Idea Validation: Ask a software architect
Hi IH!
I know many of you are here are either solo software engineers or small startups. I know I am. And sometimes we all need "another head" to think with us, usually on architecture design and decisions.
Would you be interested in using a service that allows you to book time with software architects to ask them any questions and discuss designs and solutions to your problems? Would you pay for such 1-on-1 meetings?
Or if you are an architect, would you be interested to help technical solo entrepreneurs and get paid for it?
Thank you!
I am a Software Architect specialized in Web UI, Desktop Apps and backend systems. I like to get paid for helping other entrepreneurs, developers. Especially in choosing the right technology for the project, designing application architecture, finding right people and helping in development.
Let me know if you have any questions.
Thank you for showing interest! Ill give this idea some "growing up" time before Ill implement it, in the mean time I'm following you and might contact you in the future :)
Another potential user segment is beginner programmers like myself. I dabble in front-end and can follow tutorials to make front end connect to a database but I have no idea if I’m making the right technology, architecture and security decisions to ensure my app is performant, scalable and secure.
I had a similar idea too and posted about it a few days back - https://www.indiehackers.com/forum/ask-ih-feedback-for-idea-c2da05c16a
Would love to give advice to people who are working on certain problems for the first time, especially ones I've had experience dealing with in the past.
I would pay for it. I would pay for having 30 minutes with mrdoob (three.js author) and save myself 3 hours looking for a bug that turned out to be a library intricacy (undeterministic transparency sorting). I think I've heard of similar solutions out there already, but perhaps there's a niche to fill. Like I said, I would occasionally pay for it :).
EDIT: Don't use "architect" word though, because that's too specific IMHO.
Thank you for your reply.
Glad to hear you would use such service!
Regarding "too specific", as I said I think its harder to find a good architect with whom you can discuss design, rather than asking a simply question on stackoverflow or similar.
Unless I'd pay $50 or more for asking that question, right? I agree it's harder to find a person to discuss, but sometimes you know there's a pro (possibly a library author, as was in my case) that could probably answer my question and save me hours. Don't assume people wouldn't pay for asking "simple" questions directly - and save time; you never know if your stackoverflow question will get answered. If I had an attention of a pro for x amount, that's different from posting to stackoverflow and praying ;)
Good point!
Hi Dmitry, sounds like an awesome idea to me.
You could generalize it to not just architects - your users could ask a software engineer that's a bit more senior / a software engineer who has already worked on a similar problem to theirs in the past.
Good luck!
Thank you for your reply!
General programming questions are covered by stackoverflow and similar websites, but when you need architectural design that requires drawings and discussions, you need something else rather than Q/A websites.
Well, not sure that 1 hour session could solve the architecture problem. Every project is different, and sometimes it takes pretty much time just to understand its specifics.
Its not limited to 1/2/3/n hours. The idea is that usually developers need to consult architects and not all of us have some architect friend or something like this.
So kinda like stackoverflow / SE stack exchange only in a video call? I would definitely use this and pay / get paid with this.
Bonus points - if the calls were recorded and available publicly.
Yes, something like this. The problem is that stackoverflow is limited to "how do I solve x=y+1 for y=1" and discussing questions such as "how do I implement permission microservices that requires x,y,z in terms of load, scalability and reliability".
sounds like a podcast...