All ideas are worth pursuing. Saying that, one should always research the literature to find if anyone else has solved the idea before you. A problem that we face today could have been there for a while pushing others to solve them in ways that we you may not have thought of. Hence, first step is to critic your own ideas, analyse the pros and cons, challenge yourself to defend all reasons why it may not work. Also to understand if your idea is just an improvement or truly an innovation. Here are some simple steps that can be followed.
Invention v Improvement
We often fall in love with our own ideas like how one loves their own child. But, its imperative to test the idea to assess if it is just an improvement over an existing technology/product or truly a novelty. Sometimes there could be just a very fine line between the two.
Improvement / Innovation: a thing that makes something better or is better than something else.
Invention: defined as the creation of a product or introduction of a process for the first time.
Improvement / Innovation: a thing that makes something better or is better than something else.
Invention: defined as the creation of a product or introduction of a process for the first time.
The Internet
A simple search of the internet will give you the very first insight if your idea is unique or not. Several would have tried to solve the same problem in other ways. Internet also will tell you why the other ideas were successful or were a failure.
Google Patents, Espacenet
These are great archives of patents from around the world. The search terms should be modified to wider words and phrases to match the language used in a patent application. It is also important to note that the inventions submitted to the patent offices in the last 18months will remain a secret and hence won’t be visible in your search.
Market Analysis
This is the most important and crucial step and has to be completed much before you start investing into your prototype. Every invention requires funding to build it, get approvals, marketing and distribution. The investor will want to know that there exists a market that will help him recover his investment, so should you too. Therefore start by quantifying the problem you are solving with your invention, measure the size of the target market also assessing competing products and pricing.
Drawing Board
The great idea in your head now needs to be sketched on paper for the rest of the world to see it. Start with rough sketches and outline the vision, then move deeper into the details of every part of the product. Although paper is a good start there are several mobile apps with a sketching tool to make your first sketches. Further from here a CAD designer or a software developer need to bring your vision to life.