user19016: Sometimes users ask questions that basically shift the research and development work of a particular project or product into the hands of the community.
This problem is somewhat related to not being specific enough, but bears another issue: acquiring free labour from the community without giving something in return.
It's a problem that isn't new, not even on StackExchange.
But I recognised it on Arduino SE too.
It goes without saying that SE is a platform where people get to ask questions.
Oftentimes without knowing in advance what is involved in finding an answer.
We all sometimes need a pointer to a solution or can make great use of someone else's experience.
But some questions have a certain smell that the poster would rather have others magically come up with a production-ready solution to their complex design ideas – and implement them too.
How should we deal with questions that basically just ask for free engineering work?

user10794: You might have mentioned getting help with homework, and college assignments too. :)
On the face of it, this site is designed to answer specific questions, and when it is used like that, I see no problem if the question is being used by an engineer in some company, a high-school kid, or someone doing a thesis. Of course, this is in addition to hobbyists, and others who simply want to learn.
However overly-broad questions, like "I have an assignment to monitor heart rate - please provide the code for me ... oh, and a schematic" can simply be voted-to-close as too broad. This is asking for work to be done, not to have a question answered.
If there is doubt, asking for them to clarify what they have already tried can soon wiggle out people who are serious, from those trying to avoid work. For example:

What have you tried already? However see this: “What have you tried” epidemic. So don't post a comment "What you you tried?" on its own. It isn't helpful.
Where did you get stuck?
Please post your current code, even if it doesn't work
Please post your schematic
Please post links to your (proposed) hardware

We are not really supposed to answer shopping questions, or about which device is "best" to buy. These are too subjective.
Without being too snaky about it, we can also see what research they have already done. Sometimes I say "I see Google returns 100,000 results on a search for Arduino +yourIdea - in what way did those hits not help your project?".

19016: <p>Sometimes users ask questions that basically shift the research and development work of a particular project or product into the hands of the community.</p>

<p>This problem is somewhat related to <a href="https://arduino.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/203/how-can-we-encourage-new-users-to-narrow-down-their-problem-could-we-improve-th">not being specific enough</a>, but bears another issue: acquiring free labour from the community without giving something in return.</p>

<p>It's a problem that isn't new, not even on StackExchange.
But I recognised it on Arduino SE too.</p>

<p>It goes without saying that SE is a platform where people get to ask questions.
Oftentimes without knowing in advance what is involved in finding an answer.
We all sometimes need a pointer to a solution or can make great use of someone else's experience.</p>

<p>But some questions have a certain smell that the poster would rather have others magically come up with a production-ready solution to their complex design ideas – and implement them too.</p>

<p>How should we deal with questions that basically just ask for free engineering work?</p>
 10794: <p>You might have mentioned getting help with homework, and college assignments too. :)</p>

<p>On the face of it, this site is designed to answer specific questions, and when it is used like that, I see no problem if the question is being used by an engineer in some company, a high-school kid, or someone doing a thesis. Of course, this is in addition to hobbyists, and others who simply want to learn.</p>

<p><em>However</em> overly-broad questions, like "I have an assignment to monitor heart rate - please provide the code for me ... oh, and a schematic" can simply be voted-to-close as too broad. This is asking for work to be done, not to have a question answered.</p>

<p>If there is doubt, asking for them to clarify what they have already tried can soon wiggle out people who are serious, from those trying to avoid work. For example:</p>

<ul>
<li>What have you tried already? <strong>However</strong> see this: <a href="https://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/172758/what-have-you-tried-epidemic">“What have you tried” epidemic</a>. So don't post a comment "What you you tried?" on its own. It isn't helpful.</li>
<li>Where did you get stuck?</li>
<li>Please post your current code, even if it doesn't work</li>
<li>Please post your schematic</li>
<li>Please post links to your (proposed) hardware</li>
</ul>

<p>We are not really supposed to answer shopping questions, or about which device is "best" to buy. These are too subjective.</p>

<p>Without being too snaky about it, we can also see what research they have already done. Sometimes I say "I see Google returns 100,000 results on a search for <code>Arduino +yourIdea</code> - in what way did those hits not help your project?".</p>
