6 ms·

Ask HN: Please, validate my idea

8 points by ilgarm 12y ago

Hi! I am thinking about building simple service to store interesting places (POIs) to travel in the future. There are many services which let you share your past trips, pics, etc. Sure, there are also many services for trip planning. I would like to implement a service to keep a list of places to visit and also specify travel preferences + available vacation days and some other criteria to get recommendations from the service. It is not much about travel planning but more about optimally using vacation days and not forgetting about places to see. Something similar exists on TripAdvisor in Saved Trips section, but I do not find it very convenient. Thanks for your feedback!

zck 12y ago
Why's this better than people using Pinterest to pin places they want to travel to?
- ilgarm 12y ago
  I am just trying to imagine how would I use Pinterest for that, and think that I need more control over the list/board, travel specific filters maybe, etc. But for simple list, most probably, something like Pinterest will be enough, imo. I will check Pinterest once again to see if it is convenient for what I am planning to build.
- amerkhalid 12y ago
  I think Pinterest can be used initially for inspiration. But a service dedicated to travel might provide more value. In my case, I signed up with Kayak. It sends me any special offers when they get available. But I cannot really customize those offer much. A service that would show a world map, various offers based on planned vacation time, social features (plan with friends), etc would be very useful, I think. I would def. sign up.
ColinWright 12y ago
Consider it validated by at least me - I already run a similar service, although it's user-hostile and insecure, not suitable for general use, but I already use it and find it of value.
- ilgarm 12y ago
  Thanks, Colin! Good to hear that I am not the only one needing such features. Do you have any plans on launching public service?
  - ColinWright 12y ago
    This feature is a side-effect of something else I use more regularly, and I don't have time to develop my idea. It's unlikely I would use yours because I have my own, but I can't be the only one who would use such a facility if it were available, nicely packaged, easy to use, uncluttered, and known. You might also look at allowing people to share their ideal trips, so their friends can say "Yes, let's do it." Personally, I would guard against over-featuring it and have something simple, clean, elegant, and immediately useful for a single purpose. Note - I have no experience of this, and what I say could be complete rubbish.
vitovito 12y ago
Hi! Designer and researcher, here. When Steve Blank/Eric Ries say you should "validate" your idea, this is not what they mean. This is not validating an idea. This is having a solution and looking for a problem. To actually validate this idea, you need a few things. First, you need to get rid of the "I would like" that starts your second paragraph. If you are creating a product or service for other people to use, it doesn't matter what you would "like." All that matters is what they would pay for (or actively use, if you have no business model). That could be something you don't want to work on at all, but an idea you don't care for but others will pay for will always out earn an idea only you love. Second, you need to get rid of the rest of the second paragraph. That's your pre-defined solution, in search of a problem. Sorry! (Note: if all you want to do is build something for fun, then you don't need to validate anything at all! Building it for fun should be enough. Just don't expect anything more out of it, and if you decide to productize it, expect to start over from scratch.) Your actual idea is "TripAdvisor's 'Saved Trips' is inconvenient, and doesn't help me plan the best possible trips around my vacation schedule." Third, asking strangers here, in this way, isn't helpful. It's not providing true validation. This isn't any better than asking friends and family what they think of your idea. None of the data you get out of this (or asking your friends/family) is valid. It can't be used to support your business case. So, fourth, to actually validate your idea, you need to find a few different types of people: - people who have a fixed number of PTO days and who have recently (last six months) taken a trip. you'll want to specify the kind of trips you want to optimize for. day trips within driving distance? multi-day trips? national/international? people think about different kinds of trips differently. you'll want to understand how they made the choice to make that trip, what were their considerations, what was difficult in it. - people who have a fixed number of PTO days and wanted to travel, but didn't. you'll want to understand why they didn't take the trip. - people who use TripAdvisor's Saved Trips section. you'll want to understand why they use it. maybe it's inconvenient for your use case because it's meant for people who plan trips differently than you. With this information, you'll be able to understand the pain points for your imagined user, and that will let you come up with possible solutions. The one you've posited above might be in there, but, crucially, it also might not be. Once you've addressed the pain points and come up with a potential solution, then you go back to the users in the first two groups and see if they'd pay for it. That's the only true validation: will they cut you a check? That's the core part of MVP that people forget about: it's the minimum product that someone will pay for. If they would, that's validation for your idea. If they wouldn't, you need to figure out if your solution is wrong, or if there's not a market there. Good luck!
evv 12y ago
It would help to have a bit of context. What do you want this idea to become? Are you creating a free we site which will earn some money with ads? Are you trying to create a monetized, profitable service? Or are you trying to become a venture-backed startup? I think this has great potential as a site monetized with ads, which you could run as a lifestyle business. But without a clearer monetization strategy, I don't see this being viable as a venture-backed startup.
notduncansmith 12y ago
There's a lot of literature on the web as to "how to validate" your idea, but not all of it is good so I'll reiterate the tactic that has worked for me, time and time again: Build a landing page, and send traffic to it. 1. Decide what your core value proposition is, then write enough copy to fill up a landing page. If you're not an experienced copywriter, hire this out. Otherwise, all you'll validate is your own ability to write shitty copy. 2. Make some fake screenshots. You don't have to be a photoshop wizard, chances are someone has implemented something that looks like whatever features you want to highlight, so just steal their screenshots and Photoshop your branding onto them if necessary. 3. Download a decent-looking Wordpress template. Host it on DigitalOcean, they have a preconfigured Wordpress droplet and you can get 2 months of hosting for free (more than enough time to validate your idea). 4. Set up an email subscription. This will give you a nice heuristic as to whether or not people find it valuable, and if a lot of people sign up, you have the added benefit of having a list of people to market to once you launch. You can do this with MailChimp, also for free. 5. (Only if you plan on charging) Build a "button to nowhere" with a pricetag attached. This is the true test of whether or not you've come up with something people will pay for. Make sure it actually does something, and be sure to tell people that they won't actually be charged, that you're just validating the idea and you're really happy they're interested. If they haven't already signed up for the newsletter, give them a chance to do so here. 6. Throw traffic at it. You can find coupon codes for AdWords and Bing Ads credits all over the place. Post it here, and promote the hell out of on various websites, mailing lists, etc. BetaList is a good one. 7. Personally talk to anyone that signed up for the email (preferably over the phone/Skype). Get a really good idea of the problem they want solved, and see what features they'd like. Ignore the made-up Henry Ford quote about faster horses; just be sure to take outside input with a grain of salt and you'll be fine. I can guarantee that if your landing page is decently appealing to the eye, and your copy adequately expresses your value proposition in an appealing way, then you will validate your idea. All of the above can be done for 0 money down, only a bit of time (which hopefully you have available to invest in spades, since you're considering doing building a product). Good luck, and if you need any help, shoot me an email: hello at duncanmsmith.com.
- ilgarm 12y ago
  Hi Duncan! I have done some of these already, and working on others right now. I have prepared landing page, set up mailing list, and going to put some ads. I still need to make sure landing page copy is good enough. Will also contact people who sign up, thanks for mentioning this! Will think about screenshots because what I currently have is only some text describing features.
kingcastro 12y ago
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SCg_RAdodQM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SCg_RAdodQM
- ColinWright 12y ago
  Spam - flagged.

8 points by ilgarm 12y ago

zck 12y ago

Why's this better than people using Pinterest to pin places they want to travel to?

ilgarm 12y ago
I am just trying to imagine how would I use Pinterest for that, and think that I need more control over the list/board, travel specific filters maybe, etc. But for simple list, most probably, something like Pinterest will be enough, imo. I will check Pinterest once again to see if it is convenient for what I am planning to build.
amerkhalid 12y ago
I think Pinterest can be used initially for inspiration. But a service dedicated to travel might provide more value. In my case, I signed up with Kayak. It sends me any special offers when they get available. But I cannot really customize those offer much. A service that would show a world map, various offers based on planned vacation time, social features (plan with friends), etc would be very useful, I think. I would def. sign up.

ColinWright 12y ago

Consider it validated by at least me - I already run a similar service, although it's user-hostile and insecure, not suitable for general use, but I already use it and find it of value.

ilgarm 12y ago
Thanks, Colin! Good to hear that I am not the only one needing such features. Do you have any plans on launching public service?
- ColinWright 12y ago
  This feature is a side-effect of something else I use more regularly, and I don't have time to develop my idea. It's unlikely I would use yours because I have my own, but I can't be the only one who would use such a facility if it were available, nicely packaged, easy to use, uncluttered, and known. You might also look at allowing people to share their ideal trips, so their friends can say "Yes, let's do it." Personally, I would guard against over-featuring it and have something simple, clean, elegant, and immediately useful for a single purpose. Note - I have no experience of this, and what I say could be complete rubbish.

vitovito 12y ago

Hi! Designer and researcher, here. When Steve Blank/Eric Ries say you should "validate" your idea, this is not what they mean. This is not validating an idea. This is having a solution and looking for a problem. To actually validate this idea, you need a few things. First, you need to get rid of the "I would like" that starts your second paragraph. If you are creating a product or service for other people to use, it doesn't matter what you would "like." All that matters is what they would pay for (or actively use, if you have no business model). That could be something you don't want to work on at all, but an idea you don't care for but others will pay for will always out earn an idea only you love. Second, you need to get rid of the rest of the second paragraph. That's your pre-defined solution, in search of a problem. Sorry! (Note: if all you want to do is build something for fun, then you don't need to validate anything at all! Building it for fun should be enough. Just don't expect anything more out of it, and if you decide to productize it, expect to start over from scratch.) Your actual idea is "TripAdvisor's 'Saved Trips' is inconvenient, and doesn't help me plan the best possible trips around my vacation schedule." Third, asking strangers here, in this way, isn't helpful. It's not providing true validation. This isn't any better than asking friends and family what they think of your idea. None of the data you get out of this (or asking your friends/family) is valid. It can't be used to support your business case. So, fourth, to actually validate your idea, you need to find a few different types of people: - people who have a fixed number of PTO days and who have recently (last six months) taken a trip. you'll want to specify the kind of trips you want to optimize for. day trips within driving distance? multi-day trips? national/international? people think about different kinds of trips differently. you'll want to understand how they made the choice to make that trip, what were their considerations, what was difficult in it. - people who have a fixed number of PTO days and wanted to travel, but didn't. you'll want to understand why they didn't take the trip. - people who use TripAdvisor's Saved Trips section. you'll want to understand why they use it. maybe it's inconvenient for your use case because it's meant for people who plan trips differently than you. With this information, you'll be able to understand the pain points for your imagined user, and that will let you come up with possible solutions. The one you've posited above might be in there, but, crucially, it also might not be. Once you've addressed the pain points and come up with a potential solution, then you go back to the users in the first two groups and see if they'd pay for it. That's the only true validation: will they cut you a check? That's the core part of MVP that people forget about: it's the minimum product that someone will pay for. If they would, that's validation for your idea. If they wouldn't, you need to figure out if your solution is wrong, or if there's not a market there. Good luck!

evv 12y ago

It would help to have a bit of context. What do you want this idea to become? Are you creating a free we site which will earn some money with ads? Are you trying to create a monetized, profitable service? Or are you trying to become a venture-backed startup? I think this has great potential as a site monetized with ads, which you could run as a lifestyle business. But without a clearer monetization strategy, I don't see this being viable as a venture-backed startup.

notduncansmith 12y ago

There's a lot of literature on the web as to "how to validate" your idea, but not all of it is good so I'll reiterate the tactic that has worked for me, time and time again: Build a landing page, and send traffic to it. 1. Decide what your core value proposition is, then write enough copy to fill up a landing page. If you're not an experienced copywriter, hire this out. Otherwise, all you'll validate is your own ability to write shitty copy. 2. Make some fake screenshots. You don't have to be a photoshop wizard, chances are someone has implemented something that looks like whatever features you want to highlight, so just steal their screenshots and Photoshop your branding onto them if necessary. 3. Download a decent-looking Wordpress template. Host it on DigitalOcean, they have a preconfigured Wordpress droplet and you can get 2 months of hosting for free (more than enough time to validate your idea). 4. Set up an email subscription. This will give you a nice heuristic as to whether or not people find it valuable, and if a lot of people sign up, you have the added benefit of having a list of people to market to once you launch. You can do this with MailChimp, also for free. 5. (Only if you plan on charging) Build a "button to nowhere" with a pricetag attached. This is the true test of whether or not you've come up with something people will pay for. Make sure it actually does something, and be sure to tell people that they won't actually be charged, that you're just validating the idea and you're really happy they're interested. If they haven't already signed up for the newsletter, give them a chance to do so here. 6. Throw traffic at it. You can find coupon codes for AdWords and Bing Ads credits all over the place. Post it here, and promote the hell out of on various websites, mailing lists, etc. BetaList is a good one. 7. Personally talk to anyone that signed up for the email (preferably over the phone/Skype). Get a really good idea of the problem they want solved, and see what features they'd like. Ignore the made-up Henry Ford quote about faster horses; just be sure to take outside input with a grain of salt and you'll be fine. I can guarantee that if your landing page is decently appealing to the eye, and your copy adequately expresses your value proposition in an appealing way, then you will validate your idea. All of the above can be done for 0 money down, only a bit of time (which hopefully you have available to invest in spades, since you're considering doing building a product). Good luck, and if you need any help, shoot me an email: hello at duncanmsmith.com.

ilgarm 12y ago
Hi Duncan! I have done some of these already, and working on others right now. I have prepared landing page, set up mailing list, and going to put some ads. I still need to make sure landing page copy is good enough. Will also contact people who sign up, thanks for mentioning this! Will think about screenshots because what I currently have is only some text describing features.

kingcastro 12y ago

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SCg_RAdodQM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SCg_RAdodQM

ColinWright 12y ago
Spam - flagged.