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And here I am, month 4, still coding away and waiting for perfection before I launch.
by firefoxd 9y ago
And here I am, month 4, still coding away and waiting for perfection before I launch.
- realusername 9y agoWhat are you building?
- firefoxd 9y agoHere: https://www.ottomon.net https://www.ottomon.net It's coming out soon...
- yorwba 9y agoI think the description above the fold should be more detailed about the purpose than just making things "smart". I also doubt that whoever randomly comes across a tagged object will want to install your app to contact the owner, so I hope you're making sure that the QR code points to a website that can be used without the app. But I'm not a potential customer, so if you have actual user studies then ignore what I said.
- firefoxd 9y agoThank you for your feedback. I'll try to clarify that description. It works fully on mobile browser. The app is an addition, since it allows to use the phone's flashlight in the dark. Also any qr code reader will work as well.
- mrleiter 9y agoAlso some feedback from me: 1)It tells me what it does and how it works. But what I want to know in the first place is why. Why would I need it? 2)https://imgur.com/a/kuZC3 https://imgur.com/a/kuZC3 here I would switch the order from left down and then right down, because the smart phone in the middle spaces this like a book, so I initially read the left side first, then the right side (1/3/2/4). Only then I realised the actual order. 3)Also I do not really understand its purpose. PS: I am also unfortunately not in your target audience, but wish you the best luck!
- firefoxd 9y agoThank you for your valuable feedback.
- edent 9y agoIt looks interesting. But why would I use this rather than, say, a QR code with my email or phone number on it? The code on this website is invalid when I scan it - https://blog.ottomon.net/blog/what-is-ottomon https://blog.ottomon.net/blog/what-is-ottomon - make your demos work :-)
- firefoxd 9y agoThank you for the feedback. The intention is that you don't have to show personal information. Also, anyone can add custom information to display when the code is scanned. So email and number can be that information.
- olemartinorg 9y agoI like it! Just chiming in to say that, to oppose all the nay-sayers you'll always get on HN. I think I heard a similar concept pitched on a Startup Weekend once. The problem then was to make it so easy to use (seems you're on the right path there), maybe even without having to scan the QR code (add a 'Get in touch with my owner right now: ottomon.net/3az4xy' under the QR code, or something). And to repeat what the other commenter said, why wouldn't you just print your phone number or email on there? Privacy is the biggest (only?) reason, I guess. Maybe you should focus more on that on your landing page. You want people to contact you if you parked someone in, but you don't want them to know your name and show up at your house at weird times just because they wanted to be friends with 'that guy with the expensive car'. People are weird. How will you make it profitable, though? Only obvious thing I'd pay for is to get a nice pack of customized stickers/iron-on-patches/etc in various sizes.
- firefoxd 9y agoThank you for the encouraging feedback. Yes, privacy is one of the reasons. And you got it, the high quality stickers and pre printed accessories is what i intend to sell.
- adventured 9y agoLooks interesting. One small piece of advice. Get rid of the three small steps selling point. From a developer perspective, you think you're explaining that the concept is simple and easy to use. From the end user stand point, they go: ugh, multiple steps. The end user's brain begins to shut down and moves into rejection mode right then and there. Steps = hassle, memorization, fear of screwing a step up, complication. It doesn't matter how many steps. So in the three simple steps section: Header: How Ottomon Works [have that be the bold text] Drop the three simple steps part. Under the header, turn it into two actions, even if in your mind it's really three steps. It's: Place QR Code <-> Scan QR Code If you need to include text about communicating with the owner of the code, put it in the last segment about scanning the QR code. It's not: step 1, step 2, step 3, step blah. It's: place codes, scan codes.
- firefoxd 9y agoThank you, that's a very good point. I'll update. Stick it, scan it!
- spookthesunset 9y agoFirst -- ship it! Go live now. You'll learn more. Second -- 1. Decide what a conversion is (is it an app download? somebody ordering stickers? etc) 2. A/B test the hell out of that landing page with #1 in mind. Everything is fair game -- the car graphic, the layout, the text, etc. Third -- measure everything. How many times are these codes scanned? How many codes get registered? How many are purchased and of those, how many get used? Do people who scan the codes go on to become active users themselves? The more data you collect, the more you'll learn, and the better you'll get.
- firefoxd 9y agoThanks for the advice. I think it definitely makes sense. The best thing i did for this tool is to randomly talk about at 3 am. I'll ship it now.
- imhoguy 9y agoLooks interesting, I think this could be useful in cheap inventory management. Have you validated the idea with somebody ready to pay you actually? I think you need some pitch stories to explain use cases better. I needed a minute with "About us" and here on HN comments to figure out what you offer.
- firefoxd 9y agoThanks. I'm currently pitching it in my neighborhood where people are constantly complaining about cars. Yeah, I'll have to rework my top description to make it clearer.
- maximp 9y agoCongrats, you just launched :)
- firefoxd 9y agoHaha, it looks like. Though I haven't opened registration, i should have.
- greysteil 9y agoLaunch! If your experience is anything like mine with Dependabot, optimising for a big launch is a terrible idea - we spent days fretting about how our infrastructure would handle the load, only to get zero pickup. Lots of sales and hustle since then have got us to ramen profitability, but the time we spent building up to the launch was worse than a waste of time - it made us way too emotionally invested in an event that was basically pot luck.
- firefoxd 9y agoThanks for your story and advice.
- kowdermeister 9y agoYou probably seen it many times, but it's worth repeating as mantra :) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perfect_is_the_enemy_of_good https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perfect_is_the_enemy_of_good
- onion2k 9y agoPerfect is subjective. You can't tell what your customers think is the perfect product for them if they don't see it, and unless what you think is perfect aligns exactly with what your customers want you won't get any customers, and then you're dead. This is exactly what killed my first startup.
- maximp 9y agoAre you on Indiehackers? It's a whole community of people who'll tell you that you need to launch now - and how, and why.
- firefoxd 9y agoI just joined indiehackers a few days ago but haven't really participated. But man, i think get the message lol.