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I did a lot of research on learning techniques, especially spaced repetition, a few years ago. I also noticed I'm not great with names, so I wrote a piece of so

I did a lot of research on learning techniques, especially spaced repetition, a few years ago. I also noticed I'm not great with names, so I wrote a piece of software called Nombre that tracked everyone I met and let me play a spaced repetition game so I could learn names. It basically died when LinkedIn shut down their APIs, but thought I'd share anyways - http://nombreapp.com http://nombreapp.com. Does anyone here use a personal CRM or contacts database? Would love to hear your thoughts on that type of software.

TeMPOraL 11y ago
Could you share the results of learning those techniques, especially whether or not Nombre actually helped you?
- andygcook 11y ago
  Sure - I'll do a write up all about it some point soon. The short of it is yes, Nombre helped me. When my startup was acquired by HubSpot and I went from a three person company to a 700 person one, Nombre was super helpful for remembering everyone's names in product + engineering. I basically memorized 75+ people in a week or so.
Amorymeltzer 11y ago
Hey this is cool! I'd be really interested in something like this, is it still worth it? I mean, without LinkedIn can I link Facebook or something? I suppose facebook profile pics are likely to be somewhat unhelpful, but, man, I'm horrible with names.
- andygcook 11y ago
  I wanted to hook other services up to it but never got around to it. I also realized it needs to be a mobile app to be truly valuable, which I just didn't have the time to build on nights and weekends. The circumstances it is really helpful with is when you get thrown into situations where you're meeting lots of people - new jobs, new school, new relationship, etc. Ideally there'd just be a "human" API that had high-res headshots of everyone in the world, but that doesn't exist. The closest is LinkedIn but since they shut down their API's developers can't use it anymore.
mistermann 11y ago
I'm absolutely horrendous at remembering both names and faces so would be very interested to hear suggestions of techniques or tools one can use to assist remembering people. "You can repeat the person’s name back to her while you’re talking to her, Harris says, “although the best strategy is simply to show more interest in the people you meet." I've tried this with no luck, I will still forget a person's name within 60 seconds. It almost seems like I have a portion of my brain missing, and I've always been like this for anything involving memorization. Going over a list of names on a regular basis helps, but very little. However, my spatial recall seems to be much better - if I have a seating plan for example, for some reason I can easily associate a person with where they sit, but I simply cannot remember their name even if I deal with them fairly regularly.
- logfromblammo 11y ago
  Same here. I have actually forgotten someone's given name before they even finished saying their surname. But I can also, without referencing maps, compass, or GPS, return to places I last visited over 20 years ago. The spouse will frequently reel off narratives on travel itineraries, despite the number of times I have begged for a calendar or timeline instead. It just goes in one ear and out the other. Arrange it as a map, however, and I have no problem. It would be great if I could figure out some way to map names and faces to locations, but nothing I have tried ever seems to work, beyond actual cubicle or office locations. And then, if you move to a different spot in the same office, I might forget who you are.
- andygcook 11y ago
  The human brain is actually wired to remember visuals over abstract concepts. This is why you're so good at remembering faces and the places you meet people, but not names. Names are abstract, so they are hard to remember, The best way to remember names is to actually turn that person's name into a mental image, then tie it to the location where you met them. This gives your brain a mental image of someone's name, and when you see there face again, you'll recall the component cues of their name. For example, my name is Andy Cook, so you might imagine me standing next to a life sized Raggedy Andy doll wearing a chef's hat + apron. When you see me again, you're likely to remember the image and put the name together. The other nice thing about this technique is that it forces you to stop and commit someone's name to memory instead of letting it go in one ear and out the other.
TACIXAT 11y ago
I'm building a personal CRM right now. My girlfriend and I kept going to the dog park and remembering people's dog's names, the walk we met them on, or the park we saw them at, but we could never recall details about the person. I'm building something to correlate people, events, and locations that lets you keep notes. There's a landing page and waiting list right now, https://socialite.ooo https://socialite.ooo, but I'm hoping to have a beta by New Year.
- andygcook 11y ago
  That's great and good luck. I think there's an opportunity there for sure. Namerick in the App Store is a good proxy for this kind of service.
- philbo87 11y ago
  Cool idea, I look forward to seeing more. FWIW, I think your anticipated pricing is pretty reasonable (maybe you want that feedback?). I put my name on the mailing list.

TeMPOraL 11y ago

Could you share the results of learning those techniques, especially whether or not Nombre actually helped you?

andygcook 11y ago
Sure - I'll do a write up all about it some point soon. The short of it is yes, Nombre helped me. When my startup was acquired by HubSpot and I went from a three person company to a 700 person one, Nombre was super helpful for remembering everyone's names in product + engineering. I basically memorized 75+ people in a week or so.

Amorymeltzer 11y ago

Hey this is cool! I'd be really interested in something like this, is it still worth it? I mean, without LinkedIn can I link Facebook or something? I suppose facebook profile pics are likely to be somewhat unhelpful, but, man, I'm horrible with names.

andygcook 11y ago
I wanted to hook other services up to it but never got around to it. I also realized it needs to be a mobile app to be truly valuable, which I just didn't have the time to build on nights and weekends. The circumstances it is really helpful with is when you get thrown into situations where you're meeting lots of people - new jobs, new school, new relationship, etc. Ideally there'd just be a "human" API that had high-res headshots of everyone in the world, but that doesn't exist. The closest is LinkedIn but since they shut down their API's developers can't use it anymore.

mistermann 11y ago

I'm absolutely horrendous at remembering both names and faces so would be very interested to hear suggestions of techniques or tools one can use to assist remembering people. "You can repeat the person’s name back to her while you’re talking to her, Harris says, “although the best strategy is simply to show more interest in the people you meet." I've tried this with no luck, I will still forget a person's name within 60 seconds. It almost seems like I have a portion of my brain missing, and I've always been like this for anything involving memorization. Going over a list of names on a regular basis helps, but very little. However, my spatial recall seems to be much better - if I have a seating plan for example, for some reason I can easily associate a person with where they sit, but I simply cannot remember their name even if I deal with them fairly regularly.

logfromblammo 11y ago
Same here. I have actually forgotten someone's given name before they even finished saying their surname. But I can also, without referencing maps, compass, or GPS, return to places I last visited over 20 years ago. The spouse will frequently reel off narratives on travel itineraries, despite the number of times I have begged for a calendar or timeline instead. It just goes in one ear and out the other. Arrange it as a map, however, and I have no problem. It would be great if I could figure out some way to map names and faces to locations, but nothing I have tried ever seems to work, beyond actual cubicle or office locations. And then, if you move to a different spot in the same office, I might forget who you are.
andygcook 11y ago
The human brain is actually wired to remember visuals over abstract concepts. This is why you're so good at remembering faces and the places you meet people, but not names. Names are abstract, so they are hard to remember, The best way to remember names is to actually turn that person's name into a mental image, then tie it to the location where you met them. This gives your brain a mental image of someone's name, and when you see there face again, you'll recall the component cues of their name. For example, my name is Andy Cook, so you might imagine me standing next to a life sized Raggedy Andy doll wearing a chef's hat + apron. When you see me again, you're likely to remember the image and put the name together. The other nice thing about this technique is that it forces you to stop and commit someone's name to memory instead of letting it go in one ear and out the other.

TACIXAT 11y ago

I'm building a personal CRM right now. My girlfriend and I kept going to the dog park and remembering people's dog's names, the walk we met them on, or the park we saw them at, but we could never recall details about the person. I'm building something to correlate people, events, and locations that lets you keep notes. There's a landing page and waiting list right now, https://socialite.ooo https://socialite.ooo, but I'm hoping to have a beta by New Year.

andygcook 11y ago
That's great and good luck. I think there's an opportunity there for sure. Namerick in the App Store is a good proxy for this kind of service.
philbo87 11y ago
Cool idea, I look forward to seeing more. FWIW, I think your anticipated pricing is pretty reasonable (maybe you want that feedback?). I put my name on the mailing list.