5 ms·

Redesigning Search with WebMynd (YC W08)

21 points by amirnathoo 17y ago

eplawless 17y ago
Sorry, I've read the article but I'm still a bit confused. Search engine aggregation has existed for a while. Besides rounded corners, what differentiates this search engine? "Phoenix is pretty, but that’s not really the point. What matters is that it suggests new kinds of functionality with a new kind of search experience." Which new kinds of functionality? How is the search experience new or different?
- jmtame 17y ago
  this is the best designed aggregator i've ever used. it's easy to customize, and it matches my current searching patterns: i rarely look beyond the fold, so if a result is not within the first 3 or 4 results, i'll do a different search or go to other sites (such as youtube or wikipedia, which webmynd does for you). they've focused on the important bits: this is fast, well designed, and easy to customize.
alaskamiller 17y ago
Side note: Imran Zaidi is one of my favorite web designers. I remember him trying a startup with Streem.io; glad he made it out here, to WebMynd and made it absolutely beautiful. WebMynd's homepage is really tripping me out with how great it is.
- unalone 17y ago
  I'd never heard of him before. I like finding his portfolio more than I liked reading this article. I wish there was a directory of sleek, cool designers that I could spend my days on.
- c3o 17y ago
  That's http://streem.us http://streem.us actually -- you might be mixing it up with Soup.io (which is my startup) there, since the products have similarities :) But I agree: His work is top notch.
joez 17y ago
Mahalo.com is a different take on search and worth checking out. While although "human powered" results can never cover the breadth of Google. They might be able to compete on depth. I once heard an an important realization from Jason Calacanis. He said that most search revenue is generated off just a few phrases. While you want to be useful with the ability to answer who shot Alexander Hamilton, the cash cows are in searches like home mortgage.
- alaskamiller 17y ago
  Yeah, Jason Calacanis is a search engine optimization specialist.
  - pclark 17y ago
    specialist is an interesting alternative to "tit".
huhtenberg 17y ago
Beautifully designed page, very nice looking product website, but they lost me at "Install". Sorry, not going to happen.
unalone 17y ago
Any way we can get something like this on a non-Fx browser? I love it, but I'd love it more if I didn't have to leave behind my Safari romance for it.
colinplamondon 17y ago
I get that it's experimental, but it's better when experimental things don't totally suck- with only three real search links it's useless. The whole interface feels like someone discovered rounded corners, spent two weeks coming up with amazing color schemes, and decided that they might as well throw in some search results while they're at it. After a post pointing out all the massive issues with Google search I thought this would be really awesome, but it seems more like a portfolio piece. Which is really too bad, because I'd love to use a search engine that's as beautifully designed as it is, you know, useful for searching.
- japherwocky 17y ago
  At worst, it's an aesthetically pleasing Goog, at best it's an aesthetically pleasing search aggregate. How is that useless and totally suck? What is it you'd actually like to see a search engine do?
bayareaguy 17y ago
For those who dislike reading/skimming blog posts with gratuitous margins (why do those "design" people insist on doing that on the web?), here is a concise jottit version: http://jottit.com/byqzm/ http://jottit.com/byqzm/
- japherwocky 17y ago
  big margins look nice; that's why they're "design" people.

21 points by amirnathoo 17y ago

Sorry, I've read the article but I'm still a bit confused. Search engine aggregation has existed for a while. Besides rounded corners, what differentiates this search engine? "Phoenix is pretty, but that’s not really the point. What matters is that it suggests new kinds of functionality with a new kind of search experience." Which new kinds of functionality? How is the search experience new or different?

jmtame 17y ago
this is the best designed aggregator i've ever used. it's easy to customize, and it matches my current searching patterns: i rarely look beyond the fold, so if a result is not within the first 3 or 4 results, i'll do a different search or go to other sites (such as youtube or wikipedia, which webmynd does for you). they've focused on the important bits: this is fast, well designed, and easy to customize.

alaskamiller 17y ago

Side note: Imran Zaidi is one of my favorite web designers. I remember him trying a startup with Streem.io; glad he made it out here, to WebMynd and made it absolutely beautiful. WebMynd's homepage is really tripping me out with how great it is.

unalone 17y ago
I'd never heard of him before. I like finding his portfolio more than I liked reading this article. I wish there was a directory of sleek, cool designers that I could spend my days on.
c3o 17y ago
That's http://streem.us http://streem.us actually -- you might be mixing it up with Soup.io (which is my startup) there, since the products have similarities :) But I agree: His work is top notch.

joez 17y ago

Mahalo.com is a different take on search and worth checking out. While although "human powered" results can never cover the breadth of Google. They might be able to compete on depth. I once heard an an important realization from Jason Calacanis. He said that most search revenue is generated off just a few phrases. While you want to be useful with the ability to answer who shot Alexander Hamilton, the cash cows are in searches like home mortgage.

alaskamiller 17y ago
Yeah, Jason Calacanis is a search engine optimization specialist.
- pclark 17y ago
  specialist is an interesting alternative to "tit".

huhtenberg 17y ago

Beautifully designed page, very nice looking product website, but they lost me at "Install". Sorry, not going to happen.

unalone 17y ago

Any way we can get something like this on a non-Fx browser? I love it, but I'd love it more if I didn't have to leave behind my Safari romance for it.

colinplamondon 17y ago

I get that it's experimental, but it's better when experimental things don't totally suck- with only three real search links it's useless. The whole interface feels like someone discovered rounded corners, spent two weeks coming up with amazing color schemes, and decided that they might as well throw in some search results while they're at it. After a post pointing out all the massive issues with Google search I thought this would be really awesome, but it seems more like a portfolio piece. Which is really too bad, because I'd love to use a search engine that's as beautifully designed as it is, you know, useful for searching.

japherwocky 17y ago
At worst, it's an aesthetically pleasing Goog, at best it's an aesthetically pleasing search aggregate. How is that useless and totally suck? What is it you'd actually like to see a search engine do?

bayareaguy 17y ago

For those who dislike reading/skimming blog posts with gratuitous margins (why do those "design" people insist on doing that on the web?), here is a concise jottit version: http://jottit.com/byqzm/ http://jottit.com/byqzm/

japherwocky 17y ago
big margins look nice; that's why they're "design" people.