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Getting Users Is Hard

news.ycombinator.com

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Re: Getting Users Is Hard

#32

Post by ryansam »

pryelluw wrote: post #26

How is this better than any social network/messaging app? Why shouls I install it? Also, the timing for social apps isnt great given the ongoing pandemic. You might simply be suffering from bad timing

I live in Houston, TX. And the area I'm targeting does not have many restrictions on what you can do during the pandemic, it's almost the same as before the pandemic. But if I were to live somewhere else this would probably not be possible for me right now.

Re: Getting Users Is Hard

#35

Post by dsshanley »

A friend build something that was pretty much this in 2016/7 (https://appadvice.com/app/down-for-whatever/1060924679) and failed harder and learned the lessons you are learning more slowly.

There are excellent points in all of these responses, and customer development is critical before you dive into product. I would suggest you go through the process of:

• truly identifying your goals (what do you want to get out of this? is this a 10 year business or just a side project)

• target spaces where users already exist (FB groups, LinkedIn groups, Shopify marketplace, etc) where you can access them

• Based on your goals, decide on whether you want a small % of a large user base or a larger % of a very niche user base. As you are discovering, only a small % of folks are going to be interested if there's not a massive frustration or fear you are tapping in to.

Re: Getting Users Is Hard

#36

Post by sroussey »

Invite friends to something using the app. If they don’t have the app, send an email with the event invite and saying how they can install. Ideally you would have web functionality as well, in case installing won’t happen.

Re: Getting Users Is Hard

#37

Post by azinman2 »

As many people have said this is a very crowded space littered with dead apps. One of the biggest issues is that you ultimately will want some kind of “comments” section because communication is central to planning, which at that point you end up reinventing texting but as a worse interface as comments, and then people will just resort to texting. It’s not clear why this is so much better than a) texting, and b) posting this to a social network in the first place. Covid certainly makes the timing poor, and even if you don’t have restrictions now, that’s probably not a good thing and not something to encourage.

Getting people to download a new app or a new anything at this point needs to be really a fundamentally new product experience that is 10-100x better than anything else you’re using. It’s easy to think about... if someone told you to download an app to notify when you’re going to the bar, and everyone has to download it, would you really change the social inertia from your existing communication solutions just to post a bar notification? That’s a pretty tough proposition.

Re: Getting Users Is Hard

#38

Post by somishere »

As mentioned a group text goes a long way to resolving your problem. I'm going to a bbq this arvo organised on whatsapp. But also your solution sounds like it's trying to disrupt/recreate Apple/Google/MS calendar, not Facebook events. I'd probably be looking into CalDAV or similar to ensure interopability with whatever system your mates/users are already working with in their day-to-day .. And then sprinkling some sugar to kickstart a slow-shuffle to your side of the dance floor. Good luck!

Re: Getting Users Is Hard

#39

Post by arihant »

This micro version of clique-only Facebook events is not bad. If someone builds a usable version of this that will eat into a significant portion of WhatsApp groups.

I believe if your app can just record my video, then transcribe my audio to figure out details of my plan (location, time, etc.) and then post an Instagram story with my video plus metadata in an elegant way with a poll widget, that is something I would use today.

Maybe later in product lifecycle you can add more useful features within your app. But I'd definitely start out by latching on to an existing social network.

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