4 ms·

It would be a statement of the obvious to say "you're new here, aren't you", but get a feel for the site and the users before you launch a criticism 9 minutes a

by brk 17y ago

It would be a statement of the obvious to say "you're new here, aren't you", but get a feel for the site and the users before you launch a criticism 9 minutes after your account was created. The majority of people are here for the content, not the presentation. Also, I doubt that you would be able to suggest a better design that works so well with laptops, tablets, iPhones, Androids, etc. In some ways, this site is little more than a grand experiment in ARC, the content is just to dupe users into alpha-testing new concepts :)

tomaz 17y ago
Yes, I am new and this was the first thing that bothered me when started to use what it seems like a great service. If you want a nice, usable design that works well across different browsers and platforms, check digg.. And this is not a criticism, it's a statement of the obvious :)
- icey 17y ago
  Have you checked out reddit? They might have features you like more: http://www.reddit.com/r/programming/ http://www.reddit.com/r/programming/ Or, I guess you could keep hanging around Digg or whatever.
  - tomaz 17y ago
    I'm guessing I have offended you guys in some way, for which I apologize, I don't use digg nor reddit, I was just trying to make a point.
    - InclinedPlane 17y ago
      Your central mistake is in believing that hacker news is designed in such a way as to maximize popularity. Runaway popularity is actually a detriment in this case as it would decrease the signal to noise ratio and destroy the value of the site. As well, since there are no ads on HN the site is nothing but a financial liability to Paul Graham / YC so increasing popularity would just increase that liability. The goal, instead, is to create a community of folks with similar interests (loosely orbiting around the developer/startup barycenter) who share interesting news and engage in worthwhile discussions related to that news. With that goal in mind then a lot of the design of the site starts to make more sense.

by brk 17y ago

tomaz 17y ago

Yes, I am new and this was the first thing that bothered me when started to use what it seems like a great service. If you want a nice, usable design that works well across different browsers and platforms, check digg.. And this is not a criticism, it's a statement of the obvious :)

icey 17y ago
Have you checked out reddit? They might have features you like more: http://www.reddit.com/r/programming/ http://www.reddit.com/r/programming/ Or, I guess you could keep hanging around Digg or whatever.
- tomaz 17y ago
  I'm guessing I have offended you guys in some way, for which I apologize, I don't use digg nor reddit, I was just trying to make a point.
  - InclinedPlane 17y ago
    Your central mistake is in believing that hacker news is designed in such a way as to maximize popularity. Runaway popularity is actually a detriment in this case as it would decrease the signal to noise ratio and destroy the value of the site. As well, since there are no ads on HN the site is nothing but a financial liability to Paul Graham / YC so increasing popularity would just increase that liability. The goal, instead, is to create a community of folks with similar interests (loosely orbiting around the developer/startup barycenter) who share interesting news and engage in worthwhile discussions related to that news. With that goal in mind then a lot of the design of the site starts to make more sense.