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Coming up with Ideas

First posted on August 2, 2021

I came up with a couple of ideas this past week, but I had trouble shaping them into a proper newsletter:

  • A Design Pattern That Connects Microservices as Well as a Monorepo
  • Turning Hardware Challenges into Software Challenges
  • Finding Songs to Enjoy
  • A Service That Helps You Install Mac Programs on a New Mac
  • Helping People Feel Happier When They Donate Money
  • An AI That Points out to You Psychological Concepts Used on You
  • Measuring One's Argumentativeness by Asking Questions of Varying Degrees of Truthiness
  • VR on the Browser
  • An App That Predicts If Your Power Will Go out If the Wind Is Too Windy
  • A Metric to Measure How Usable a Plugin Interface Is

I either couldn't find anything new to add. Or I was too afraid to put my opinions out there. Or the tone of the draft was just off. Or I ran out of time to write what I really wanted to say. Or maybe the idea isn't that useful. Or I just didn't want to write about that subject.

Writing that first draft wasn't fun.

That's okay though, because these ideas are just excuses for me to spend a few minutes with you in your inbox.

But I want to talk about something today! For the past year, I wanted to share how I come up with ideas. As usual, let's start by listing out some tricks I use to have more ideas:

  1. I write down every idea I get. Backlogging a list of ideas makes figuring out what to do at hackathons easier.
  2. When I have a sudden burst of ideas, I always keep the creativity going! Don't stop writing because you'll never know when you might get writer's block.
  3. I try to watch more talks on YouTube. Ted talks/project updates help me with new ideas because they talk about specific solutions to their problems.
  4. I set aside time to think about ideas. Coming up with ideas on the train makes commuting more fun :) For some reason, I come up with the best ideas in the shower.

It's pretty hard to invent a new idea on the spot. So most of my ideas these days often start as a question that builds on something I've heard:

  • Can we use an algorithm to perform this task?
  • Can we apply this psychological concept I read about to help people feel happier when they ___? (Then think about what ___ could be)
  • Does this insight/solution also apply to any other problems?
  • Would ___ for ___ be useful? (e.g. Uber for cute puppies)
  • How can we increase ___? (e.g. the number of responses to a survey?)
  • How can we cram AI/ML/AR/VR/blockchain/crypto/NFTs into this idea?

Ahhhhh there's so much to think about. I love writing these Sleepovers because it's fun, and I enjoy your company. I also hope that you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it. Anyway, I wish you the best of luck this week!

- Curtis

#63: Increasing Survey Responses for Graduating Class Profiles  |  #65: Breaking out of Virtual Escape Rooms