SeibertCarver715
De BISAWiki
Identifying a Problem
When you choose you are going to think of a brilliant invention idea, you are planning an invention; this really is different from through an epiphany eventually. Well, if you are interested in inventing, then you've arrived at the right place, here's an article to get you started and generally guide you through the invention process. The initial step in creating a profitable invention idea is identifying an issue in society.
Finding a Problem
First, you have to find an issue. What is a problem? I believe most everybody knows exactly what a problem includes, especially a problem if we are about inventing. An issue is something that hinders one from reaching a desired goal or object. There are problems all throughout society, as you know. You probably encounter around 20 problems each day and most likely openly complain about half of them. Until recently you haven't noticed whenever you did this, but dealing with day to day life like a human is the number one supplier for good problems. Pay attention to yourself, whenever you complain think about if it could be fixed having a nice invention. It's difficult to be focused enough to see whenever you complain or see a problem; however, with a few practice, it starts to become more noticeable. Also, I suggest carrying around a little journal or using a phone to document these ideas once they come your way.
While looking to recognize a problem addititionally there is another resource that's easily available - people who are around you. This may incorporate your co-workers, friends, family, etc. People naturally complain, you hear this every single day, or more so far you thought it was a bunch of annoying non-sense. Everyone thinks it's stupid and unproductive; I've read many psychologists explain people complaining to be some type of human emotional requirement for love as well as other bull crap. Well, I have developed my very own reason why people complain. People complain in order to make advancements. People locate problems and vocalize the requirement for the issue to become solved, thus we have an invention idea or advance in technology. So, listen to the folks around you, they will let you know problems they've within their lives. This is often even harder to do then hearing yourself, because we've been trained to never pay attention to people complaining.
The internet is a great source for information, utilize it. Individuals have a problem; they post it on the web. This really is similar to listening to people who are around you, it's just people who are farther away. There are millions of blogs and forums where people have jumped on the web and posted an issue they are having. Continue Google and check for household problems or something along those lines and you will surely find something. Also, when i talk about later, an excellent problem to identify is one that causes death; therefore, it may be good for search on the internet for things that are causing a death toll each year. Should you begin to master with such three resources for identifying problems, then you'll soon have too many problems to remember.
May be the Problem Common?
So there isn't any confusion, you need to do want the issue you identify to be common. You won't want to be the only person having this problem, otherwise the invention idea generate to resolve this problem are only helpful to you. There are a handful of simple ways to decide whether an issue is common:
1. Ask people you know. Talk to your friends, co-workers, family, and merely anyone you know and see regularly. Ask them should they have exactly the same problem. It's not necessary to tell them you are thinking about picking out an invention idea to solve it, just ask, "Man, I personally don't like it when (blank) happens. You have that problem?" This is a simple method to find out if a problem is common without telling people about your inventing plans.
2. Again, search on the internet! When the problem is common, then a thousand people have already posted about it on the internet. Do a search on the internet, and see if the problem happens to be very popular.
3. Last, you can hold a survey. Go to a place that consists of a lot of people whose attention you will get, such as school, and ask these to raise their hand should they have this issue. This is often a a bit more intimidating to some people, and it will definitely reveal you are up to something. That being said, it is a fantastic way to get fully submerged inside your project.
Don't take this step lightly; it is crucial that the issue is common. A profitable invention idea has to appeal to a lot of people.
Has the Problem Already Been Solved?
Obviously, this is a really crucial thing to recognize. Solving an issue is going to do you no good when there is already something which solves it. So, you need to do a little shopping around to verify that your issue is free for you to solve. As you would probably guess, an excellent place to begin may be the internet. You now likely have already looked for your problem on the internet, so hopefully if it's obvious that it has been solved, then you would have previously noticed. I'd perform a more detailed search to make sure you didn't miss anything the very first time.
Next, it might be wise to perform a patent search. That you can do a patent search online in the USPTO's website or with a patent attorney. I would recommend just searching on the internet because it is going to be cheaper and simpler. Hunting for a problem instead of an invention is pretty difficult, so it may take a while. Also, you can test searching a clear invention idea that pertains to that problem for better results.
Also, I've found it will help a great deal to ask around. A lot of times someone will say something like "I think I have learned about something which does that," or something like that along those lines. Don't forget the value of people.
Is Solving the Problem Viable?
The best question: may be the problem likely to be profitable to solve? There is no definite answer to this question. There are many points to consider once you have went to this.
- Will it save people money? This is a big one. People love products that have enough money themselves. We're and in the midst of an economic decline, so individuals are always looking for ways to save money. If you're shooting to save people money, there is one important thing to think about; your invention needs to be very cost efficient. People don't want to hear that your product covers itself in 5 years, they need fast results.
- Does it save people time? An average joe hates spending some time on things they do not enjoy. People want to get to their free time, so saving them time can be quite appealing. Over the years the years have become quite important to us for many reasons.
- Does it create comfort or entertainment? This can be a very difficult thing to consider, because it is very opinionated; therefore, it takes you to definitely create a judgment call. Some people get comfort or entertainment from different things, so if you choose to take this route, you have to be sure your invention will affect many individuals. If you are going to attempt to tackle this, I would suggest doing extra research, online and in surveys.
- Will it save lives? This really is another big one, and leads to very profitable invention ideas. There's always likely to be a terrific way to market an invention that saves lives. I'd definitely recommend heading down this path.
- Will it help those who are hindered? This is a broad category and almost complements saving lives. There are many things that hinder people for example allergies, diseases, physical limitations, etc.
- Would people purchase this problem to become solved? To really answer this take some thought. You have to consider many variables. You have to kind of start to consider just how much an invention to solve this issue would cost and when that quantity of money is worth solving the issue. You need to also think about the economic state of the consumers. For instance, in today's economy individuals are spending much less money, but you can do some investigation and discover articles to find out what individuals continue to be spending money on. The scariest thing would be to have a great invention, but not be able to make money due to a lack of research at this step.
You now must have a good problem to solve; you are on your way to some profitable invention idea.
Research
At this point you must have an issue that you're thinking about solving. You have hopefully already done some investigation on your problem; however, the research has just begun. This will be a very easy key to skip or not fully commit to, but it is very important for a few reasons. You need to take a look at project thoroughly to become equipped to start to resolve it. Make sure you know every single thing about your problem; read books, read magazines, read the internet, and other things that may possibly educate you about your problem. I realize many people don't enjoy reading, and wish to skip straight to pioneering the very best invention of the last 10 years, but inventing is really a tedious process if it's done properly. Most great inventions took years to completely develop, and that i don't think we can even fathom just how much research these inventors did, because I guarantee you they didn't just sit and think for ten years. Doing research will help you engineer an answer, it serves another purpose. Doing research helps to completely submerge you inside your invention; it makes you think constantly about your problem and increases your urge to uniquely solve it. If you're truly thinking about inventing I'd strongly counsel you to complete plenty of research.
Uncovering an Invention Idea
Use Problem Solving
All problems require problem-solving; however, some are simpler to solve then others. An invention needs a high level of problem-solving; for this reason it's a hardship on many people to come up with a distinctive invention. Many people are naturally proficient at problem solving plus they can solve problems with ease, but there are many those who have developed ways to teach people how to solve problems. There are lots of great sites and books that provide full lessons in problem solving and I would recommend checking some out. I will outline a couple of things that I believe are important to problem solving in inventing.
- Completely simplify the problem. It is easy to consider the problem and obtain caught up in the complexness of solving it, and this can discourage you. Go ahead and take problem you've identified and find the main cause. You want to possess a simple problem in to have the simplest solution. Simple inventions are usually very profitable.
- Change the setting of your problem. This might be obscure, and so i will give you a good example. Let's say your condition gets within the shower and then realizing you forgot to obtain then new shampoo bottle and you are all wet. Alter the setting from the shower to your car; remembering to obtain a new pack of gum to set up your before leaving to take a hot date. Doing this will permit you to look at the problem from multiple angles. Don't be afraid to get this done many times for many different settings. Problem-solving is all about solving a problem by utilizing logic and taking advantage of strategies to increase your logic. However, logical problem-solving isn't solution about solving your condition; you should also consider the abstract side of pinpointing ideas, that we will discuss next.
Imagination
Imagination is made almost completely around vision. Vision contains two elements, such as often overlooked. The first part of vision is the retina receiving light rays and sending these to the mind, this really is this part of vision that everyone is familiar with. The second part, what goes on following this, is the part that relates the most to imagination. The part of vision where the brain interprets the information from the retina differs from individual to individual. The way the brain perceives the information it receives in the retina relies totally on past experiences, there are experiments that prove this. Therefore, if imagination happens when the brain perceives the information, and the way the mind perceives details are based on past experience, then imagination is limited by experience. That might have appeared like a stretch, but think about this. When you are a kid your imagination is free of charge flowing and untamable, however when you grow older and gain experience your imagination starts to dwindle.
How does this apply to inventing?
The majority of the great inventions that end up generating a large profit or changing the world result from an invention idea that is totally ludicrous towards the person with average skills. This means the key ingredients to some successful inventor are a loose imagination and also the ability to creatively solve an issue. In today's inventing world many inventors possess a background in engineering. I have been in engineering classes where they've taught me "how to invent". They do this by rolling out 12 steps of methods to come up with an ideal invention idea, each step instructs you exactly how to proceed and think. Well, I think if inventing could be designed in 12 steps to a perfect invention idea, then everybody would be coming up with outstanding inventions. You and I both know everyone isn't inventing the next smartest thing. It is because being the next Disney world isn't achieved by following a 12 step equation.
How to break up the barriers on imagination
As mentioned above, the brain perceives information based on past experiences. It will this since it must conserve energy; therefore, the longer you reside and also the more experiences you encounter, the more your brain uses consider your experience to save energy. This conservation of one's may be the enemy when you are trying to stretch your ideas and be creative. Forcing your mind to rely less on past experience is an extremely tough task or everyone could be really creative.
A great way to start thinking differently is to do new things - visit new places, participate in something totally new, and meet new people. Flooding the brain with all these something totally new causes it to collapse categories created by consider your experience. To get eliminate conventional thinking, you must also notice that conventional thinking limits you and you will find new ways to perceive things while you have experienced it exactly the same way for so long. Last, the most obvious way to try and break up ordinary thinking is by literally looking at things differently. This seems simple and broad, but it can definitely be hard to accomplish. A good example of this is should you be a painter you could take pictures of the artwork, or possibly look at your art inside a mirror. Increasing your imagination is really a difficult job to complete, however when you perform the results can be very rewarding.
Evaluating Your Invention Idea
If you are interested in generating income together with your invention idea, then you definitely aren't done. If you wish to earn money, you will have to spend a great deal of money to patent and possibly advertise your invention. You need to be certain you are thrilled with your invention and that it is going to be profitable when it is place on the marketplace. This requires more research. I understand you may be sick of research by now, but it's important. You will find three main ways to evaluate your invention.
1. Study past inventions. Take a look at successful past inventions and look at failed ones. Study the way the economy was once the invention was launched and how the economy compares to today's economy. History is the best prediction for your success or failure.
2. Ask people you're friends with. Speak with people regarding your idea and ask their undertake it. Speak with people who will be honest with you; false support can lead you to create a bad decision. Don't worry about them stealing your idea; many people are way too lazy to try that.
3. You will find inventor organizations made to help inventors with ideas. To tell the truth I have not used them before, I have only find out about them online. I'd advise trying them out though, I believe they're trustworthy.
