Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

I'm a pregnant hacker. Please review my side project.

babyli.st

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

21–30 of 182 posts

Re: I'm a pregnant hacker. Please review my side project.

#21

Post by Gobitron »

imperialWicket wrote: post #6

We recently experienced similar frustration with the lack of a good universal registry mechanism for babies. While this makes sense, in the same way that most stores try to keep all registries internal, from a consumer standpoint it remains quite lacking. I think it's great. Color scheme and style are very appealing and appropriate. The one awkward point for me is the "plus any other online store" tag after the notew…

I completely agree with this. Even with the text add-on that box initially made me think only those retailers were included.

The first thing I did was try it out at an off-brand online store. It worked great and I was "surprised and delighted" (to us a term that may be familiar to HNers).

Great job!

Re: I'm a pregnant hacker. Please review my side project.

#22

Post by freerobby »

Great execution and slick-looking site. Referral programs make this an easy product to monetize.

On the marketing front, one way to pitch it is that a decentralized registry makes life easier for your friends, too. I am so sick of having to pay top dollar for gifts just to get them off of a registry, when better deals can be had elsewhere for the same products. How many extra dollars have gone to Bed, Bath & Beyond instead of Amazon simply for that reason?

Re: I'm a pregnant hacker. Please review my side project.

#24

Post by shortlived »

As everyone else has said, it's a really nice looking site and a great idea.

How stable are the product links you use? Do you do any type of periodic validation?

If I click on a link to view a product, it might be nice to open that window inside a frame (or modern equivalent) with a babyli.st "reserve" button at the top.

Re: I'm a pregnant hacker. Please review my side project.

#25

Post by d0m »

Usually, in the about, I find "we" to be better than "I". I did that, I did this, I'm the founder, I'm the developer, I contacted xyz, I hope you like it..

"We" would sound more professional.. Just to be clear, I'm not saying you should remove that friendly tone which I find great, especially for that kind of website. However, I'm not sure if it is worth it to put so much emphasis on you as you are not the goal of the website..

We were looking for "bleh". Thanks to xyz designer who join our team and help us create this [etc.].

My 5 cents, good luck :)

(I know it's kind of ironic that I suggest being more professional when I can hardly speak English correctly, but anyway..)

Re: I'm a pregnant hacker. Please review my side project.

#26

Post by natgordon »

codypo wrote: post #13

Excellent idea and very nice execution! The design is great, plus it's incredibly easy to signup and share your registry. You're definitely on to something here. In terms of suggestions, I'd suggest you tweak your index page a bit. When I landed there, I was most interested in seeing what one of these registries looked like. I assumed that clicking the image of John and Jane's Baby List would show me an example, but…

Thanks for the concrete feedback. Great, great, great.

I put up the vendors page after I saw a vendor create a list of their products with a description "create your baby registry on this site to register for our store". At least I can contact them once we have something engaging to tell them.

Re: I'm a pregnant hacker. Please review my side project.

#27

Post by naqabas »

naqabas wrote: post #18

Great design - looks really good at first impression. One thing I would suggest is an About page. Something explaining your frustrations and why you created the company. I think the fact that you were pregnant at the time puts a really personal touch to other pregnant women.

oh, nevermind, I didn't see the about page in my first look. Disregard my comment :) Love the site!

Re: I'm a pregnant hacker. Please review my side project.

#28

Post by natgordon »

shortlived wrote: post #24

As everyone else has said, it's a really nice looking site and a great idea. How stable are the product links you use? Do you do any type of periodic validation? If I click on a link to view a product, it might be nice to open that window inside a frame (or modern equivalent) with a babyli.st "reserve" button at the top.

>> How stable are the product links you use? Do you do any type of periodic validation?

Right now no.

>> If I click on a link to view a product, it might be nice to open that window inside a frame (or modern equivalent) with a babyli.st "reserve" button at the top.

Great idea!

Re: I'm a pregnant hacker. Please review my side project.

#29

Post by stefanobernardi »

natgordon wrote: post #2

I'm 8-months pregnant. When I went to create a baby registry I was pretty disappointed with what was out there (I ended up using Amazon Universal Wishlist). I found myself with some time on my hands waiting for baby, and decided that I'd build a better baby registry. I partnered with a great designer I met on forrst.com, and this is the result. I'd love any feedback, suggestions etc.

Wow, congratulations. The product is really well executed, and the simple fact you did it, and also looked for a partner, is awesome.

Re: I'm a pregnant hacker. Please review my side project.

#30

Post by vehementi »

shawnee_ wrote: post #10

It is very well done. Somebody already posted this on your suggestion forum, but I do like the idea of allowing people an option to offer item suggestions. Expand that idea by also allowing people to alternately "buy" something like a gift card (redeemable credit) for the moms; this would be helpful for the people out there who want to buy a gift, but who don't necessarily want to swoon over baby items. (e.g. Target…

Just so long as the suggestions don't end up being spam!
Post reply on HN