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Ask HN: Please review my startup project

2 points by pierceju 14y ago

Hi Everyone, Here's the theory: take match.com (instant results) + eharmony (hundreds of matching criteria) + craigslist (completely free and beyond dating), and bundle it in a way that lets you find people for just about any reason. Whether for dating, friendship, housing, etc. I've written an engine to do it at http://www.buddybuilder.com and I would really appreciate HN's feedback on the entire experience (UI, usability, enjoyment, flow, improvements, ideas on how to bootstrap a user base, etc). There is no user base yet, so if you want to see a match result, make sure to enable the 'Friendship' goal, and center your search in Cary, NC for a male. You should see me (beaglehoster)! Many thanks HN!, Justin * Canceling your account after signup is easy (look under Account/Help) and, I assure you, is a complete deletion of all information your have submitted.

mion 14y ago
I think when it comes to sites like this you should really make some sort of late registration available, that is, let us see what your thing does without having to sign up. You don't need an account to use craigslist, why do I need one to use yours? Also, I may be wrong but this sounds like the kind of idea someone comes up when trying to come up with a good idea. Do you know someone that has this problem you're trying to solve? Are you "scratching an itch"? About the UI, it reminds me of Web 2.0, no offense. How about using some Twitter Bootstrap? Have a look at Dribbble, Colour Lovers, etc to have a better sense of what's hot on web design. Check out this list on Kippt: https://kippt.com/michaelchen/inspiration https://kippt.com/michaelchen/inspiration
- pierceju 14y ago
  Thanks for the input! I've certainly considered the anonymous user approach to help users see the power of the interface before having to commit. I worried about anonymous users being turned off by an initially small user base and leaving the site without registering. I guess that could happen even if they register, so I'll definitely prioritize working on this. Thank you. The site definitely developed with a problem statement from my wife: wanting to meet not just friends, but ones with which we could truly connect. This takes more than just a craigslist posting or random encounters. When it comes right down to it, great friends match on many axes. We figured -- why not make the axes truly rich. So we ended up with hundreds. Certainly might be just the type of people we are, so not sure whether it scratches an itch for a large population. Also appreciate the UI links. I'm more of a backend guy -- so the UI has been a struggle.
  - mion 14y ago
    You're certainly right about users being turned off by a small user base, but as an entrepreneur you should "break the rules" now and then! Or be a little "naughty" as pg says. I've had the same problem as you once so I created some fake users and some fake content just so it wouldn't look like an abandoned web site or something. I didn't read this in article or anything, but I'm pretty sure this helps to "break the ice" for new users!

2 points by pierceju 14y ago

mion 14y ago

I think when it comes to sites like this you should really make some sort of late registration available, that is, let us see what your thing does without having to sign up. You don't need an account to use craigslist, why do I need one to use yours? Also, I may be wrong but this sounds like the kind of idea someone comes up when trying to come up with a good idea. Do you know someone that has this problem you're trying to solve? Are you "scratching an itch"? About the UI, it reminds me of Web 2.0, no offense. How about using some Twitter Bootstrap? Have a look at Dribbble, Colour Lovers, etc to have a better sense of what's hot on web design. Check out this list on Kippt: https://kippt.com/michaelchen/inspiration https://kippt.com/michaelchen/inspiration

pierceju 14y ago
Thanks for the input! I've certainly considered the anonymous user approach to help users see the power of the interface before having to commit. I worried about anonymous users being turned off by an initially small user base and leaving the site without registering. I guess that could happen even if they register, so I'll definitely prioritize working on this. Thank you. The site definitely developed with a problem statement from my wife: wanting to meet not just friends, but ones with which we could truly connect. This takes more than just a craigslist posting or random encounters. When it comes right down to it, great friends match on many axes. We figured -- why not make the axes truly rich. So we ended up with hundreds. Certainly might be just the type of people we are, so not sure whether it scratches an itch for a large population. Also appreciate the UI links. I'm more of a backend guy -- so the UI has been a struggle.
- mion 14y ago
  You're certainly right about users being turned off by a small user base, but as an entrepreneur you should "break the rules" now and then! Or be a little "naughty" as pg says. I've had the same problem as you once so I created some fake users and some fake content just so it wouldn't look like an abandoned web site or something. I didn't read this in article or anything, but I'm pretty sure this helps to "break the ice" for new users!