Building a side project for developers - Part 2

Introduction

In the first part of this series, I talked about the basic things about side projects, you can read it here. In this part, I will talk about the ideation process how to use the tools to create a plan, and how to start with the project.
Maybe you are thinking, why do I need to create a plan? The answer is simple, the plan is the first step to start with the project, and it's a way to have a clear idea of what you want to achieve. This part is a little bit more visual and the technical solution is going to be in the next post.

Start with this project

• What is the problem that I'm solving?: I'm building an AI application, that will help me and help people to improve their productivity when they are working to grow their social media.
• Why did I choose this idea?: Two main reasons, because I want to learn some new technologies and is something that I'm facing in my daily life.
• What is the goal of this project?: The idea is to have a working application for mobile and web. The main goal is for this app to use AI to create better social media content focused on LinkedIn and Twitter.

With the latest questions, I can start to create a plan, the first step is to create an MVP around one single idea, and after that, I can improve it, add more features, and make it better.

Problem and Solution

Focus on the Problem, Not Just the Solution

Many side projects initially aim to create the next "big company" or an "automation tool for Y," leading to a fixation on a single solution. However, adopting a mindset centered around understanding the problem rather than fixating on a specific solution offers more flexibility.

I'm going to write the problem description, possible features, and solution; write as much as possible, and later remove the things that are not important.

⚡Problem

Many individuals and businesses struggle to effectively grow their audience on social media platforms, hindering their ability to reach and engage with a broader audience. Despite recognizing the importance of social media presence for brand visibility and engagement, navigating the complexities of audience growth remains a significant challenge.

Factors contributing to this challenge include:

1. Limited Resources: Many users lack the time, expertise, or resources to devise and implement effective audience growth strategies.
2. Lack of Insight: Users often struggle to understand their target audience, preferences, and the most effective content strategies to attract and retain followers.
3. Content Management: Managing multiple social media platforms, creating engaging content consistently, and scheduling posts can be overwhelming and time-consuming.
4. Competition: The crowded social media landscape makes it difficult to stand out and attract attention amidst competition from other users and brands.
5. Analytical Complexity: Understanding the effectiveness of audience growth efforts through analytics and metrics can be daunting for many users.

✅ Solution

Developing a comprehensive tool or app to address the challenge of audience growth on social media platforms requires a multifaceted approach. The solution should integrate various features and functionalities to cater to the diverse needs of users seeking to expand their reach and engagement. Key components of the solution include:

1. Audience Insights: Implement features that provide users with valuable insights into their target audience demographics, preferences, and behavior. This could include analytics dashboards, audience segmentation tools, and trend analysis capabilities.
2. Content Creation and Scheduling: Offer robust content creation tools that enable users to produce high-quality, engaging content tailored to their audience. Additionally, provides scheduling features to allow users to plan and automate their social media posts for optimal timing and consistency.
3. Cross-Platform Integration: Ensure compatibility with multiple social media platforms, allowing users to manage their presence across various channels seamlessly. This includes support for popular platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and more.
4. Engagement Tools: Incorporate features to facilitate user engagement, such as comment management, direct messaging, and audience interaction tracking. This encourages meaningful interactions with followers and enhances community building.
5. Performance Tracking: Provide comprehensive analytics and reporting functionalities to help users track the effectiveness of their audience growth efforts. Metrics such as follower growth, engagement rates, and content performance should be easily accessible and actionable.
6. Educational Resources: Offer tutorials, guides, and best practices to educate users on effective audience growth strategies and social media marketing techniques. Empowering users with knowledge and expertise enhances their ability to leverage the platform effectively.
7. Customization and Personalization: Allow users to tailor the tool to their specific needs and preferences through customizable settings, personalized recommendations, and adaptive algorithms.

Market competitors

Search market competitors, this part is easy, you can use ProductHunt, SideProjectors, Github, and Twitter. You can find a lot of projects that are similar to your idea, and you can learn from them, what they are doing right, what they are doing wrong, and how you can improve it.

Why do we need to do this? The answer is simple, you need to know what is the market, what the competition is, and how you can improve your project. The idea is not to copy the project but to learn from them, and make it better.

MVP or MVE

Maybe you have heard about MVP, if not, here is a simple explanation:
Various interpretations exist for what constitutes an MVP, but generally, it refers to a product with the fewest features necessary to address the core problem.
Confining development efforts to the MVP is crucial for two primary reasons.

1) It prevents undue investment of time in building a product before confirming its market demand and user utility.

2) It guards against the temptation to endlessly add features and refine the product, potentially delaying its release by months or even years.

MVE (Minimum Viable Experiment) is a concept that emphasizes validating your idea with the least amount of effort. It involves creating a simple experiment to test your hypothesis and gather feedback from users. By focusing on the core assumptions of your idea and testing them quickly, you can validate your concept and make informed decisions about its viability.

To solve/create this side project, I created two diagrams to explain the process and how I can solve this problem.

• The first one is using some frameworks and APIs to create the AI model and solve the problems in each step.
• The second one is using No-Code tools to solve the problem, here the major challenge is to create a login to use with no-code tools.

Which of these two options is the best for me? I choose the first one and the second one, let me explain why:

• The first one is the best option because I want to learn new technologies, and I want to have more control over the project. Here the idea is simple create a first version with a single feature, that feature is something you can do directly with ChatGPT or other AI tools, but we can start collecting feedback and improve it from here. After the first launch, we can start building more features and start testing some features that are good candidates to be a premium feature.

• The second one is the best option because I want to have a fast MVP, and I want to have a working project as soon as possible. The second solution is something "straightforward", using make.com as the main tool to coordinate other tools and continue with the integration of more tools, something that I want to do quickly is use the prompts that I mentioned in the first solution, and I can use the same prompts in the second solution. I can test and improve the prompts while I'm ready to start with the first solution.

With this in mind, I'm going to start with solution 2, both solutions use the same tools and I can reuse part of the things that I created with solution 2 in solution 1, and I want to start testing the idea in my social media.

Be fast

Time is of the essence, especially when considering monetizing your side project. The digital landscape is constantly evolving, and speed can be a significant advantage in gaining traction and establishing your presence. Rapid execution allows you to capitalize on emerging trends, capture market opportunities, and stay ahead of competitors.

In today's fast-paced environment, being first to market often translates to a competitive edge. By swiftly bringing your side project to fruition, you can attract early adopters, generate buzz, and start generating revenue sooner. Additionally, acting swiftly enables you to iterate based on user feedback, refine your offering, and adapt to evolving market dynamics more effectively.

Moreover, don't shy away from researching and analyzing potential competitors. Understanding their strategies, strengths, and weaknesses can provide valuable insights for refining your approach and positioning your side project for success. Embrace competition as a source of inspiration and motivation to continuously improve and differentiate your offering in the marketplace.

In essence, speed is a vital component of success in monetizing your side project. Embrace agility, seize opportunities, and stay ahead of the curve to maximize your chances of achieving your goals.

UI inspiration

To this, you can do a lot of things, you can use Dribbble, Behance, Pinterest, or even some projects that you found in ProductHunt. The idea is to have a visual idea of how you want your project to look like. You can create a mood board or a simple sketch, the idea is to have a visual idea of how you want your project to look like.
After the inspiration, you can create some low-fidelity wireframes (We are going to do this in another post), and after that, you can create high-fidelity wireframes or find someone who that create them for you.

Some importantly, if you are not good with design, don't stop here your progress, the value of a project is not only driven by the design.

Conclusion

In conclusion, laying the groundwork for a successful side project involves meticulous planning and strategic decision-making. In this part of the series, we need to go deeper into the crucial steps of ideation, creating a plan, and initiating the project. Understanding the problem at hand and devising a solution that addresses its core challenges is fundamental. By focusing on the problem rather than fixating on a specific solution, we ensure flexibility and adaptability throughout the development process.

Market research and competitor analysis provide invaluable insights into the existing landscape, allowing us to identify opportunities for improvement and differentiation. Establishing a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) enables us to validate our idea efficiently while avoiding unnecessary investment of time and resources.

Choosing between alternative approaches, such as leveraging new technologies versus utilizing no-code tools, requires careful consideration of factors like learning objectives, time constraints, and desired outcomes. Ultimately, prioritizing speed and agility can be a significant advantage in seizing market opportunities and staying ahead of the competition.

Moreover, seeking inspiration from UI designs and visualizing the project's aesthetic direction adds depth and clarity to our vision. While design is important, it's essential not to let it overshadow the project's core value proposition.

In the next part of the series, we will into the technical implementation, exploring how we translate our plan into action, build the AI application, and bring our vision to life. Stay tuned for the continuation of our side project journey.

TIP

Prioritize Flexibility

In the early stages of product development, customer needs can change rapidly. Build flexibility into your architecture to accommodate evolving requirements as you iterate with your customers. Focus on delivering a functional product first, then refine and scale later. Don't get bogged down with elaborate processes.

Prioritize building and shipping quickly, then refine and optimize as needed based on the validation of your hypothesis.

Thank you for reading this far. Consider giving it a like, sharing it, and staying tuned for future articles. Feel free to contact me via LinkedIn.

References

• Side Projects - Taro
• Hacker News Discussion on Side Projects
• 6 Ways to Take on a Side Project That Doesn't Take Over Your Life
• Future: Developers Side Projects
• 6 Hard Truths That Engineers Need to Get Over When Working on Side Projects
• Build a Startup Without Quitting Your Day Job
• How to Create Successful Side Projects
• How I Built My Side Project and Got 31,000 Users the First Week
• MVP is Over. You Need to Think About MVE.