Ideas Lab
Real problems people complain about online, pulled every morning and scored out of 100. Build, validate, or skip. How scoring works
- Ideas
- 4,820
- BUILD
- 702
- Sources
- 8
- Last sync
- 3h ago
Poor UX in project management tools like Bitbucket for basic actions
Bitbucket makes it hard to disable obvious unusable options and leaves merged PRs listed as open in the list, causing ongoing frustration with GitHub having similar issues.
X15d agoToolDev
Curated open source alternatives database to popular paid software
Users seeking free and open source alternatives to expensive software like Adobe products struggle with fragmented info; a single tool or site curating trustworthy open source substitutes could save time and cost. [Google Search suggestion]
Google Trends15d agoToolDevUS
Flipflop – Iroh-powered persistent tunnels for filesharing
This is a project that spun from my frustrations of using LocalSend and DashBeam to transfer stuff between devices, and with the extra goal of being fast, trying out the Slint framework and, most importantly, establishing a communication channel with trusted external people that can be left always on.
Hacker News16d agoToolDev
Proa – A Rust web framework with fast SSR and multi-target rendering
Video: https://youtu.be/-CfCyvIKYyo?si=hCLuStkXxanCUJD1Video on multi-target rendering: https://youtu.be/pJx84jdBDKU?si=HRRd6dgUWXiqeWhqBenchmarks: https://github.com/Proa-Labs/proa-benchmarks
Hacker News15d agoToolDev
XY Music Notation
I've been playing around with a new kind of isomorphic music keyboard that uses a base-12 notation, and wanted some sheet music to learn some new music for it.The idea is to represent each note in 12-TET as a number, so N ∈ (0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,X,Y).I used codex to build a music score rendering backend based on MuseScore with custom note heads that display the pitch class of each note.I've found it pretty helpful for learning how to play my own instrument, so wanted to share in case anyone else was interested.
Hacker News17d agoToolDev
AI-generated code for public apps leads to scalability issues and high unexpected costs
Developers using AI tools like Claude to build public-facing apps encounter problems where the code isn't optimized for traffic, bots, or costs, resulting in potential high bills (e.g., $900/day on Vercel) and performance issues that only surface after launch.
X20d agoPromptDev
Non-technical users struggle to build, set up, and maintain apps even with AI assistance
Regular people and non-developers find it challenging to create and sustain applications using AI tools, preferring services that handle the full setup and maintenance.
X20d agoToolDev
Solo founders get stuck implementing specific features during SaaS development
Young solo founders building their first or second SaaS products frequently hit roadblocks on individual features, stalling progress for days and highlighting the challenges of solo development without sufficient guidance or tools.
X18d agoToolDev
Uncertainty in automating UI/UX changes with AI tools
Developer struggles with automating UI/UX changes because they don't trust AI to handle them correctly.
X18d agoToolDev
Bad software forces custom development
Existing software is consistently trash for specific tasks, forcing users to build their own tools instead of finding usable solutions.
X18d agoToolDev
Building and launching software products remains non-trivial even with AI
Even when AI enables code creation, the full process of hosting, delivering, acquiring customers, onboarding, supporting, and maintaining software products is still a major barrier for builders.
X25d agoToolDev
Build with Python – a beginner course where your code draws
Hi HN, I built this because I watched my daughter struggle at learning Python. I made something that runs only in the browser with visuals rather than relying on CLI/terminal output. No need to worry about python installation, package versions, venv etc.The lab runs with Pyodide in a web worker, and the program output is a picture by the side of the code block. A user would experiment with the code, and see the immediate changes in the visual output.The course has 13 modules, with the first 6 foundation modules free, module 7-13 with free readings but guide labs for a one-time price of $49.Please give it a try at https://scimigo.com/en/learn/build-with-python Send me feedback on the UX and on the exercise design, especially if you teach kids to program.I am also working on a C++ version for beginners (also with browser, no gcc or command lines). stay tuned.
Hacker News26d agoToolDev
Building in public no longer generates expected traction or growth
Founders investing time in sharing their building process publicly are seeing diminishing returns in engagement, followers, and actual user acquisition despite consistent effort.
X26d agoOtherDev
Indie communities filled with fake engagement farming that yields no customers
Threads encouraging 'drop your startup link' create rooms full of sellers with no real buyers, wasting time on dopamine-driven activity instead of genuine user conversations that convert to paying customers.
X28d agoOtherDev
Developers waste hours automating trivial 2-minute tasks
Developers frequently decide to automate small repetitive tasks but end up spending 4 hours building the automation instead of just doing the task manually, leading to massive time inefficiency.
X27d agoToolDev
Open source utilities rarely provide pre-compiled binaries
Non-programmers seeking quick utilities or mods often find only source code, requiring them to set up compilation environments themselves instead of simple downloads.
X1y agoToolDev
Difficulty discovering well-made AI-assisted game ports
Retro game enthusiasts struggle to find reliable lists of AI-assisted ports that are actually well-made and bug-free, as current resources focus only on manual decomps/recomps.
X28d agoTemplateDev
No communal bounty board for open source projects people want built
Developers and vibe coders have many small open source ideas or tools they want but lack energy to build alone; no central platform to post bounties and collaborate on them.
X1mo agoToolDev