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hambone79
November 1st, 2013, 08:06 PM
I was wondering if anyone knows of some existing software that would provide a place to store design ideas? I have been working with a few friends on some projects outside of work and we always end up with tons of design ideas through brainstorming sessions that I don't want to lose. Unfortunately, we haven't been able to find a good way to sort and store the ideas so we can revisit them later. Just as a little background, our process goes something like this...

1. A design problem is written on a white board.
2. A brain storming session begins and everyone writes/draws ideas all over the white board.
3. When the board is full, everyone signs and dates the board and a photo is taken for backup.
4. Each idea is then placed on an "idea sheet" where it is given more detail, better drawings, supporting calculations, and a witness signature for patent purposes etc.
5. Each idea sheet is then scanned and stored on a file server. A description of the files is also added to a log file (excel spreadsheet).

Unfortunately, step 5 has gotten a little out of hand and we are having trouble finding things without going through 100+ PDF files. What I would like to do is place all of the data from the idea sheet in a database that can be sorted by functional category (example: electrical, mechanical, hydraulic), keyword, or some other fields. Also, it would be nice to rank ideas according to feasibility.

Is there a way to do this without it getting over complicated?

Habitual
November 1st, 2013, 10:12 PM
Alfresco (http://www.alfresco.com/)?