Ideas Harbor
All your ideas, feedback, and inspiration in a single place—specialized to ideate, collaborate, and community-build.
ideasharbor.app
MY ROLE
Product Designer
TIMELINE
3 months
TEAM
1 PM
2 Developers
WHAT IS IDEAS HARBOR?
Ideas Harbor is an idea saving app integrating seamless feedback loops, AI ideation tools, and community collaboration features within a note-taking ecosystem, empowering collaborative innovation among entrepreneurs and creative thinkers.
CONTEXT
Ideas Harbor was created to bridge this gap—a space where ideas don’t just sit but grow, connect, and thrive within a vibrant network of innovators. Traditional note apps and team management tools capture ideas but don’t allow them to evolve or connect within a community. Ideas Harbor was created to bridge this gap—a space where ideas don’t just sit but grow, connect, and thrive within a vibrant network of innovators.
As the product designer, I designed the V1 and flagship features, aimed at creating a niche offering for entrepreneurs within the oversaturated note-taking market. As project manager, I oversaw development and led 3 rounds of QAS testing.
Problem Discovery
Current solutions isolate ideas rather than expand them. Entrepreneurs struggle to find tools that keep ideas organized, foster relevant feedback, and support collaboration. This fragmentation leaves ideas undeveloped or disconnected from potential collaborators.
Ideas Harbor directly addresses this problem, merging idea management with community-driven co-creation. It’s designed to be the go-to platform where creators can seamlessly capture thoughts, receive feedback, and connect with others—all in one intuitive, interactive space.
How can we build a space where ideas don’t gather dust, but evolve and materialize through collaboration?
Ideation & Research
Competitor Research
I began by auditing existing note-taking platforms to uncover best practices for idea saving as well as opportunities in the current market. While many tools appeared to effectively capture ideas, they lacked strong collaborative features and built-in feedback loops. This highlighted an opportunity for Ideas Harbor to offer more than just storage—a space where ideas could truly evolve.
Obsidian: Known for its powerful linking and knowledge mapping. However, generally focused on solo use and finding connections between your personal note repository. Lacking in community integration.
Evernote: Offers robust organization and cross-device syncing. Limited collaborative tools and static note structure don’t support dynamic idea development.
Anytype: Combines privacy-first architecture with modular organization, allowing users to fully customize their workspace. Lacks a strong community component.
Obsidian
Evernote
Anytype
User Research
Next, I dove into the world of entrepreneurial ecosystems, researching leaders in the space like Y Combinator, to understand how innovation communities operate and foster co-creation. I found that these networks thrive on shared resources and, more importantly, built-in networks to rally a team around an idea or mission.
MVP Testing
With these insights, I developed a focused MVP in Figma and began testing the idea with a network of entrepreneurs and startup veterans, who provided invaluable feedback, helping me further refine Ideas Harbor before the hard launch. (And as you can see from the screenshot below, the feedback was extensive!)
Solution
Ideas Harbor redefines how entrepreneurs capture, manage, and develop their ideas. It merges personal ideation with community support, ensuring no idea is ever lost, and every idea has the potential to grow with built-in feedback loops. With accessible tools for organizing, visualizing, and discussing ideas, entrepreneurs now have a dedicated platform tailored to their needs.
By providing built-in inspiration systems, such as a live community idea feed and AI-sourced articles, Ideas Harbor doesn't just document new ideas, it sparks them.
Feature Highlights
Community Ideas Feed
Spark inspiration from a community-powered ideas feed, enhanced by AI. Each day, users are introduced to fresh, relevant ideas contributed by others. This feature surfaces trends, popular concepts, and new perspectives, helping entrepreneurs expand their own thinking.
Interactive Network Graph
Ideas Harbor’s network graph visualizes connections between a user’s saved ideas and those shared by friends. This feature maps thematic and associative links, creating an intuitive “mind map” that highlights overlooked connections and synergies.
This helps users uncover themes amongst their own notes while also realizing potential collaboration or remixing opportunities with members of the community.
Intuitive Search & Workspaces
Search by tag, workspace, keyword, or friends—whatever comes to mind first. Associative search and idea metadata ensure you’ll find what you want instantly.
Designed for personalization, workspaces allow users to sort ideas in a way that fits their unique flow. Whether they’re preparing for a pitch or simply capturing raw concepts, users have a streamlined environment to keep their ideas accessible and actionable.
Adding Friends and Building Custom Groups
Beyond individual interactions, Ideas Harbor supports group collaboration through friending and group chats. Users can connect with like-minded innovators and quickly exchange ideas one-on-one or in larger groups, created based on interests, expertise, experience, and more.
Conversation Threads on Idea Notes
Each idea saved on Ideas Harbor has its own dedicated conversation thread. This feature fosters a collaborative loop, allowing others to provide real-time feedback, ask questions, or build on the original concept.
