Here’s a direct quote from a fellow STCer (Self-Taught Coder):
“Why is it so hard to come up with something to program? I really thought that after I’d learnt the basics, useful applications of this knowledge would overload my brain but I guess I’m just not that creative. I want make real things. How do I start?”
And I hear other things like this, all. the. time. So if you’ve ever felt even a little bit like this, know that you’re not alone.
Here’s the hard truth: sometimes the most difficult thing — when you want to really dig in and learn to program — is coming up with a good project idea.
And here’s a secret: you don’t have to be creative to come up with good ideas.
I’ve written before about how to observe your day to generate ideas.
And, after giving it a lot of thought, I decided to devote the first two lessons of my course, From Idea To Launch, exclusively to not only helping you discover ideas, but also to make sure those ideas will actually work well as web applications.
Because some ideas are just ill-fit to be turned into web apps.
The magic switch: working on good ideas vs. “bad” ones
It can be incredibly discouraging to pick a project idea and sink some time into it, only to realize, down the road, that it just … won’t really work.
That’s frustrating.
You end up stumbling over roadblock after roadblock, and quickly find yourself just giving up. Because it just doesn’t seem worth it.
But, here’s the key: if you work on a good idea — one that adapts very well to becoming a web app — that negative energy flips to become positive energy.
You get more and more excited as you continue to build out your idea. Things work well — which makes the programming easier. And things start to flow — and as a result, your learning explodes.
But again, coming up with good ideas can seem hard.
But it doesn’t have to be hard. Let me show you my simple framework that you can use to successfully generate good web application ideas on your own.
My framework for generating good web application project ideas
I developed a framework to help you reliably and easily come up with web application ideas.
Like I mentioned, the first two lessons of my course, From Idea To Launch (which are completely free) are dedicated to walking you through this very process.
Step 1: Coming Up With Web Application Ideas
In the first lesson, “Coming Up With Web Application Ideas”, I help you:
- Come up with a web application idea.
- Make sure that the idea you pick will work well for building an application.
- And then break down that idea into its core components.
There’s an exercise included to help you reliably generate multiple different ideas; and then, there’s a “quiz” to help you easily determine which of your ideas will work well as web applications.
Step 2: Picking & Breaking Down Your Web Application Idea
In the second lesson, “Picking & Breaking Down Your Web Application Idea”, I help you:
- Pick a single web application idea.
- And break that idea into its core components.
Again, exercises are included to make these steps extremely easy. All you have to do is follow along.
I guarantee you’ll come up with a good web application idea
If you go through those two lessons and do the exercises, I guarantee you: you will end up with a good web app idea to work on.
Your next good idea is right around the corner.
The difference between learning something new and enjoying the process, versus getting frustrated and giving up, is often as simple as starting off on the right path.
Come up with a good web app project idea to work on, and the sky’s the limit.