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Crazy Ideas

I’m Stuck – Random Design Idea Generator

I fashion myself a bit of a web designer, and sometimes after slaving away on a client’s web design proof for hours, I run into a wall of uncreative energy or as I call it “shit out of ideas”.  I have found that many times the path around or through this wall is not always that complicated and can sometimes be as simple as a random one-line suggestion.

So as usual I had an idea for a very simple web application that web designers could bookmark, and when completely out of ideas they could visit and get a quick suggestion that they would then apply to their design proof.

The humor in this comes in two areas: the web application has no idea what the designer is working on, nor does it care.  It’s simply pre-loaded with canned/design specific suggestions that may or not apply to the designer.  The point is that sometimes this may be enough, or the suggestion may re-enforce an idea you were already considering in your head or on the screen/paper.  The other humor angle is the suggestions themselves which can be as simple and benign as “It needs more red” to as wacky and insulting as “Throw it out and start over you idiot” or whatever else we (or you, see below) may think up.

Check out the demo version of this web app we call I’m Stuck over at josefresco.com/imstuck.

But wait, there’s more …

The demo I whipped up at josefresco.com is simple, ugly, took less than an hour to make, and really is just the basis for a site that could be much more fun.  Here are some ways that someone could expand on the idea and provide more functionality and humor:

1.  Social Rating: Give users the ability to rate the suggestions and allow the user to filter to show top rated suggestions.

2.  User Participation:  Allow users to submit their own (crazy) suggestions and give them a weblink as an inventive.

3.  Filters:  Categorize the suggestions and give the users a filter to further tailor the now less-random suggestion to their project.

Those ideas are fun, but what if we took it further:

4.  Community:  Allows users to upload proofs of their work and have other users give their own customized suggestions.  Integrate a way for authors to thank users (PayPal/badges etc.)

5.  Mobile: All the cool kid are doing it, and I could see a I’m Stuck mobile app being useful for those designers on the go needing inspiration.

6.  Beyond Design:  This idea and web application could be expanded beyond just design to encompass other subjects such as; Pick Up Lines, Economic Policy, Sitcom Plots.

So there you have it.  Not only a working proof of concept but some basic ideas for 2 or more generations of a web application and service just begging to be made.

In case you missed it above check out the demo of I’m Stuck and leave me your feedback.