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Ask HN: Am I the only one who finds HN's interface user unfriendly?

• iwonagr 11y ago
  Oh and one more...how do I ask an HN question in the 'ask' section?
  • cognitvesystem 11y ago
    its automatically occur, by the way what is your interest?
    • iwonagr 11y ago
      business, entrepreneurship, startups, technology and solutions for startups (I am not a tech person so I have to educate myself on new trends and how it all works to better understand my team), self-development (in terms of entering the tech & startup community), branding & marketing, networking & relationship building. These would be the categories I'd come to HN for. And I just clicked on a topic and was redirected to National Geographic. I am a marathoner so my other interests include anything related to running, training, etc. but for those I go to e.g. RunnersWorld... so for my brain it's a little bit confusing why on something that's called HACKER news one would post things about...nature (inspiration?- "Let's build an app that would prevent animal poaching"?)
      • ColinWright 11y ago
        > it's a little bit confusing why on something > that's called HACKER news one would post things > about ... nature So, have you read the FAQ[0]? From there, have you read the guidelines[1]? From the guidelines did you see this: What to Submit On-Topic: Anything that good hackers would find interesting. That includes more than hacking and startups. If you had to reduce it to a sentence, the answer might be: anything that gratifies one's intellectual curiosity. [0] https://news.ycombinator.com/newsfaq.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsfaq.html [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
        • iwonagr 11y ago
          Hey Colin, It still does not answer my question "Why" although I have just realized that HN is someone else's idea and they structured it they way they wanted, not the way "I" would like it to be. If someone finds it beneficial, then fine. The only thing I am concerned is that if I wanted to apply to YC I'd need be active here. And if that is what motivates users to post here then they'd post just anything to get noticed. Anything is not good. Good quality information is good. As a startup founder I value time more than anything hence I'd rather spend time working on my product than on trying to get noticed on HN or brush through so many articles (of different value). But it's just me. Maybe I am wrong....
          • ColinWright 11y ago
            > ... if I wanted to apply to YC I'd > need be active here. I'm not associated with YC so my answer is not definitive, but if you wanted to apply for YC then I can imagine that you should have something running and submit links to it here. The feedback you'd get would be valuable, so this is a resource for you to mine in getting something running. That would then make you active. > As a startup founder I value time more > than anything hence I'd rather spend time > working on my product than on trying to > get noticed on HN ... Then go build something, then submit it. Stop worrying about "what HN is for" and just go build stuff. Then come back and get feedback. People here are interested in more than just startups, so you'll get tech-savvy people with a broad range of interests commenting on what you've done. That's what HN is for.
  • ColinWright 11y ago
    Any submission without a link - such as this one - gets into the "Ask" section if it gets enough upvotes. It's like getting to the front page - enough people need to declare it interesting (via their upvote) for it to get there. Even though I disagree with a lot of what you say, I've upvoted you so you get to the "Ask" section.
  • starshadowx2 11y ago
    Yeah, I had to Google how to find out how to do this, it doesn't seem to be written anywhere.
    • iwonagr 11y ago
      There is a FAQ section at the bottom that has a lot of information. Don't worry though- I didn't see it either. It takes a little time to figure out how this all works here :) Thanks to Colin I have a better vision.
  • deleted 11y ago
    [deleted]
• ColinWright 11y ago
  To me, the interface suits the purpose perfectly. There are many discussions about tagging and categories, but having the single "all in" front page is intended to prevent fragmentation and broadly keep a single community. > One comes in and immediately sees > a lot of text that is not pleasant. To me it's a delight to find a site that's clean and clear, without swathes of pointless graphics, or icons and buttons that I don't understand. > Same with the functionality. It just > takes too much time to figure it all > out. Really? You submit, you reply, you click on a link to read a story. What are you finding difficult? > Can someone help me figure out how to > use HN in a way it's beneficial for the > HN community and myself? Read stuff people have submitted. If you think it's interesting and have something constructive to add, make a comment, or join the discussion. What else are you expecting? > I do not see how I can benefit from > browsing through all those topics that > are not categorized to find anything > that is of my interest. If all you're interested in are you own specific narrow interests, then go find the appropriate sub-reddit or similar. This is for people who want to get at least a little outside their own echo-chamber and see things that others are interested in. There are people here with whom I share interests, and then they have interests outside my own, and this is where I get to find things about those other interests. If people with whom I have something in common are interested in them, maybe it's something I should know about. HN is intended to help you grow outside your own, specific interests. If you don't want to do that, this isn't the best place for you.
• narrowrail 11y ago
  1. Start Up 2. Cash In 3. Sell Out 4. Bro Down
• veddox 11y ago
  > If someone is a programmer they probably are tired of seeing a screen full of letters. Actually, as a (Linux) programmer I feel right at home with a plain text design... Minimalism suggests efficiency, and is part of the Unix tradition. Although I like well-designed pages, HN is about content, not looks. To quote PG: "The graphic design is as plain as possible ... The goal is that the only thing to interest someone arriving at HN for the first time should be the ideas expressed there." (http://www.paulgraham.com/hackernews.html http://www.paulgraham.com/hackernews.html) Quite apart from that, it is one of the few sites left on the Internet that is friendly all those without a cheap, high-speed connection. One HN page takes about 10KB, that is a real plus in some parts of the world (like where I am at the moment). I do not find the functionality in any way difficult. I joined this site recently because it seems to be a great community of people with similar interests, and a brilliant place to learn new stuff.
  • dang 11y ago
    PG has said that his inspiration for the design of HN was top, the Unix utility. I'm glad to hear something nice about the performance of the site. That is my bugbear. One day I shall wrestle it to the mat.
• JoeAltmaier 11y ago
  What else? An infographic? Sounds like a Designer complaint.
• deleted 11y ago
  [deleted]
• ggchappell 11y ago
  > One comes in and immediately sees a lot of text that is not pleasant. What do you want to see? (Not a rhetorical question!) I come here to read articles, read comments, and then possibly reply. The interface allows me to start doing each of those with one click. Looks great to me. If the interface showed me something else, then that something else would be just one extra step to get through before I got to do what I wanted.
• kishoridu 11y ago
  It is like a green tea. Initially looks unfriendly but once you develop the taste you will enjoy it.