A common question people ask me is how I come up with open source project ideas. It is a pretty simple process:

1. Have A Problem

If you are a developer, when you are building stuff you will have to solve problems. On top of those, as a human being you will have problems every day. How can I share responsive web design examples to educate my clients? How can I make a more flexible grid system for responsive web design? How can I help my kid learn his ABC’s? Are my passwords manly enough?

The first thing most of us do is see if that problem has been solved before, and how. It may be that the problem has been solved effectively, and there is no need for you to solve it again. Many times, there are different approaches to solving the problem, but none that work quite the way you’d like. On rare occasions, you have encountered a problem that doesn’t have any good solutions yet, which can be quite exciting.

1a. Come Up With a Cool Name

This is probably the most fun part of the process, haha. Cool names are cool!

2. Solve The Problem

Get on it. Solve that problem. It could be that solving a particular problem is too large and ambitious to pull off. Either find some friends to collaborate with, or break the problem into smaller components then go after them one at a time.

3. Abstractize Your Solution

When possible, craft your solution in such a way that it can be applied more generally, for people who encounter the same problem.

4. Publish

Throw it on Github, of course, but if you want your project to stand out, go the extra mile. Make a great demo page to showcase your project with some clear, easy-to-follow documentation.

5. Don’t Be Shy

If you release a Github project in the woods, does anyone notice it? To get your project noticed, you need to publicize it. Tweet it out and share it up. Send it off to newsletter publications (e.g. JavaScript Weekly, HTML5 Weekly, etc.) Even better, create a tutorial and try to get it published online somewhere like Codrops, Tuts+ or Smashing Magazine.

6. Repeat

The more you projects you publish, the more ideas you will have. I recommend maintaining a list of your project ideas on Google Drive or Trello.