Labs
Ideas I'm thinking about building.
Labs is where I put software ideas in front of people before writing any of it. Each one is a page explaining what it would be, what it deliberately would not do, and a short form to tell me whether it would be any use to you.
See what's openActive ideas
3 open for feedback
- Idea
Couples Budgeting/Finance App
A household money plan based on what you each actually earn, not a 50/50 split.
ForDual-income couples who both earn and want a fairer split than dividing everything down the middle
Read it and have your say - Idea
Demo Equipment Tracker
A simple way to know who has your demo equipment right now, and when it's due back.
ForUK manufacturers with a pool of demo equipment managed by an ops or admin person
Read it and have your say - Idea
A uniform request tool for workplaces
Uniform requests for field engineers, approved by managers, sent to your supplier.
ForField service companies (plumbing, electrical, HVAC, telecoms) where each engineer needs their own boots and clothing
Read it and have your say
Why it works this way
Most software gets built before anyone asks for it
I've watched plenty of small software products get built the wrong way round. Someone has an idea, disappears for six months, ships it, and finds out that the thing people actually wanted was a version of it with half the features and a different name. The work was good. The question it answered was never checked.
Labs is my attempt at doing the checking first. Every idea here is written up at the stage where it costs nothing to change: a page explaining the problem, what the thing would be, and what it would deliberately leave alone. If it turns out nobody has that problem badly enough, that's a good outcome. It's a week of writing rather than half a year of building.
It also means the people who would use a product get a say in it before the decisions harden. That tends to produce better software than any amount of guessing, and it's the same approach I take withclient work: understand the problem properly, decide what's out of scope, then build the smallest thing that solves it.
How it works
- 01
I write the idea up honestly
What it would be, who it is for, and just as importantly what it would deliberately not do. No screenshots of software that does not exist, and no invented numbers.
- 02
You tell me if it is any use
Each idea has a short form. A minute of tapping, mostly, plus room to tell me what I have got wrong. Being blunt is more helpful than being kind.
- 03
The ones people want get built
If enough of the right people say an idea would save them real work, I build it and go back to those people first. If they do not, it stays a page, and nobody has wasted six months.
If you'd rather skip the form, say what you think on any of the ideas by emailing josh@thackr.co.uk. I read everything myself.
Common questions
- Are any of these available to use?
- No. Everything in Labs is an idea at the stage before code. If something gets built it moves out of Labs, and anyone who registered interest hears about it first.
- What happens when I register interest?
- Your details come straight to me. I use them to ask follow-up questions and to let you know if the idea gets built. They are never sold or shared, and you can ask me to delete them at any time.
- Do I have to answer the questions?
- No. Only your email is needed. The questions are there because the answers genuinely change what gets built first, but a blank one never costs you your place on the list.
- I have an idea of my own. Can you build it?
- Probably, and that is the day job rather than Labs. Tell me about it on the contact page and we will talk it through properly.
Want the idea built for you instead?
Labs is for products I might build for everyone. If you need something built for your business specifically, that's the day job, and it starts with a conversation.
Or email me at josh@thackr.co.uk