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I am feeling increasingly frustrated by product websites that assume I already know what their product is. This seems to be especially prevalent on sites of too

by mournit 12y ago

I am feeling increasingly frustrated by product websites that assume I already know what their product is. This seems to be especially prevalent on sites of tools meant for developers. Please, don't make me have to guess by reading your tooltips, feature blurbs, and customer quotes like they are puzzle pieces to the question of "what the hell is this thing!" At least PaintCode is kind enough to give an overview in their documentation.

johnward 12y ago
My first impression when I got to the page was ok what does this thing do? A simple blurb about what this thing is may have sparked some interest.
SaladFork 12y ago
For those looking: > PaintCode is a vector drawing app that turns your drawings into Objective-C or C# drawing code in real time.
- icoder 12y ago
  I glanced over the website and missed that, now on mobile I'm only reading the comments and see that it is quite relevant for me. So thanks :)
  - scoot 12y ago
    You didn't miss it - it doesn't say that anywhere in one sentence on the linked page.
    - npizzolato 12y ago
      Very similar text appears if you hover over the bottom right yellow dot. Why the most important sentence on the page is hidden behind a mouse over is beyond me.
      - jasonlotito 12y ago
        It displays by default. It only hides if you mouse over other yellow dots and look at other information.
    - jasonlotito 12y ago
      When I loaded the page, it said this: "Drawing Tools - Use built-in vector drawing tools to design controls, icons and other graphic elements." And "Code Generation - PaintCode instantly generates Objective-C or C# code from your drawings." Seems obvious to me what it does. I literally have to do nothing besides open my eyes to get that information. Couple that with the screenshot, and the name, and the fact that the price is presented front and center, I can't help but wonder what information is missing?
      - vacri 12y ago
        I literally have to do nothing besides open my eyes to get that information. What the other people are asking for is no different here. The core functionality of the product is presented in miniblurbs, which most other websites use as feature explanations instead. It's not hard to see why people didn't snap to those immediately as descriptions of the purpose of the product. Also, as a neurophysiologist with an interest in attention and cognition, you literally had to do a lot more than just open your eyes to get that information.
        jasonlotito 12y ago
        > you literally had to do a lot more than just open your eyes to get that information. If you are going to get that anal about the use of the word literally, you shouldn't abuse it yourself. And you complain about the quality of comments here.
        vacri 12y ago
        You were schooling someone about how little effort it took to find information. I'm saying that there is more effort required than just opening your eyes - it's hardly abusing the word 'literally'. In any case, if you think my comment hinged on the word 'literally', you've misunderstood it. And you complain about the quality of comments here. You even italicised 'you', specifying me in particular. Are you going to call me anal again because I say I don't do that? Feel like backing up your claims? My comment history is there. You make it sound like a regular issue for me. If you want me to complain about comments, how about this: "I don't like comments that simply make shit up out of thin air like that, because the author is just feeling sour and feels the need to strike out at something".
evv 12y ago
Oh, really? I don't personally develop iOS apps, but as a technical guy, I understood what this thing is within 10 seconds of the page loading. It is a technical product with a niche. Maybe they weren't trying to market to you?
- ertdfgcb 12y ago
  I was pretty sure I knew what it was in 10 seconds, but they didn't tell me, so I had to guess. My guess was slightly off - I thought this was for making websites. It's better they tell me what their thing does rather than making me guess, even if it's an easy guess.
  - flyingyeti 12y ago
    Agree 100%. I had the same thought process and assumed it was a tool for websites until I noticed the Objective-C syntax in the code screenshots.
thenomad 12y ago
Yep, I had no idea what it was either. And it looked interesting!
iambateman 12y ago
I downloaded it and wasn't sure what it was. Still not sure. ;)
shaunol 12y ago
This is becoming an increasingly common and frustrating thing for products posted here to HN. How did this product even get to the front page when it's almost impossible to actually tell what it is or the problems it solves? I scrolled down past the screenshot expecting to read an introduction about it and now we're suddenly talking about StyleKits??? Huh? E: Quite ironic that the URI path is /intro and the main header "Introducing PaintCode 2", when the page does everything except introduce the product.
- fredsted 12y ago
  >How did this product even get to the front page when it's almost impossible to actually tell what it is or the problems it solves Just read the first couple lines on the screenshot. It's the first thing you read when you visit the page: "Use built-in vector drawing tools to design controls" and "PaintCode instantly generates Objective-C or C# code from your drawings" That's explanation enough for me, didn't you see that?
jamra 12y ago
Paintcode is like a niche photoshop for iOS. You draw graphics inside the program and it gives you the custom drawing code in objective c. The use case is if you decide to draw something custom in iOS like a specialized progress bar or a control that you wish to animate as you scroll your finger across the screen, you can make it much easier with this tool.
jasonlotito 12y ago
When I loaded the page, it said this: "Drawing Tools - Use built-in vector drawing tools to design controls, icons and other graphic elements." And "Code Generation - PaintCode instantly generates Objective-C or C# code from your drawings." Seems obvious to me what it does. I literally have to do nothing besides open my eyes to get that information. Couple that with the screenshot, and the name, and the fact that the price is presented front and center, I can't help but wonder what information is missing?
CatMtKing 12y ago
Looks like Flash for iOS apps.

by mournit 12y ago

johnward 12y ago

My first impression when I got to the page was ok what does this thing do? A simple blurb about what this thing is may have sparked some interest.

SaladFork 12y ago

For those looking: > PaintCode is a vector drawing app that turns your drawings into Objective-C or C# drawing code in real time.

icoder 12y ago
I glanced over the website and missed that, now on mobile I'm only reading the comments and see that it is quite relevant for me. So thanks :)
- scoot 12y ago
  You didn't miss it - it doesn't say that anywhere in one sentence on the linked page.
  - npizzolato 12y ago
    Very similar text appears if you hover over the bottom right yellow dot. Why the most important sentence on the page is hidden behind a mouse over is beyond me.
    - jasonlotito 12y ago
      It displays by default. It only hides if you mouse over other yellow dots and look at other information.
  - jasonlotito 12y ago
    When I loaded the page, it said this: "Drawing Tools - Use built-in vector drawing tools to design controls, icons and other graphic elements." And "Code Generation - PaintCode instantly generates Objective-C or C# code from your drawings." Seems obvious to me what it does. I literally have to do nothing besides open my eyes to get that information. Couple that with the screenshot, and the name, and the fact that the price is presented front and center, I can't help but wonder what information is missing?
    - vacri 12y ago
      I literally have to do nothing besides open my eyes to get that information. What the other people are asking for is no different here. The core functionality of the product is presented in miniblurbs, which most other websites use as feature explanations instead. It's not hard to see why people didn't snap to those immediately as descriptions of the purpose of the product. Also, as a neurophysiologist with an interest in attention and cognition, you literally had to do a lot more than just open your eyes to get that information.
      - jasonlotito 12y ago
        > you literally had to do a lot more than just open your eyes to get that information. If you are going to get that anal about the use of the word literally, you shouldn't abuse it yourself. And you complain about the quality of comments here.
        vacri 12y ago
        You were schooling someone about how little effort it took to find information. I'm saying that there is more effort required than just opening your eyes - it's hardly abusing the word 'literally'. In any case, if you think my comment hinged on the word 'literally', you've misunderstood it. And you complain about the quality of comments here. You even italicised 'you', specifying me in particular. Are you going to call me anal again because I say I don't do that? Feel like backing up your claims? My comment history is there. You make it sound like a regular issue for me. If you want me to complain about comments, how about this: "I don't like comments that simply make shit up out of thin air like that, because the author is just feeling sour and feels the need to strike out at something".

evv 12y ago

Oh, really? I don't personally develop iOS apps, but as a technical guy, I understood what this thing is within 10 seconds of the page loading. It is a technical product with a niche. Maybe they weren't trying to market to you?

ertdfgcb 12y ago
I was pretty sure I knew what it was in 10 seconds, but they didn't tell me, so I had to guess. My guess was slightly off - I thought this was for making websites. It's better they tell me what their thing does rather than making me guess, even if it's an easy guess.
- flyingyeti 12y ago
  Agree 100%. I had the same thought process and assumed it was a tool for websites until I noticed the Objective-C syntax in the code screenshots.

thenomad 12y ago

Yep, I had no idea what it was either. And it looked interesting!

iambateman 12y ago

I downloaded it and wasn't sure what it was. Still not sure. ;)

shaunol 12y ago

This is becoming an increasingly common and frustrating thing for products posted here to HN. How did this product even get to the front page when it's almost impossible to actually tell what it is or the problems it solves? I scrolled down past the screenshot expecting to read an introduction about it and now we're suddenly talking about StyleKits??? Huh? E: Quite ironic that the URI path is /intro and the main header "Introducing PaintCode 2", when the page does everything except introduce the product.

fredsted 12y ago
>How did this product even get to the front page when it's almost impossible to actually tell what it is or the problems it solves Just read the first couple lines on the screenshot. It's the first thing you read when you visit the page: "Use built-in vector drawing tools to design controls" and "PaintCode instantly generates Objective-C or C# code from your drawings" That's explanation enough for me, didn't you see that?

jamra 12y ago

Paintcode is like a niche photoshop for iOS. You draw graphics inside the program and it gives you the custom drawing code in objective c. The use case is if you decide to draw something custom in iOS like a specialized progress bar or a control that you wish to animate as you scroll your finger across the screen, you can make it much easier with this tool.

jasonlotito 12y ago

When I loaded the page, it said this: "Drawing Tools - Use built-in vector drawing tools to design controls, icons and other graphic elements." And "Code Generation - PaintCode instantly generates Objective-C or C# code from your drawings." Seems obvious to me what it does. I literally have to do nothing besides open my eyes to get that information. Couple that with the screenshot, and the name, and the fact that the price is presented front and center, I can't help but wonder what information is missing?

CatMtKing 12y ago

Looks like Flash for iOS apps.