4 ms·

Show HN: A global database of mental associations to spark ideas

4 points by rafaeljimenez 12y ago

fiatjaf 12y ago
Awesome thing. I really liked the idea when I read it. But when I looked at, it wasn't so great. I don't know what is missing or what is wrong, maybe the ideas I saw weren't mine. Or maybe the transition between "anything you think about" and the paper is not that easy.
- rafaeljimenez 12y ago
  Thank you for taking the time to look at it. It's still in its early days, so there are many things we're still tweaking/building. Your feedback is greatly appreciated.
- groundhog 12y ago
  I agree--I am very impressed by your splash page (both design and copy) but I feel like it wasn't consistent with what you get once you sign up. For me, I was expecting something similar to Brian Eno's "Oblique Strategies" from the description (i.e. more vague, abstract suggestions), but it turned out to be more like Random Wikipedia.
  - rafaeljimenez 12y ago
    Thanks for your comment. Did you search for something specific? Your comment on randomness totally applies to the home page, but not to the connections, we think. Fun fact: Brian Eno played with an early prototype of Seenapse and gave us some feedback too :)
    - groundhog 12y ago
      I didn't--I just went with the default recommendations based on my designated interests. I just tried searching for "dating websites" and it returned: Modern reliquaries & New Commodore 64, Sexy beast & Ben Kingsley, Pretty Mouth And Green My Eyes & Raymond Carver While I do like Raymond Carver, I'm not sure if I find these connections intuitive...do you suggest search terms that are more abstract? Also out of curiosity, what did Brian Eno say? :)
      - rafaeljimenez 12y ago
        No, concrete searches should work, and will work better once more people contribute their mental associations. Since this is fairly new, there aren't many yet. But it should become more useful over time. Eno said "So, does this exist? Is this live? Yeah, I'd like to use it." He also shared an interesting idea/need which I mention here: https://medium.com/@rafael_j/the-cultural-ouroboros-e79173882fda https://medium.com/@rafael_j/the-cultural-ouroboros-e7917388... Thanks again, R
RickS 12y ago
While the idea seems cool, as far as the home page is concerned, I found the colors jarring, the illustrations unsettling (especially that first one), and the text mostly empty of meaning. There are 4 paragraphs spread out over something like 1600 vertical pixels. When I saw that the video was not only in that same "clown on acid" visual style, but 2:45 long, I bailed hard. Pairing mental associations seems like the kind of thing that should be demo'd on the home page, not buried behind a signup wall. In other words, you need to provide value upfront. By upfront, I mean within the first 500 pixels of page height. edit: I'm not affiliated with these guys, but they showed up on HN recently and I found their site compelling. http://www.timeful.com/ http://www.timeful.com/
- rafaeljimenez 12y ago
  Thank you, good point.

4 points by rafaeljimenez 12y ago

Awesome thing. I really liked the idea when I read it. But when I looked at, it wasn't so great. I don't know what is missing or what is wrong, maybe the ideas I saw weren't mine. Or maybe the transition between "anything you think about" and the paper is not that easy.

rafaeljimenez 12y ago
Thank you for taking the time to look at it. It's still in its early days, so there are many things we're still tweaking/building. Your feedback is greatly appreciated.
groundhog 12y ago
I agree--I am very impressed by your splash page (both design and copy) but I feel like it wasn't consistent with what you get once you sign up. For me, I was expecting something similar to Brian Eno's "Oblique Strategies" from the description (i.e. more vague, abstract suggestions), but it turned out to be more like Random Wikipedia.
- rafaeljimenez 12y ago
  Thanks for your comment. Did you search for something specific? Your comment on randomness totally applies to the home page, but not to the connections, we think. Fun fact: Brian Eno played with an early prototype of Seenapse and gave us some feedback too :)
  - groundhog 12y ago
    I didn't--I just went with the default recommendations based on my designated interests. I just tried searching for "dating websites" and it returned: Modern reliquaries & New Commodore 64, Sexy beast & Ben Kingsley, Pretty Mouth And Green My Eyes & Raymond Carver While I do like Raymond Carver, I'm not sure if I find these connections intuitive...do you suggest search terms that are more abstract? Also out of curiosity, what did Brian Eno say? :)
    - rafaeljimenez 12y ago
      No, concrete searches should work, and will work better once more people contribute their mental associations. Since this is fairly new, there aren't many yet. But it should become more useful over time. Eno said "So, does this exist? Is this live? Yeah, I'd like to use it." He also shared an interesting idea/need which I mention here: https://medium.com/@rafael_j/the-cultural-ouroboros-e79173882fda https://medium.com/@rafael_j/the-cultural-ouroboros-e7917388... Thanks again, R

RickS 12y ago

While the idea seems cool, as far as the home page is concerned, I found the colors jarring, the illustrations unsettling (especially that first one), and the text mostly empty of meaning. There are 4 paragraphs spread out over something like 1600 vertical pixels. When I saw that the video was not only in that same "clown on acid" visual style, but 2:45 long, I bailed hard. Pairing mental associations seems like the kind of thing that should be demo'd on the home page, not buried behind a signup wall. In other words, you need to provide value upfront. By upfront, I mean within the first 500 pixels of page height. edit: I'm not affiliated with these guys, but they showed up on HN recently and I found their site compelling. http://www.timeful.com/ http://www.timeful.com/

rafaeljimenez 12y ago
Thank you, good point.