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Same here. Finished it a couple of days ago. https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/hn2go/logdfcelflpgcbfebibbeajmhpofckjh https://chrome.google.com/webstor

Same here. Finished it a couple of days ago. https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/hn2go/logdfcelflpgcbfebibbeajmhpofckjh https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/hn2go/logdfcelflpg... https://github.com/fivedogit/hn2go-backend https://github.com/fivedogit/hn2go-backend https://github.com/fivedogit/hn2go-chromex https://github.com/fivedogit/hn2go-chromex The funny part is that @raquo and I posted our "follow" apps/extensions (separate projects) this week and got no love from HN. And then this thread took off for some reason. Timing? Titling? God I hate the randomness of marketing.

austenallred 12y ago
I don't think it's random at all. From a would-be user's perspective it makes complete sense to me that this post took off and yours didn't get too far. I want to explain why, not to be a dick, but because I feel like all hackers (myself included) have a hard time seeing things from the user's perspective. First, the title of your submission: > Show HN: Search HN by keywords, user, score, Read online, on mobile or RSS It's completely unclear what your product is. Honestly it sounds like you packaged up HN with some more CSS and an RSS reader or something? I don't really know. "Read online?" How else would I read HN? "Search HN?" I don't really have anyting to search for, and if I did I would just use Google. The reason film42's post took off is because people were interested in following. Yours didn't even mention following. Now let's look at film42's title: > Show HN: HN Follow – Follow Your Friends on HN My first reaction? "Oh cool, I have a lot of friends who use HN, I wonder what they've been saying." Then perhaps the best part of film42's app is that he used HN's styling in a way that almost felt like you hadn't left HN. It is completely familiar, and, as others have pointed out, it feels like something that should have been part of HN already. The friction of onboarding was completely eliminated - I didn't have to sign up for or download anything, but I could use it and wanted more. The missing auth is probably a mistake in the long-run, but missing that feature probably reduced some friction getting started. At the end of the day, you have 5 seconds to impress me or I'm gone. It's quite possible, when your app doesn't take off, that the only thing you did wrong was not use those 5 seconds.
- fivedogit 12y ago
  You're talking about @raquo's post, not mine. I don't know raquo and they are separate projects. Mine read: "Show HN: Follow HN users and get notified when they do stuff". I deleted it when it got 2 upvotes in an hour. I'd be interested why you think mine didn't work. Chrome extension link: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/logdfcelflpgcbfebibbeajmhpofckjh https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/logdfcelflpgcbfebi...
  - austenallred 12y ago
    Ah, I thought you were working together. My apologies. It certainly could have been a matter of posting time - film42 posted early in the morning when most of the stuff was old. It only took a few votes to get to the front page, yet a lot of HN users were online and voting. But I think perhaps the bigger problem is around simplicity and familiarity. A chrome extension is always a hard sell because to play with it I have to download something that I have to dig out and uninstall later. I want to play with something before I "buy" it. Now people are asking for film42's app to become a chrome extension, but I bet if he had posted a chrome extension few people would have downloaded it. Getting people to a moment when they are pleased with your product before they give up on it is probably the most difficult aspect of marketing/growth.
minimaxir 12y ago
It's not randomness of "marketing." It's randomness of HN. I wouldn't take it personally.

austenallred 12y ago

I don't think it's random at all. From a would-be user's perspective it makes complete sense to me that this post took off and yours didn't get too far. I want to explain why, not to be a dick, but because I feel like all hackers (myself included) have a hard time seeing things from the user's perspective. First, the title of your submission: > Show HN: Search HN by keywords, user, score, Read online, on mobile or RSS It's completely unclear what your product is. Honestly it sounds like you packaged up HN with some more CSS and an RSS reader or something? I don't really know. "Read online?" How else would I read HN? "Search HN?" I don't really have anyting to search for, and if I did I would just use Google. The reason film42's post took off is because people were interested in following. Yours didn't even mention following. Now let's look at film42's title: > Show HN: HN Follow – Follow Your Friends on HN My first reaction? "Oh cool, I have a lot of friends who use HN, I wonder what they've been saying." Then perhaps the best part of film42's app is that he used HN's styling in a way that almost felt like you hadn't left HN. It is completely familiar, and, as others have pointed out, it feels like something that should have been part of HN already. The friction of onboarding was completely eliminated - I didn't have to sign up for or download anything, but I could use it and wanted more. The missing auth is probably a mistake in the long-run, but missing that feature probably reduced some friction getting started. At the end of the day, you have 5 seconds to impress me or I'm gone. It's quite possible, when your app doesn't take off, that the only thing you did wrong was not use those 5 seconds.

fivedogit 12y ago
You're talking about @raquo's post, not mine. I don't know raquo and they are separate projects. Mine read: "Show HN: Follow HN users and get notified when they do stuff". I deleted it when it got 2 upvotes in an hour. I'd be interested why you think mine didn't work. Chrome extension link: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/logdfcelflpgcbfebibbeajmhpofckjh https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/logdfcelflpgcbfebi...
- austenallred 12y ago
  Ah, I thought you were working together. My apologies. It certainly could have been a matter of posting time - film42 posted early in the morning when most of the stuff was old. It only took a few votes to get to the front page, yet a lot of HN users were online and voting. But I think perhaps the bigger problem is around simplicity and familiarity. A chrome extension is always a hard sell because to play with it I have to download something that I have to dig out and uninstall later. I want to play with something before I "buy" it. Now people are asking for film42's app to become a chrome extension, but I bet if he had posted a chrome extension few people would have downloaded it. Getting people to a moment when they are pleased with your product before they give up on it is probably the most difficult aspect of marketing/growth.

minimaxir 12y ago

It's not randomness of "marketing." It's randomness of HN. I wouldn't take it personally.