How to come up with project ideas

We've all had the problem where we felt like we are not doing enough if we aren't actively building side projects.

Inevitably at some point you have felt stuck on what to build and may have settled for an idea that you aren't fully committed to building

Here are some processed I've gone through to help me decide what to build next:

Solve your own pain points

Whether you experience pain points while developing or in your everyday life, build something that can solve even the slightest inconvenience to you. More times than not others also experience this inconvenience and you can market it in relevant niche communities.

1. Search Reddit for alternatives to popular apps

There are millions of users on reddit, take advantage of this and search the platform with queries like "{popular app name} alternatives" and read through the discussion to see why people are searching for an alternative and start taking notes of how you can make it better.

1. Take advantage of new trends

Whether you're on TikTok, Youtube, X, Reddit I'm sure you've seen lots of new trends that have lifespans that could last weeks to years. If you've paid attention as the trends are occurring there are online figures who blow up from making their project idea revolve around this trend.

Some trends to think of that I've seen personally recently:

• Chill guy meme generator




• GitHub Yearly Wrap

The figures who made these projects blew up their online presence from these simple ideas because they built and shipped their project at the right time.

1. Join developer communities

Sometimes even with doing all of the above, nothing may seem like a good idea to build. Join a community of developers on any social platforms you use and just generally read through some discussions of what people are having problems with.