See whether anyone complains about the problem you picked, without asking a single leading question.
indie devs shipping side projects
42 found“I've shipped four side projects this year and every one died at zero users.”
“Every newsletter felt essential when I subscribed. Now my inbox is unusable.”
“Brands keep asking for my UGC rates and I'm making the numbers up.”
These posts were written for peers, not in answer to your survey. People say what actually bothers them.
If ten communities turn up nothing on your problem, that is worth knowing this week instead of next year.
Accept the posts that match, leave notes on each one, and export the set when you need to show your work.
Pick a trade you understand and read what the people in it are already fed up with.
Search your own category and read what people say is missing from the tools they already pay for.
Every problem comes with a verbatim quote. That is your headline.
Every problem links back to the post it came from, and the person who wrote it is still there.
Read a segment's real problems before you commit a quarter to it.
Every complaint is a post, a video or a newsletter someone already asked for.