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Okay, I think I've figured it out. This app is a mind-mapping tool, where nodes usually represent web content (but can be text, files, charts, or tables). It

Okay, I think I've figured it out. This app is a mind-mapping tool, where nodes usually represent web content (but can be text, files, charts, or tables). It also has a somewhat convenient search interface built in which mirrors results from a few popular search engines. The use-case that sounds most reasonable to me is trying to do some heavy learning on a new topic, and using this tool to organize your findings. They cite some other use cases (such as buying a new car or phone, or planning a trip) but those seem best-served by other tools. I was actually researching cars to buy this weekend, and a simple spreadsheet worked very well (columns were features I wanted/needed, rows were potential candidates). There are also many trip-planning apps that I think would serve that need far better than a general-purpose app like this. Ultimately, it looks like a lot of time was invested into this app - that said, I can't see it being terribly useful (at least to me). It's too complex to be helpful for the 90% of tasks that can completed with a piece of paper, or a notes/spreadsheet app, and it's too general to offer a better solution than niche products for the other 10%. If I had invested in this company, I'd be encouraging them to pivot into either a) a Google Keep/Pocket competitor, or b) something much more minimal that actually enhances the search engine experience (as the title implies). P.S. You're not impressing anyone with your grid-style website. It's not a technical feat, nor does it improve the usability of the site - quite the contrary. Even if it were somehow easier/faster to use than scrolling (hint: it's not), the cost of switching to some new navigation paradigm is far more than what new users will be willing to invest for some new app. You have about 3 seconds to get my attention, don't waste it teaching me how to get around your website. Even if users are willing to put up with it out of curiosity, it'll make the pre-app experience worse, and that determines what lens they'll view the app itself through: "Cool, let's see what this does for me" vs "What other ways has this company devised to annoy me?" This may sound harsh, but I'd like to see you guys get some kind of reward for your hard work and your current website is actively preventing that from happening.

Superbloop 12y ago
Hey notduncansmith, thanks for the candid (and detailed) reply. The target is to spend more time creating a canvas that can be used to collaborate and present on than juggling several apps- tabs, Notepad, Word, Excel, Powerpoint. The end goal, our vision is to become an ecosystem of knowledge canvases (a wikipedia of 'mindmaps'). 6 billion searches are made every day just on Google, out of which 90% have already been repeated within the last 24 hours. How awesome would it be if you did not need to go through the haystack to find the needle that somebody else already found? That said, the concerns you and others have pointed out are genuine and we do need to address them. I will be taking down this post in an hour or two to resolve the 500 error that has suddenly crept up. Thank you all for the feedback... :)
- notduncansmith 12y ago
  Thanks for taking the time to get back to me. I do have a few more questions: > The target is to spend more time creating a canvas that can be used to collaborate and present on than juggling several apps- tabs, Notepad, Word, Excel, Powerpoint. The example use cases that I saw on the site didn't really convey this - also, I didn't see a "presentation mode" or anything similar in the app, maybe I missed something in the app that would support this? Also, can you give me an exact use case that would be better fulfilled by LinkWok than any other tool (and why LinkWok is the best tool for that job)? I hope you have a concrete vision of someone solving at least one specific problem in your app - otherwise, you have bigger problems than a 500 error. > 6 billion searches are made every day just on Google, out of which 90% have already been repeated within the last 24 hours. Source? I tried Googling around for it, couldn't find any articles that substantiate that claim. > How awesome would it be if you did not need to go through the haystack to find the needle that somebody else already found? That would be great. Unfortunately, all this app appears to do is create a new haystack - one that I will probably use a search engine to discover and subsequently mine for information. Also, from your about page: > until now there has been no way to take advantage of the (almost absolute) fact that somebody out there has already found what you are looking for. In fact, there has: search engines. Search engines order the results by what it detects are the best answers to questions you have. In a surprisingly large number of cases, Google can answer the question I type into the Omnibar without me even having to click on a link!
  - Superbloop 12y ago
    You're right- we didnt focus on the ability to see maps that others have made. We reckoned that until we get a particular user base, pretending like Linkwok has a network effect would be a waste of time and resources. Right now, there is a very small hook to make this point- one of the search engines listed is Linkwok- where you can search for maps that others have made. We have metatags and other stuff built and kept ready so that the maps can be trawled by Google and other engines too. We expected that this 'ecosystem' would come into its own after we had some solid traction and focusing on that instead of creating traction might be a waste of resources today. As for use cases, a common one would be planning a holiday with your significant other or friends- more time goes in communicating suggestions and feedback over email, Word files and the like- Linkwok would be an easy platform to send these back and forth. Here's an example: https://app.linkwok.com/map?id=cWzkjEghEgtqewHuP https://app.linkwok.com/map?id=cWzkjEghEgtqewHuP Another example is creating an at a glance overview of something complicated, namely the mess of kingdoms in George RR MArtin's Game of Thrones series: https://app.linkwok.com/map?id=cWzkjEghEgtqewHuP https://app.linkwok.com/map?id=cWzkjEghEgtqewHuP Teachers can also use Linkwok to give more information about a topic. Here's an example where a friend wanted to teach his class about the history of Linux: https://app.linkwok.com/map?id=gNEtYqPbJyacbEfmd https://app.linkwok.com/map?id=gNEtYqPbJyacbEfmd As for the number of searches, http://www.statisticbrain.com/google-searches/ http://www.statisticbrain.com/google-searches/ And you're right- search engines do a great job of giving you an answer, as long as the answer is encapsulated within one statistic (weather in NYC, Welsh corgi personality, etc) but anything that requires even a modicum of research, finding the 'right' site is increasingly more difficult...

Superbloop 12y ago

Hey notduncansmith, thanks for the candid (and detailed) reply. The target is to spend more time creating a canvas that can be used to collaborate and present on than juggling several apps- tabs, Notepad, Word, Excel, Powerpoint. The end goal, our vision is to become an ecosystem of knowledge canvases (a wikipedia of 'mindmaps'). 6 billion searches are made every day just on Google, out of which 90% have already been repeated within the last 24 hours. How awesome would it be if you did not need to go through the haystack to find the needle that somebody else already found? That said, the concerns you and others have pointed out are genuine and we do need to address them. I will be taking down this post in an hour or two to resolve the 500 error that has suddenly crept up. Thank you all for the feedback... :)

notduncansmith 12y ago
Thanks for taking the time to get back to me. I do have a few more questions: > The target is to spend more time creating a canvas that can be used to collaborate and present on than juggling several apps- tabs, Notepad, Word, Excel, Powerpoint. The example use cases that I saw on the site didn't really convey this - also, I didn't see a "presentation mode" or anything similar in the app, maybe I missed something in the app that would support this? Also, can you give me an exact use case that would be better fulfilled by LinkWok than any other tool (and why LinkWok is the best tool for that job)? I hope you have a concrete vision of someone solving at least one specific problem in your app - otherwise, you have bigger problems than a 500 error. > 6 billion searches are made every day just on Google, out of which 90% have already been repeated within the last 24 hours. Source? I tried Googling around for it, couldn't find any articles that substantiate that claim. > How awesome would it be if you did not need to go through the haystack to find the needle that somebody else already found? That would be great. Unfortunately, all this app appears to do is create a new haystack - one that I will probably use a search engine to discover and subsequently mine for information. Also, from your about page: > until now there has been no way to take advantage of the (almost absolute) fact that somebody out there has already found what you are looking for. In fact, there has: search engines. Search engines order the results by what it detects are the best answers to questions you have. In a surprisingly large number of cases, Google can answer the question I type into the Omnibar without me even having to click on a link!
- Superbloop 12y ago
  You're right- we didnt focus on the ability to see maps that others have made. We reckoned that until we get a particular user base, pretending like Linkwok has a network effect would be a waste of time and resources. Right now, there is a very small hook to make this point- one of the search engines listed is Linkwok- where you can search for maps that others have made. We have metatags and other stuff built and kept ready so that the maps can be trawled by Google and other engines too. We expected that this 'ecosystem' would come into its own after we had some solid traction and focusing on that instead of creating traction might be a waste of resources today. As for use cases, a common one would be planning a holiday with your significant other or friends- more time goes in communicating suggestions and feedback over email, Word files and the like- Linkwok would be an easy platform to send these back and forth. Here's an example: https://app.linkwok.com/map?id=cWzkjEghEgtqewHuP https://app.linkwok.com/map?id=cWzkjEghEgtqewHuP Another example is creating an at a glance overview of something complicated, namely the mess of kingdoms in George RR MArtin's Game of Thrones series: https://app.linkwok.com/map?id=cWzkjEghEgtqewHuP https://app.linkwok.com/map?id=cWzkjEghEgtqewHuP Teachers can also use Linkwok to give more information about a topic. Here's an example where a friend wanted to teach his class about the history of Linux: https://app.linkwok.com/map?id=gNEtYqPbJyacbEfmd https://app.linkwok.com/map?id=gNEtYqPbJyacbEfmd As for the number of searches, http://www.statisticbrain.com/google-searches/ http://www.statisticbrain.com/google-searches/ And you're right- search engines do a great job of giving you an answer, as long as the answer is encapsulated within one statistic (weather in NYC, Welsh corgi personality, etc) but anything that requires even a modicum of research, finding the 'right' site is increasingly more difficult...