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Of course it requires a critical mass of people reporting before it becomes widely useful, and thinking cynically, I could see people "InStock-bombing" their lo

by _bxg1 7y ago

Of course it requires a critical mass of people reporting before it becomes widely useful, and thinking cynically, I could see people "InStock-bombing" their local store - saying it's out of everything - in hopes of driving people away and keeping it for themselves. But if you've solved both of those problems and/or found them not to be problems, I think this could be really helpful Edit: Also, I just tried to search for it on the App Store by "InStock" (what it's called on the website), and it didn't come up. Then I searched for "whats in stock" and I think the one that came up (named "WhatsInStock") is this one, based on the screenshots. I think greater consistency would probably result in greater discoverability and trust. Edit 2: I just opened it up and the nearby stores it found didn't include HEB, which is the most common grocer in my region (Texas), nor Whole Foods nor H-Mart. And while there isn't one close by, if it doesn't have HEB it probably doesn't have Central Market either. Just fyi.

kmdupree 7y ago
I hear you on the cynacism. We'll just have to see what happens. Regarding the app store name, thanks for that feedback. We couldn't use InStock unfortunately since it was already taken, but we'll definitely think about this. Regarding the store search results, we are using an api for this and this is quickly floating to the top of our backlog as something to work on for the next release. Thanks for the feedback on this as well, as it helps us prioritize the things that really matter to people. :)
- _bxg1 7y ago
  > We couldn't use InStock unfortunately since it was already taken Understandable; one solution would be to adopt the App Store name as the new "real name" and put it on your website, etc. > Thanks for the feedback on this as well, as it helps us prioritize the things that really matter to people. :) Sure thing! Best of luck.
prophesi 7y ago
I think it's safe to assume that the majority of users are good actors. With that in mind, the two main attacks that these sorts of crowdsourcing apps need to figure counterattacks for are: 1. Minimizing the damage an individual can do. This is usually pretty easy to solve. InStock has the issue that a unique item could be said to be out of stock, and not have any other users report otherwise for a while. 2. Minimizing the damage that a coordinated group effort can do. This can be difficult to solve. The attackers will likely succeed for a while; you'd need a system in place to detect anomalies (or at worst, rely on users to report the issue) and a weighted scoring system (20 brand new users shouldn't sway what an active 6 month account says, etc). I've yet to see TP come back in stock at my local grocer during my trips, so I hope this project succeeds.

by _bxg1 7y ago

kmdupree 7y ago

I hear you on the cynacism. We'll just have to see what happens. Regarding the app store name, thanks for that feedback. We couldn't use InStock unfortunately since it was already taken, but we'll definitely think about this. Regarding the store search results, we are using an api for this and this is quickly floating to the top of our backlog as something to work on for the next release. Thanks for the feedback on this as well, as it helps us prioritize the things that really matter to people. :)

_bxg1 7y ago
> We couldn't use InStock unfortunately since it was already taken Understandable; one solution would be to adopt the App Store name as the new "real name" and put it on your website, etc. > Thanks for the feedback on this as well, as it helps us prioritize the things that really matter to people. :) Sure thing! Best of luck.

prophesi 7y ago

I think it's safe to assume that the majority of users are good actors. With that in mind, the two main attacks that these sorts of crowdsourcing apps need to figure counterattacks for are: 1. Minimizing the damage an individual can do. This is usually pretty easy to solve. InStock has the issue that a unique item could be said to be out of stock, and not have any other users report otherwise for a while. 2. Minimizing the damage that a coordinated group effort can do. This can be difficult to solve. The attackers will likely succeed for a while; you'd need a system in place to detect anomalies (or at worst, rely on users to report the issue) and a weighted scoring system (20 brand new users shouldn't sway what an active 6 month account says, etc). I've yet to see TP come back in stock at my local grocer during my trips, so I hope this project succeeds.