Comment by cybrjoe

As an amateur I always thought a “marketplace” of reference designs with criteria you could filter on (through-hole, easy to hand solder, pitch, programming, etc.) would be a great resource. You could even make an attempt at compatibility (I2C, SPI, # of GPIO pins) with certain MCUs. If something works in theory, let me pay the designer and get the schematic and footprints in KiCAD or other EDA.