**IDEA 1:
Goal: Volunteer app to find volunteer jobs in your area
This could be a matchmaking service similar to tinder/bumble in which a person seeking volunteer opportunities could be matched with someone who needs help.
Examples of this could be:
-Looking for ten people to help clean up the beach for an hour
-looking for someone to babysit my special needs child for two hours
-looking for a group of people to pass out soup at a local soup kitchen during dinner time and then clean up the kitchen.
This app idea came about when I was recently searching for volunteer opportunities that I could take part in to feel fulfilled, but I couldn’t find any short-term, trusted work. Sometimes, people really need help, and there are many people looking to be fulfilled in life by helping someone, but they need a way of being connected.
I became very interested in UXD and app design after working with the UX and engineering team at my recent internship, and feel very confident in this project idea, although it would be something I have never worked on before by myself.
To DO:
-I could start my research by listing out non-profits and churches and different volunteer opportunities that might want to post on the app and contacting them for specific needs/examples of needs.
-Research how background checks are done
-Research how an app like this would be able to be funded (ads, gov. funding?)
-Would have to be designed beautifully to attract people– need to hone in on UXD and web design skills
-Begin storyboarding/prototyping the app design and layout
-App could be called: Do Good. Catchphrase could be: Do Good. Feel Good.
**I am considering entering the MAYO business plan with this idea.
IDEA 2: Digital ad campaign / social media campaign for music booking company/label that I create.
Goal: Create my own music label that is in charge of booking bands for concerts, putting together graphics to promote concerts, etc.
-I’ve been booking concerts/shows for a couple of years now, and my friends and I have shared the idea of starting our own label that represents local music artists in a way that they are not currently represented. This would mean taking something I love and am skilled at to the next level, and out of my comfort zone.
To DO:
-Create a logo/brand that is distinctive for this label
-Develop an entire social media campaign for this label
-Develop website to showcase label artists, tours, recent albums, editorial blogs about the artists, photography, video, etc.
-Monthly digital and print “zine” to feature artists on label, recent music released, tour schedules, photography, etc. — could hand this out at local shows to promote the new label.
IDEA 3: Interactive Music Video
Goal: Makes the user feel like they are in the music video of their favorite music artist using virtual reality.
-I have no clue how to create this, or if it is even possible. I’ve always been interested in creating a music video because of my passion for music. Taking an “interactive” twist on this could mean having the video game player enter the world of their favorite music video.
-Someone could use virtual reality to join the music video of one of their favorite artists and feel like they are right there with them. Imagine, being right next to Beyonce in the video for “Single Ladies” or dancing next to BrockHampton in the locker room of their recent music videos.
-If this ends up being an absolutely impossible idea, the idea of creating a music video also interests me.
To Do:
-Research VR and if an idea like this could actually work
-Figure out a way to create a database of millions of music videos that people could potentially want to be a part of
-Talk to people about this idea and figure out if they have any advice/knowledge of whether this is possible or not
Great start! Given the stage you are in, I would suggest focusing any next steps on pure in-depth research with the purpose of answering specific questions before diving into execution or creation of material.
Idea #1: TL DR: Deep dive on the problem you are trying to solve.
With idea #1, The q you are trying to answer could be “Why is finding volunteer opportunities so hard?” and “Do others have the same issue?” There are websites that offer volunteer opportunities – where do you think they lack? At the beginning of an idea, I tend to deep dive and do serious secondary research – understand the competitors and the customer segment they are going after – and evaluating if there is a genuine need to solve. And obviously, you need customers in order to build a useful product. So there’s an opportunity to do generative research – sending out surveys to college students regarding their volunteering habits, etc. to gather data.
#2, One next step could be: What are the aspects of running a successful online label?
#3, My recommendation here would be to scale down. You have a big idea. Break it into small chunks. Target the VR creation of one video instead of creating a database of millions. “Research VR and if an idea like this could actually work” is a pretty broad task, is there an opportunity to break that down into further chunks such as “Run idea by prof X and have them point me in the right way to break down complexity of task..”
Hope that helps!
Thank you so much for your response. This is going to help me a ton with refining my ideas.
Hi! I really think all of your ideas sound great. They all have good potential to work well.
The first idea is interesting because I feel like if they have sites and apps that exist for regular job openings/positions, I feel they should have sites and apps for volunteer openings, too. I feel like your target audience would be people who want to take on a volunteer position alongside of a job they already have and students who need volunteer hours. I’d definitely look into how other job apps are formatted and would try structuring your app on that, but also be sure to add your own unique, original features in it to make it your own idea and have it catered more towards the interested-in-volunteering crowd.
The 2nd idea is also cool because I feel like helping “smaller” artists gain more exposure is really great for the artist themselves, plus anyone who’s out looking for new music and concerts to go to. I would like to see fun, animated digital adds and new ways for artists to interact with more with their fanbase (like creating some kind of new thing for artist social media pages.)
The 3rd idea particularly stuck out to me because feeling like you’re a part of your favorite artist’s music video would be super neat. I feel like you could use Just Dance games as your inspiration. Like, the system/game senses your dance moves and helps guide your dance in time with the song. It’d also be good to think about what platform this would work on: think Wii, Kinect, or VR.
When I first read this, I was definitely leaning toward idea 1. It’s such a useful idea, though, that I couldn’t believe it hadn’t been done before. Turns out maybe it has? https://www.forbes.com/sites/kerryflynn/2014/07/03/finally-an-app-for-volunteering/#2e7b20fd3a54
How is your approach different/better than what’s already out there?
Given your interests and skills, I’m confident you can do a great job with idea 2, but I’d encourage you to find some new twist on it so you’re not just doing what plenty of people have done before. In today’s media landscape, what new and untapped opportunities are there for you to promote bands? Maybe take a look at some of the “spare parts” we laid out in class (they’re on Canvas) and ask yourself if any of those could be employed in this context.
Hi Karin! I agree with Professor Ault and Nivi on the first idea–my team actually developed a similar app for our software engineering class project last semester. It allowed organizations and volunteers to make respective accounts, where organizations could post their volunteer opportunities and volunteers could sign up for them. There are a number of similar products out there, so I’d recommend researching the market and seeing what’s lacking in this area. If you truly want to pursue this idea, I’d say you may have to look into databases.
I love your second and third ideas though, and it’s great that you’re incorporating your passion! If you’re looking into pursuing this as a career, these will be strong projects to support you on that path, particularly the second one.