6 Tips datascience Project.New project ideas are hard to find nowadays and inspiration doesn’t always appear when we need it. You may find yourself staring at the ceiling waiting for a new idea to pop into your head. However, it may never arrive. Ideas and inspiration doesn’t come easy for everyone and for data scientists, the problem is no different.
When starting a new project, most data scientists will want to try something never heard of or even perhaps revolutionary. They might think of this crazy, out-of-the-box project but once they start researching it, they will see that it has been done before and maybe even better than they would have ever thought.
Many times it seems like all the good project ideas have been taken. Maybe you should just resort to a Kaggle data challenge in the meantime? You could use the practice in honing the new data science tools and skills you just learned from a lesson online. But usually those challenges have many things prepared for you and you might want to gather your own data yourself. So back to square one you’ll go.
Finding Inspiration
New ideas cannot be manufactured or forced. Perhaps through an intense brainstorm session, you might find inspiration but usually inspiration comes from the least likely of places at the least likely of times. Below are some tips to help your brain think of new data science project ideas:
Tip #1: Think of Minor Problems
Don’t think of the problem as a new project. Yes, a new project is something you need to do but don’t let that be the main focus. Instead focus your mind on some problems you comes across in your daily life. What are some minor inconveniences you have when browsing the internet? Maybe write a program that can solve that inconvenience. Do you wish you could automate a one simple task you do everyday? Write a program that does exactly that.
Don’t let your focus be on changing the whole world, instead focus on the smaller stuff to make your own world better.
Tip #2: Don’t Limit Yourself
Data science is a broad subject that can be applied to multiple different subjects and industries. Maybe you’re the type of person that focuses on the tech world because it’s what you know. A potential problem with this focus is that now you can only think of tech related problems. This could be an issue because you are now too narrowly focused on one subject.
Switch your focus to a broader range of topics and industries. Maybe those other industries could use your help. Sometimes a new perspective from someone not in the field is all they need. As you expand your focus, you will become more open to other ideas from those subjects. You might be able to solve a new problem that you never had before when you were too singularly focused.
Tip #3: Ask Others
Friends, family, and acquaintances can be a big resource. Ask them for any ideas because they will be coming from completely different points of view. Everyone has their own unique set of obstacles that differ from yours. You could help them overcome these obstacles with your data science skillset.
They could also help you brainstorm new ideas as well. More minds are better than one and doing things by yourself is not greatest way for finding inspiration.
Tip #4: Take a Step Back and Go About Your Day
Sometimes you just need to step back and put the project on hold. Just go about your day and maybe an idea will just come to you. Pretend like you don’t have a project to do and perhaps a project idea will just come to you. Go watch a new TV show or movie. Maybe your new project idea is hidden in some random show or internet video.
Maybe procrastinating on this project is exactly what you need to do. However, you should be careful not to procrastinate too long. Give yourself a break long enough for your mind to reset and then maybe a new idea will come.
Tip #5: Search the Internet
Perhaps one of the easiest ways to find a new idea for a project would be to browse multiple different forums online. Google is your friend here. Just search for “Data Science project ideas” and multiple results and ideas are laid out before you.
The only issue with this approach is that most of these projects may not be interesting to you. Another problem is that they also lack originality because of the many other Data Scientists out there that have done and are doing the same project. It would be hard to differentiate yourself from the crowd if you were to take this approach.
Tip #6: Spice up Common Projects
Look for those easy or common data science projects out there and make them more complicated. Take the prompt in the project and add a little more to it. Collect original data instead of using the provided dataset by scraping other websites. Add another question to the prompt that might make you have to change your entire approach to the project. Basically make things harder and different for yourself.
Even though you might be using a project idea that many others have had before, you will be making it unique by changing things here and there. You might even end up with a completely different project after changing enough of the original project idea.
Beginning Your Project
Once you have found your project idea, then you can start developing your data science project. Coming up with an idea for this project was a difficult aspect but it was not the only part of the process. Going forward, you’ll have to think of your approaches to this project. Where will you get your data? How will it need to be processed? Questions like these and more will arise during the development of your project. But these issues are good and it means you’re progressing in your own development as a Data Scientist.
As you move onwards with your future data science projects, we hope you will find these tips useful in your exploration of data science project ideas!