What should I build?
I’m guessing that, unless you spend too much time thinking of such things like I do, the words above may have escaped your lips recently. Or one of the many variants: “I still don’t know what to build”, “I can’t decide what I’m going to hack on” — you get the picture. I heard a lot of these at the last meetup. Don’t worry. That’s perfectly normal. Why not try a few mental exercises to get the juices flowing?
- Ask It – Start asking your friends, family and coworkers what they would like to know about the city. You could even invite them to watch you hack it up!
- Think About It – Think back over the last month or two. Is there anything you wanted to know about the city? Any information you needed and couldn’t find?
- Say It – Use your smart phone to record a voice memo as you drive to work. Look around as you’re driving and mention things that irritate you. Might some agency in the city, county, or state have some information about that? I’m not sure anyone can help you with the other drivers though
- Time It – Make an idea appointment. Set an alarm for the same time every day (or multiple times each day) and force yourself to brainstorm everything you can think of for 15 minutes. Trust me, it gets easier each time you do it.
- Catch It – Put an empty scratch pad in front of you for the next few days. Every time you think of something (Read: anything) — Write. It. Down.
- Social It – Post your need on our facebook wall or Tweet it to us. We’ll help you get some feedback.
- Forget It – My personal favorite. Try to forget about it – push it from your mind – then perform some mundane task. (Shower, dishes, cleaning, yard work) and before you know it, Idea Time®!
If all else fails we’ll be putting together a list of the surplus ideas in the next day or two. (Hey, some people have more than they need!) Until then, keep in mind that there is more to your decision than “what to build” you need to consider whether you can actually get your idea to a workable state in 24 hours. This could be the most challenging aspect of a hackathon. Here’s Colin talking about this very thing:
HACK4RENO – Colin Loretz gives a few examples. from The Brocraft on Vimeo.
Thanks Colin.
Wait, you have registered for our little hackathon haven’t you? Well done.
