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Elderly people love, really enjoy, their Nixplay[0]. I call it "Facebook[1] for grannies". Putting the names of people below the pictures helps people with mild

Elderly people love, really enjoy, their Nixplay[0]. I call it "Facebook[1] for grannies". Putting the names of people below the pictures helps people with mild forms of dementia to repeat & remember the names of their beloved. The Nixplay device is quite good, regretfully the UX of their website is horrendous. And there I see a problem. If someone would build a selfhosted version of "Facebook[1] for grannies" with an Raspberry PI: open source projects are not known for their excellent UI/UX designs. Time will come, and given the feedback I hear on the Nixplay, I expect that one day we'll have these devices all over in houses of elderly, either connected to a special screen or connected to the TV set. [0] nixplay.com [1] replace with Instagram, Flikr or your favorite photos sharing app/site

smacktoward 10y ago
Yes yes yes. I've had the same experience with Nixplay in that scenario: the device is loved, but the people who love it can never figure out how to load new photos on it. Part of the problem is that the web UI is as dire as you mention. Another part is that in trying to be helpful, they offer ways to connect the thing up to a dozen different photo services, but the sheer number of choices they present ends up paralyzing non-technical folks who just want to upload a damn photo. They really need to concentrate on having dead simple iPhone/Android apps that do one thing and one thing only: take photos on your phone and push them to your Nixplay. (Or integrate "Send to my Nixplay" as an option camera apps and the like can tap into, via intents or whatever.) Do one thing really well instead of a dozen things poorly.
- smartbit 10y ago
  > take photos on your phone and push them to your Nixplay. Good you mention the Apps, I forgot. Indeed the app is quite useless and how difficult could it be to have a Send To action? With an option to add comment, like in WhatsApp. Indeed, do one thing good and skip the rest or offer one alternative like email. Also focus on a single device per logon with a single watch list. Given the number of complaints on their forums they don't listen and it is just a matter of time for (self hosted) alternatives to appear.

smacktoward 10y ago

Yes yes yes. I've had the same experience with Nixplay in that scenario: the device is loved, but the people who love it can never figure out how to load new photos on it. Part of the problem is that the web UI is as dire as you mention. Another part is that in trying to be helpful, they offer ways to connect the thing up to a dozen different photo services, but the sheer number of choices they present ends up paralyzing non-technical folks who just want to upload a damn photo. They really need to concentrate on having dead simple iPhone/Android apps that do one thing and one thing only: take photos on your phone and push them to your Nixplay. (Or integrate "Send to my Nixplay" as an option camera apps and the like can tap into, via intents or whatever.) Do one thing really well instead of a dozen things poorly.

smartbit 10y ago
> take photos on your phone and push them to your Nixplay. Good you mention the Apps, I forgot. Indeed the app is quite useless and how difficult could it be to have a Send To action? With an option to add comment, like in WhatsApp. Indeed, do one thing good and skip the rest or offer one alternative like email. Also focus on a single device per logon with a single watch list. Given the number of complaints on their forums they don't listen and it is just a matter of time for (self hosted) alternatives to appear.