There's an interesting Ask HN by someone looking for side project ideas.

My advice, abbreviated: The best products happen at the intersection of an existing niche you are a part of already and a technology that has not yet been adopted in that niche.

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23292073

I've found one approach work very well with my mentees:

1. Figure out which "special interest groups" you are part of beyond software engineering. That can be "aquarium owner", "coffee lover", "morning person", "diligent grandson" — the less technical, the better

2. Among these "niches", find the ones that could benefit from a transfer of technology, like "teachers who work from home" (education niche) + "automated submission and pre-grading of homework" could work (digital document collection and rule-based checking logic) …

or "aquarium owner" + "nitrate cycle tracking IoT device" (hardware-enabled analytics) + "optimal light scheduling" (machine-learning-supported recommendation engine).

Niche with problems + unique tech transferrence ability -> great potential.

Do that for all the groups you're part of, and you will find lots of ideas that aren't just "scratch-your-own-itch". They are 'scratch-an-itch-you-understand-and-know-how-to-remedy'.

Please let me know what you think of this approach (and what you can come up with).

And if you do come up with something great, consider signing up for this free workshop on Wednesday where @tylertringas and I will suggest validation paths for business ideas that viewers have submitted with their registration. https://twitter.com/arvidkahl/status/1263165171981303810