 's "just right" maybe you can succeed. Or the whole
| exercise may actually bring a completely different idea to mind.
| Try to be open minded with this stuff.
|
| Also, find the two video series[1][2] that Alan Kay did on
| "Inventing the Future" and watch those. He shares a lot of great
| ideas in those.
|
| [1]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=id1WShzzMCQ
|
| [2]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1e8VZlPBx_0
| actfrench wrote:
| Think about the biggest problem (pain point) in your own life.
| Solve that.
| thedangler wrote:
| I have too many project ideas. What I do is look on forums on
| popular products and look for needs and wants of the user base.
|
| For example: Look to see what people complain about with shopify
| and see if there a product you can make to fix those issues. If
| you do it well, even if it's a niche solution. You can build on
| it or let it make you an extra $100 - $1000 a month.
|
| Rinse and repeat.
| tomcam wrote:
| I have endless ideas so I can't address the second part. But for
| the first part, To me the most important book for this ever
| written is "The Mom Test". It is the only search book written
| with methodical, repeatable, reliable steps to do this research.
| I warn you, implementing those steps will be damaging to your ego
| but may also make you wealthy.
| drtournier wrote:
| Some things that help me a lot:
|
| - Go walk outside
|
| - Consume media / go to events with topics that are VERY
| different than my field of expertise
|
| - Do any kind of art
|
| - Play like a kid
|
| - Last but not least, my favorite: Have a lot of bad ideas.
| https://seths.blog/2018/06/the-two-simple-secrets-to-good-id...
| nocommandline wrote:
| I don't believe I have ever 'looked' for ideas. As far as I can
| recall, I build stuff to solve a problem I have. There are 2
| classes though
|
| 1. I have a problem but I think it's just a small thing or very
| unique to me.
|
| 2. I have a problem and I see that other people have the same
| problem but they have simply learnt to live with it. Or I have
| this problem and it's driving me crazy ;)
|
| For stuff in group 2, I first try to quickly build something (no
| matter how hacky) and then as time goes on, I try to expand
| it/get others to use it (this is how I got my current project).
| This in turn leads to more feedback which either helps me refine
| or abandon trying to commercialize it.
|
| I also check out forums for the area that I'm working on and also
| look at bug trackers if it's public. Those are 2 places to get
| information on user requirements/pains. For example, my current
| project is on Google App Engine so I check the Google Groups
| forum for Google App Engine regularly
| ultra_nick wrote:
| Napkin math
|
| Is it mathematically possible? Physically possible? Economically
| possible? Politically possible? Etc?
| jka wrote:
| Not great advice, probably, but an answer to your question: I
| stubbornly try to rebuild the same thing ("a search engine for
| food"), over and over again, and each time learn slightly more
| and have better (software) tools and experience available to call
| upon.
|
| https://www.reciperadar.com/ is the current version of the idea,
| and I'm fairly happy about how it's developing. Previous
| iterations have included a Java-based web application (using
| recursive common table expressions in PostgreSQL) and dabbling
| with a Prolog-based web service implementation.
|
| The current containerized architecture (which is ridiculous, I
| know) provides for a migration path towards Rust or golang for
| more resource-efficient microservices, if & when that's ever
| useful (or enjoyable to work on).
| Arubis wrote:
| A post (not my own) I find worth revisiting in this very subject
| from time to time, on the various approaches to product ideation:
|
| https://jakobgreenfeld.com/gut
| didip wrote:
| What's even harder is product-market fit. How do you even begin
| testing the market hypothesis?
| mindcrime wrote:
| _How do you even begin testing the market hypothesis?_
|
| https://www.amazon.com/Four-Steps-Epiphany-Steve-Blank/dp/09...
| sandreas wrote:
| I usually tend to think over what I (personally) would expect the
| project to have / be. Nothing more, nothing less. That keeps me
| motivated.
|
| I started m4b-tool[1] for using it myself - and noticed, that the
| most features, I wanted it to have where not available in
| existing, free solutions. So I started to note things down, I
| would like to have for a utility to merge / create audio books.
|
| Now the project is a bit bloated and I learned so much on the way
| to its current state, that I'm thinking over rewriting it (not in
| RUST, but in C# ;) but it was a joyful journey with a lot of new
| ideas and experiences.
|
| Pro tip: Early shipping is very good for geetting early feedback
| and new ideas. Don't be afraid to publish something unpolished.
|
| [1] https://github.com/sandreas/m4b-tool/
| eternityforest wrote:
| The closest thing to innovation I do is scope expansion. I like
| to take things that exist, and look for overlaps. If 2 products
| are 99% the same, even if they conceptually have totally
| different purposes, that's an opportunity to apply the DRY
| principle
|
| I also enjoy sci-fi shows and often think "Ok that should really
| exist by now". Sometimes you see something that really is
| possible with current tech, but it's mostly just tedious UI work
| and nobody has actually made it practical yet.
|
| Right now I'm working on open source CCTV software. I am also
| working on some basic VJ type functionality and adding QR support
| to an automation system. These are in fact the same project.
|
| Non tech projects are different, but with tech I mostly focus on
| what existing things are out there.
|
| Then I look for anything vaugely similar and see if it could ve
| extended to cover the use case.
|
| If I'm absolutely sure a new app is needed, I look at what
| standards are used in slightly similar things, what tools exist
| to use those, and go from there.
|
| Basically all my projects have just been FOSS things that already
| exist in the commercial space. I'm not sure I've ever really done
| anything innovative. I just use more software tricks to work
| around and hardware and put more effort into UI.
|
| But ultimately, everything I do has been done a bazillion times.
| I just kind of pick up where the state of the art left off and
| add some nice to have features.
|
| I really hate custom code and things I have to maintain by
| myself, so my first goal is always to make my project fit the
| larger ecosystem with as little originality as possible.
|
| On a related note, old popular science type magazines have tech
| from 50 years ago that somehow still doesn't exist. If you want a
| real world changing project, I see zero reason a consumer level
| raman spectrometer couldn't be made.
| warrenm wrote:
| >consumer level raman spectrometer
|
| so you can distinguish between genuine Maruchan and knock-off
| brands?
| marginalia_nu wrote:
| My coming up with idea process:
|
| I have most of my good ideas when I have good mental stimulation.
| A diet of well written books is the gold standard. Talking to
| interesting people also helps.
|
| My research process:
|
| Fermi estimation.
|
| Like when I started working on my search engine, I had a
| raspberry pi 4 with 8 Gb of RAM. I estimated that a webpage was
| 10 Kb. From that I figured a raspberry pi ought to be able to
| hold an index containing about 800 000 documents.
|
| This is of course ignoring the fact that the index information is
| smaller than the document, and that an index requires metadata
| and operating system space. But like, ballpark wise it's not bad.
| I got a pi to index about 500k documents.
|
| Then I did some basic research on data structures, both on what's
| typically used and just independent thinking.
|
| When I had a sketch of an idea, I just go to work.
| mmanulis wrote:
| I've been using the following to pick up a new hobby (wood
| working [surprise]) and start learning about potential business
| ideas (data/ML space and pet industry):
|
| I'm sure there are topics you're curious about or sound
| interesting to you. Maybe there's a hobby you wanted to try out?
| Spend a little bit of time watching YouTube, listening to
| podcasts, reading blogs or joining discord/slack communities for
| that topic.
|
| This doesn't have to be some huge investment. Spend an hour or
| two looking at a topic. This can be in 5-minute increments or a
| 2-hour block, w/e.
|
| Are you still interested? Do you want to learn more about the
| topic? Do you want to try your hand at it? Go for it. Go as deep
| as you want on it, actually make your own version of w/e you're
| interested in.
|
| Now go talk to people in various communities online. There are so
| many slack and discord groups out there, you'll find something
| you connect with. Ask questions. Engage in conversations. If
| you're feeling up to it, reach out to people to setup video
| calls. Some meetups are starting to offer in-person events, if
| you're comfortable doing that.
|
| Still interested, still want to turn it into something more?
| Check out The Mom Test by Rob Fitzpatrick. It's fantastic guide
| on how to actually do customer development. Doesn't have to be
| about making something into a business. He's got great tactical
| advice on how to get info from people in a regular conversation
| and learn about stuff.
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