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Show HN: I built a fair alternative to Product Hunt for indie makers

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Re: Show HN: I built a fair alternative to Product Hunt for indie makers

#81

Post by 7bit »

abcd_f wrote: post #74
abricq wrote: post #67

If you care fairness, I have 1 extra suggestion that you might be interested in. It was proven by several data-science research that when users have to votes (or give ratings) and if they are able to see the previous result, then the first few votes have an extremely important effect. For instance here is one stury, very well written article by a famous teacher Robert West, "of sheep and beer" https://dlab.epfl.ch/20…

You can see a form of this effect on HN itself, in particular in Show HN topics. First few comments basically set the tone of the discussion and its dynamic. If they are shallow, negative or dismissive, the discussion gets stuck and takes a while to recover even if the submission has a lot of actual merit.

Similar with stackoverflow. A question with an answer is already uninteresting to other contributora, but if the answer is superficial or of bad quality on top of that, it lowers the chances of a good second answer dramatically.

This is from personal experience, not from any study, so take it with a ton of salt.

Re: Show HN: I built a fair alternative to Product Hunt for indie makers

#82

Post by mettamage »

abricq wrote: post #67

If you care fairness, I have 1 extra suggestion that you might be interested in. It was proven by several data-science research that when users have to votes (or give ratings) and if they are able to see the previous result, then the first few votes have an extremely important effect. For instance here is one stury, very well written article by a famous teacher Robert West, "of sheep and beer" https://dlab.epfl.ch/20…

This is not a study but a reality for me. At one point on HN I wanted to farm for karma points. That period lasted for a few weeks, I wasn't too intense about it, just a fun question I had.

My tactic? Find something that has something like 15 upvotes and you suspect to be rising quick in upvotes. Create the first comment and your best to make an as thoughtful comment as possible, even if you don't know anything about the topic.

Result: I was always within the top 3 getting between 10 to 50 upvotes.

One idea I have (just brainstorming) force users to make a vote first of 10 random products and only after they see the results.

It could probably use some UX tweaking since forcing someone to vote isn't quite nice, but at least it takes care of this effect that was described.

Re: Show HN: I built a fair alternative to Product Hunt for indie makers

#83

Post by shahzaibmushtaq »

It is good to create direct, fair and healthy competition for the Product Hunt (I am all for diversity). Competition is always good for business.

As far as successful launching on Product Hunt and getting feature isn't just for everyone. You have to do marketing, building hype around your product, moderate product idea (it's a minimum to get featured), good copywriting and whatnot.

I'm also going to sign up because of its features.

Re: Show HN: I built a fair alternative to Product Hunt for indie makers

#86

Post by cassepipe »

abcd_f wrote: post #74
abricq wrote: post #67

If you care fairness, I have 1 extra suggestion that you might be interested in. It was proven by several data-science research that when users have to votes (or give ratings) and if they are able to see the previous result, then the first few votes have an extremely important effect. For instance here is one stury, very well written article by a famous teacher Robert West, "of sheep and beer" https://dlab.epfl.ch/20…

You can see a form of this effect on HN itself, in particular in Show HN topics. First few comments basically set the tone of the discussion and its dynamic. If they are shallow, negative or dismissive, the discussion gets stuck and takes a while to recover even if the submission has a lot of actual merit.

On the other hand it can recover. I am not going back to reading sequential pages on a forum. Good enough until something better comes along.

Re: Show HN: I built a fair alternative to Product Hunt for indie makers

#87

Post by robertlagrant »

cassepipe wrote: post #85

I am curious why 10 launches by day ? Is a launch registering a product for sale ? If yes, why not restrict to 1 launch a day, or 1 launch a week. It's not like anyone is that productive that they create 10 products in a day.

It's 10 maximum on the site a day, I think.

Re: Show HN: I built a fair alternative to Product Hunt for indie makers

#89

Post by lakshikag »

robertlagrant wrote: post #88

Surely this trades being in the spotlight for a few minutes now for being in the spotlight in a year's time when it's your turn in the 10-products-per-day queue?

That's a fair concern! However, the idea is to create a balanced system where every product gets its moment to shine without being overshadowed by dozens of others launching on the same day. The first-come, first-serve queue ensures fairness, and since launches can be scheduled up to 30 days ahead, creators can plan their timing strategically. The goal is quality exposure over a rushed spotlight.

Re: Show HN: I built a fair alternative to Product Hunt for indie makers

#90

Post by lakshikag »

gloosx wrote: post #69

Looking cool! I have two questions though: >10 launches per day, max. What if your launch queue will be filling at a much faster rate aka backpressure issue? E.g what if this went viral and you get 1000 new projects per day, any new launch is scheduled after three months then? >2 votes per user, per day. Any idea how to prevent someone from creating 10 fake accounts and making it 20 votes per day? I'm sure any entrep…

1) If the queue grows significantly, the first-come, first-serve system will still ensure fairness. Makers can plan their launches strategically within a 30-day scheduling window, and I’ll monitor growth closely to adapt if needed.

2) At the moment, I’m testing a few theories to address this and ensure fair play on the platform. I can’t share specifics just yet since these are still in the experimental phase, but I’m keeping this top of mind as the platform evolves.

Appreciate your interest and feedback, thank you!

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