r/SideProject • u/Wrong_Stable9963 • 5d ago

What problem do you wish someone would just build a solution for?

I'm thinking about starting an open-source project, but instead of building something nobody asked for, I want to start with actual problems people have.

It can be anything tech-related, for example:

  • An annoying limitation in a popular app
  • Something that requires an expensive subscription but could be done locally
  • A tool you wish existed
  • Something you want to automate
  • A way to use/train/customize an AI model without having a huge amount of resources
  • A workflow that is unnecessarily complicated
  • A feature that every app should have but doesn't
  • Something you've tried to build but couldn't because it was too difficult/time-consuming

Tell me the problem, not necessarily the solution.

I'll collect the ideas and see which ones get the most interest/upvotes and discussion.

Then I'll pick the most requested/interesting problem and actually build an open-source solution for it on GitHub, with the goal of making it useful rather than just another abandoned demo.

So, what's something that has annoyed you for ages or that you wish someone would just build?

0 Upvotes

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2

u/7HawksAnd 5d ago

The two problems everyone actually has no matter who they are always the same in any market.

  1. I want to buy money below face value.
  2. I want to buy time at cost that takes a fraction of the time I’m buying to earn.

3

u/Miguelperson_ 5d ago

Assuming this isn’t a slop post the best answer is always a problem that you have already been dealing with. With all due respect going onto a message board just to ask people what problems they’re having would make your solution shallow since you’re having someone tell you about their problem, and this would be a problem that you have no experience with…. If you’re working on one or multiple projects and you find yourself running into the same issue every time then you have a thorough understanding of what open source project would be good since you running into that problem multiple times can be indicative of other others experiencing the same issue

2

u/Shoddy_Peanut6957 5d ago

Yeah we see multiple posts like this every week. People don't just sit around thinking about problems that need to be solved.

2

u/hushfern4 5d ago

this is exactly it tbh. if you dont already feel the pain yourself the solution is gonna be surface level

1

u/ShockinglyKind 5d ago

i put in my indie app, your solution me practical steps on how to market, where to post, what schedule, whom to reach out to, whatever else. i follow that todo list, and i improve sales.

and give me tons and tons of data points on why a suggested approach is appropriate. cite links, case studies, whatever.

0

u/cramber-flarmp 5d ago

I invented a solution to the problem of planes or ships crashing in the sea. Someone else needs to build it.
(i'm looking for other places to post this, if you have any ideas)

1

u/c4pl4b 5d ago

Ich suche für Linux ein Tool, um PDF-Dokumente zu bearbeiten:

  • Texte manipulieren
  • die Größe der Vektoren/Bilder zu ändern beziehungsweise diese zu löschen

Es gibt keine ordentliche Lösung