How do you come up with an idea for your project?

Question

Project management

I do not want to start now to cause a discussion on the topic:
You are not a programmer if you cannot come up with an idea for a project.
It's not about that at all.
I'm curious to know where you get the idea for your projects from?
Let's say you want to create a blog. Okay, but what will it be? How do you see it?
You are not a designer, you are not a project manager, you are not a client.
How do you take it from nowhere and make a project?
Recently, a person at work told me:
I started like this, I sit down at the computer, turn on the music and stupidly start programming, what will come out.
I spent hours and hours sawing ordinary objects in JavaScript, that is, I entered data into an object and displayed it on a page, and I did this hundreds of times until I came up with my own project.
Others tell me that they made stupid and stupid projects such as:
A button that counts how many times you clicked on it when you were bored.
A button that pulls out random photos of cats via API.
How did you start your first project? How do people come up with an idea for their project? Maybe it's really worth writing bicycles and so you will learn how to write code and design projects?
Please, tell me, are you experienced people who have gone from a beginner to a senior programmer, how did you create your first project and give advice to me and other programmers, but how to come up with an idea for a project yourself?

Answer 1

I won’t say how it is about progers, since I only relate to them on a tangent, but since I’m a creative person, I can say my opinion.
The first thing that is important in the project is that you have to “get sick” of them, because if this does not happen, then all this will quickly die and fall into the “then how to screw” folder with the next stack. Interest plays a very important role. And the projects themselves appear from the needs of everyday life (it doesn’t matter - work or home, etc.). For example, I love automation and other scripting things that help solve routine tasks, design, systematization, and much more, in fact, I just "get sick" with the creation of something new, and sometimes with the invention of the bicycle, because even inventing the bicycle you pass a path that someone walked first of its kind. Thus, you learn something new and interesting. But I moved a little from the main topic, I'm sorry.
So, I live calmly and here I understand that the people with whom I "deal" need a proxy switcher that they can trust 100 percent, which does not steal or parse their data, and so on. And from the scripts, I then knew only batch files :). Well, I sat down to do it, suffered for several days so that it would somehow work (at first my IP didn’t even change, there was stupidly no reaction), I tried, failed and tried again. As a result, after many sweaty hours, I managed to write a clean batch file for changing IP in two keyboard buttons and one click (number, enter, left click). For me, it was interesting and informative, although it was a bicycle, but it was my own and necessary, and this is how my personal proxy switcher appeared, lightweight and capable of processing an infinite number of proxies in theory (depending on the machine) and I even had plans to expand it, but the main goal was achieved, people approved, that was enough for me, but I'm always ready to get the source code from the "stash" and finish it what will be required (because since then my knowledge has grown). With this example, I wanted to say that without a goal and motivation, little comes out, and in this tandem it is the main one, because it is easier to find a goal, because even money cannot always awaken it.
It’s not shameful to make bicycles, it’s shameful to procrastinate and drown in the swamp of everyday life.

Answer 2

https://m.habr.com/ru/post/384803/
The best way to come up with a startup idea is to ask yourself the question: “What do you want someone to do for you?”

Answer 3

The ideas of my projects are always prompted by life itself.
All human life is spent in communication with other people and animals. And projects for me are just a part of this communication.
When I got acquainted with computers, the first thing I saw in front of me was that you can communicate with this thing in the same way, and this is much more interesting than communicating with others, because, well, we met, talked, dreamed together, and parted, and then you sit in front of the screen, and the whole world lies in front of you, you can do something beautiful, exciting, exciting.
I began to study programming languages, and as I studied, various ideas began to come to me - how it was possible to organize this or that. It became obvious that I can do some things, some things I just can’t pull on labor costs alone, and no one will do some things except me.
And so, I decided to change the font on the computer, which, as it were, could not do this, but in fact it could, just no one began to add this feature. I made a font, brought it out, and then suddenly the computer burned down. The father couldn't fix it.
What can you do - I went to earn money for a new computer, because computers are not cheap, now, but then they cost generally unrealistic money.
I worked, worked, even wrote programs, but there was no way I could earn money for my own computer. Then I asked someone why some programmers are given some computers to write programs, while others are given other, more powerful and modern ones. The answer was that it all depends on the program the programmer writes.
How do you get a new computer? - Just write a program and make money, that was the answer.
I tried to come up with something, but for some reason only some completely crazy ideas came to mind. Complete nonsense, in general.
I didn’t know what to do with all this, but I suddenly remembered that once in a magazine a flowchart was printed for generating the plots of fantastic works. And I realized that I just need to write a generator of crazy programs. It was unusual and interesting, but I just didn’t have time to do it. And I postponed this idea until better times.
Oddly enough, working on a bullshit plot is a great way to find a useful idea, because ideas come in exactly the same way, and you are doing what you are interested in at the moment, what is called "rushing" you.
I wrote one useful utility, then another, and then I was sent to study for courses. After the course, they were drafted into the army, where they also had computers. After the army, I continued to earn money for my own computer.
At some point, I suddenly realized that it doesn’t matter what computer you have, it matters whether you write programs or not. You will never earn all the money, it is an endless process.
And I just sat down and began to write the program that I wanted to write at that moment. I did not finish it, but I realized that I needed a computer a little more powerful. So I gave up on everything, didn’t buy anything, saved up money, bought a computer and continued to write programs.
But it was already a new experience. I wasn't just making money, I was working on my next program all along. And it taught me to weed out ideas that can't make money. Because all ideas simply can not be realized. But among all the ideas there is always one - the one that no one but you implements. And she calls, shines on you like a guiding star.
When you talk about this idea to someone, everyone says: yes, no, this is complete nonsense. Paradox, but only you know that this is not nonsense. And there is no point in arguing, you just need to continue working on this program further.
Everything else will come: a computer to write this program, and the time to do it, and money as well.
If you don’t see something, figure out how to turn on the light so that it becomes light and the things that surround you become visible. Ask yourself what I don't know and study it. What I lack, and buy yourself this. Or DIY. The road will be mastered by the one who is walking, the one who is not walking will remain standing.

Answer 4

There are two kinds of ideas, the first is borrowed, for example, there is some kind of game. She's not complicated. And so I play it, but thoughts constantly come up that I would have done this differently, this is not enough, something else can be stolen from another game or from a social network some kind of mechanics. And then it comes to me that I want my game. Then you need to paint everything and count as much as possible.
The second type of ideas is when you talk about a topic and it becomes interesting to you, you start looking for more and more information on this topic and you understand that you can do something for people and you yourself are interested in it. For example, I wanted to build a spider robot that could be controlled via the Internet. Some simple manipulator and camera. You sit in the city, connect to the robot and can weed weeds in the garden for a thousand kilometers. These kinds of ideas always arise when you realize that you can solve some problem of your own. And if this project is suitable for you, then there is someone else who will be just as interested.
But always, I repeat, always before starting the implementation, you need to ask yourself a few questions. What do you want to get from this project personally. What will he give to other people. For what, why, who can participate and benefit. How much time are you willing to spend. Financial question. How to promote and distribute. Is it possible to fix intermediate finished results. Etc.

Answer 5

In different ways, I used to just see how people are doing something, and I thought "how would I organize it", and wrote. Sometimes I needed a tool, I wrote it and then modified it.
Or there was some piece of life that needed automation.