Are you implementing one of the ideas?
This article is part of a series of my thoughts on side projects. I covered how to choose a side project to get the most out of yourself here . And this part provides a set of tips and strategies to help you leverage third-party projects effectively.
So, let's not waste time - below are a selection of ideas that other articles inspired me, my experience and reflections on what exactly makes an idea for developing a project really cool.
1. Digest of your favorite Twitter accounts
Most social networks share 2 similarities:
- an algorithm that, as it seems to him, shows what you want to see;
- the posts that you really wanted to read melted into a sea of uninteresting content.
Why not turn your favorite Twitter list into a daily or weekly digest? This way, you will definitely not miss out on the most useful and inspiring posts. In addition, a nice bonus: you can determine when it is convenient for you to receive such a selection and start reading.
You might want to go a step further and set up automatic sending of the digest to your email. Another way to develop the idea is to allow users to create, manage and share their own lists. Twitter is just an example here: you can do the same for Instagram, Facebook, or even the best posts of your favorite subreddits.
Backend programming
skills : Front end programming
skills : Ops skills (administration):
Difficulty:
Profit opportunity:
2. Portfolio site
A project with a double benefit: it will be useful both at the stage of its creation and after. Developers will be able to improve their frontend skills and, for example, apply new CSS or JS frameworks. Use a template or try your hand at design, adding personality to the site.
A portfolio site will demonstrate what you do, what is interesting in the world, how you can help people and companies. This is a special place to present all your projects.
What I like most about this idea is how gradually the project can develop. Forward! Create a landing page and deploy it somewhere. It exists, it is already counted. Add your start page next week, your resume next month. Each time you finish another project, you can add it to the project gallery on your site. That is, this project will constantly change for the better.
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end programming skills : Front-end programming
skills : Ops-skills (administration):
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3. App with weather forecast
Each has its own favorite among the weather apps. The app you create will be unique, reflecting your perspective and approach. I bet your app will find its audience. Meteorological data is available with several APIs at once - I think the secret is how you choose to present it. This will be the main difference and advantage.
Based on your goals, create a mobile app or web app. However, regardless of this decision, leave the opportunity for further development of the project in one of these directions.
Backend programming
skills : Front-end programming
skills : Ops skills (administration):
Difficulty
: Profitability : For inspiration: Overdrop Weather, Today Weather , Windy
4. Automate something
Can not be! Is manual intervention still required in 2020? It doesn't matter what level you have: you can find a worthy task for automation that will be within your power.
Take Al Sveigart's excellent book Automating Routine Tasks with Python as a basis . Choose the chapter that interests you more, where a specific topic or technology will be described, and implement one of the projects. For example, set a text alert when an item on your wishlist gets a discount.
Automatically back up your personal knowledge base. Write one command to generate the most common file structure in your projects. Keep track of what's new by your favorite authors and automatically add them to your reading list. I'm sure you will have even better ideas, but the principle is clear: find what is taking your time, and let the computer do it for you.
Backend Programming
Skills : Front End Programming Skills:
Ops Skills (Administration):
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For Inspiration: How I Eat For Free in NYC Using Python, Automation, Artificial Intelligence, and Instagram
5. Twitter bot
Like digest, this idea can be applied to almost all social networks, where valuable sources of information can earn you likes and internet points , thereby increasing your authority. Apply for a Twitter developer account, explore the Twitter API, find an endpoint (method) that allows you to send tweets, and plug in as a list of interesting facts, quotes, or anecdotes.
Let's turn to responsive bots: a person interacts with such bots. The bot tracks a mention or a specific set of words, connects and sends the necessary information to the one who first requested it. Maybe you will write several such bots and make them compete in popularity among themselves.
Backend Programming
Skills : Front End Programming Skills:
Ops Skills (Administration):
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Profit Opportunity: For Inspiration: Nassim Nicholas Taleb Bot (Proactive Bot), Thread Reader App ( Reactive Bot )
6. Portal for finding a job with a narrow specialization
A good way to help companies find candidates in areas that may not be well covered by existing recruiting platforms and career sites.
A narrow specialization has 2 advantages:
- limit the scope of the domain you serve;
- it is easier to define the target audience - potential customers of your product.
An important point to pay attention to: your product will be used by 2 different categories of people: recruiters and job seekers. This fact will lead to interesting challenges in UX design and backend: you will have to manage different roles and permissions.
I also like this idea because it can be monetized. I am not saying that it will be easy, but this possibility is more obvious here than in the other cases described.
Backend Programming
Skills : Front End Programming Skills:
Ops Skills (Administration):
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For Inspiration: Key Values , A Digital Accessibility Job Board , idealist
7. Quiz game on your favorite topic
The first of two game-related ideas on my list. Everyone loves to test their knowledge in quizzes, right? You may know who doesn't, but most people still really enjoy these activities.
Again, my advice is to focus on the niche. So it will be easier for you to find questions and answers, to find those who want to play on your chosen topic.
When creating a quiz, you will come across questions that will not arise in other projects from the collection. For example, do you want to create a single and / or multiplayer game? Synchronous or asynchronous ? Will there be awards for the winners? How do I manage the leaderboard? How do I only suggest new questions? The list of tasks is endless - just don't let them stop you.
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For Inspiration: Quiz game for Android (GitHub)
8. Search for profitable deals
I have a special attitude to such products. My last side project, Win-Win , was of this type.
I love board games and love looking for great deals on them. By connecting to the BoardGameGeek API, I get prices for the games I'm interested in. It's just math and finding positions at great prices.
The feeling when you stumble upon a 70% below average game within minutes of being published cannot be compared to anything else. The hope that others will think the same is what motivated me the most.
Think about which marketplaces you use, think about the types of products available through their APIs - and work with them. Even without complicated math, you can compare products at their highest or lowest price.
Backend Programming
Skills :
Front End Programming Skills: Ops Skills (Administration): Difficulty: Profit Opportunity: For Inspiration: UnitPrice.org , diskprices.com , Scott's Cheap Flights
9. Recommendations system
When was the last time you tried to choose among options in an area in which you are not an expert? For example, when you were at a loved one's favorite store that sells hobby items you don't know anything about. Yes, yes, we all went through this!
Focus on one area, figure out which significant positions you can recommend, and then start with a simple rule that returns some recommendations based on input. You can later refine your system to streamline the recommendations, accept different types of input, or even let users inform your system, depending on the success of the recommendation.
Backend programming
skills : Front-end programming
skills : Ops skills (administration):
Difficulty:
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For Inspiration: Recommend.Games , Movie Recommendation System (GitHub)
10. Gamified habit tracker
Habit trackers keep popping up in articles like this. More often only to-do list apps or messengers are mentioned. By tradition, they should appear in all such collections. So, make sure they are not listed in my article and you can even double-check.
In a gami ed habit tracker, you can make an unexpected twist by adding the following features:
- bonuses and achievements (achievements) for those who have completed the tracker;
- the emergence of new features as you use the application;
- competition among users who want to do X (for example, read 20 pages a day);
- quests where users have to follow a given habit forming process.
Our application should have a set of tools to further motivate users to strive to develop a good habit. This is what sets your app apart from most other trackers.
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end programming skills : Front-end programming
skills : Ops-skills (administration):
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Opportunity to make a profit:
11. “Clone” an application that you use often, but add what you miss the most
I'm not suggesting breaking the law and using someone else's trademark or just copying something without a soul.
Add to the solution what makes it unique, worthy of independent existence. Don't clone a Kanban board by adding only the playback of the song "Eye Of The Tiger" every time you select a new one ... Wait! This is an amazing idea!
Seriously though, there are definitely five or ten things that drive you crazy when using an app. Make these shortcomings a reason for your project. If the pain is so intense that you are ready to create a new project because of it, you will know exactly what to do and how to implement it.
Be sure to check out the support forums, subreddits (topics) and Twitter for these apps. This is the place where there are most suggestions, complaints and wishes. There you will find the key you need. And someone will probably even be willing to pay for your project.
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end programming skills : Front-end programming
skills : Ops-skills (administration):
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For inspiration: it's on you :)
12. Own adventure game (quest)
This is a fantastic idea if you want to practice your writing skills.
Write stories, don't let fantasy stereotypes limit you, be prepared for any scenario. The user may send you unexpected values, so be sure to validate the input. Will you only allow commands through keystrokes and words or full text? Here, again, you will encounter various problems and technologies that are typical only for this type of project. How will you store the text about events? Will there be any pictures (media)? Can you customize the attributes of a particular player? Do the attributes affect the game or are they just decoration? Will it be possible to choose the same character for different games? And share it with other players?
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First of all, I would like to clarify the ratings I have given to each idea. Of course, they are subjective and reflect my experience as a developer. Yes, estimates are based on how I personally present the end result. Nevertheless, I tried to make a visual scale for comparing ideas.
Difficulty level
means this is a medium difficulty project compared to other ideas in this article.
I hope you don’t think that I’m proposing to implement all 12 ideas in one year, in theory a month. It's crazy and amazing at the same time. True, I'm not sure if this is more amazing than crazy, but, of course, I will admire you. Even if you just start one of the projects, it will already make my day when I find out about it.
So, I challenge you again. Are you implementing one of the ideas?
“Start doing whatever you can do — and even what you can even dream of. Courage is genius, strength and magic. " - Goethe
Take the first small step. You are more than ready!