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Show HN: Sleepio - how I cured my insomnia, turned into software.

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41–50 of 72 posts

Re: Show HN: Sleepio - how I cured my insomnia, turned into software.

#42
post #26

Wow.. The "Program" model seems like it would work for a lot of things - diets, exercise, study... Thought about making it a platform?

Yes that's the vision! That when you have a problem, you just 'visit The Prof', and he gives you a blended programme to help you. Sleep is a good starting point, since it is a) socially acceptable to talk about, and b) is highly co-morbid with other problems - a good way in to health in general. A limitation of our current media-rich approach however is the cost of adapting content - we took a short term cheap, long…

If it branches out to things other than sleep, then don't you think you will need a new name?

Re: Show HN: Sleepio - how I cured my insomnia, turned into software.

#43
post #41

suggestion: on main landing, change green button for an inputbox for email request + a green button.

Thanks. Can I ask why?

So that you provide as little friction as possible to getting people to sign up. For example, with your current button I was reluctant to press it because I would assume there would be a big form on the other side. However, I'm more likely to sign up for more info if it's only an email required.

Re: Show HN: Sleepio - how I cured my insomnia, turned into software.

#44
post #39
post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My issue is not with your way of input, but with the question itself. My sleep patterns shift forward every single day. I no more have a time I go to bed every night than I have a US zip code or a ten-digit cell phone number.

Understood. Fair point. We've taken what are the clinical standard measures - and some indeed feature counterintuitive questions. And you're right, one of the main issues with 'insomnia' is an unreliable sleep pattern. We don't want to know how you slept last night, since this may be unrepresentative; but as you say an 'average' may also not capture it/be a natural way to report it. 3 x sample points ('last 3 nights'…

Start with "do you go to bed at roughly the same time (within 1-2 hours) most nights?" and only ask the "what time" question if people say yes to the first one.

Re: Show HN: Sleepio - how I cured my insomnia, turned into software.

#45
post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes that's the vision! That when you have a problem, you just 'visit The Prof', and he gives you a blended programme to help you. Sleep is a good starting point, since it is a) socially acceptable to talk about, and b) is highly co-morbid with other problems - a good way in to health in general. A limitation of our current media-rich approach however is the cost of adapting content - we took a short term cheap, long…

If it branches out to things other than sleep, then don't you think you will need a new name?

Yes, we'll need an umbrella name. But right now it's more important for it to be immediately obvious what the problem is that we can help with, since we rely on self-diagnosis, (the user is actively looking for a sleep solution either online or in Boots store).

Re: Show HN: Sleepio - how I cured my insomnia, turned into software.

#46
post #27

Starting with "At what time do you normally get in to bed?" to this Non-24 sufferer living in Germany is sort of like opening with "Enter your ten digit phone number" or "What is your ZIP code?"

Exact same issue here. I get up about an hour and a half later every day. I wish I could use services like this.

Re: Show HN: Sleepio - how I cured my insomnia, turned into software.

#47
post #43
post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thanks. Can I ask why?

So that you provide as little friction as possible to getting people to sign up. For example, with your current button I was reluctant to press it because I would assume there would be a big form on the other side. However, I'm more likely to sign up for more info if it's only an email required.

You've inadvertantly highlighted a UX failing of ours - that's not actually a sign up form!

We ask for your first name so you can meet The Prof; another thing we're wrestling with, how to introduce that (non-standard) experience in a clear way...

Re: Show HN: Sleepio - how I cured my insomnia, turned into software.

#48
post #37
post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, the techniques are out there in the literature, but it's how they are tailored to your own situation - and more importantly how you actually deliver positive behaviour change, rather than just info - that's the real challenge that we're trying to address at a price less than the £600 you'd need to pay for a course of face to face therapy. We're going to try a lower price point ongoing subs model to avoid that i…

I'd gladly pay £100 or more.. If I actually believed the product would work on me. However, there is so much crap and scams on the internet that it is hard to believe a web site programme would be effective. All the thousands of "get abs in six weeks!" ads has made me cynical. Maybe if someone I trusted had taken the programme and could recommend it to me it would put be over the trust threshold.

Yep peer referral is the most powerful driver - you've echoed the view of pretty much every sleep sufferer I've interviewed!

The Boots partnership was in part to try to build that trust (and therefore value).

Re: Show HN: Sleepio - how I cured my insomnia, turned into software.

#49
post #41

suggestion: on main landing, change green button for an inputbox for email request + a green button.

Thanks. Can I ask why?

Because, If want to try it, if I just push the button, you lost the possibility of having my email.

If I want to try it, I will put my email for free. And then you can sell me anything by email, in a future.

Re: Show HN: Sleepio - how I cured my insomnia, turned into software.

#50
post #28

Why wouldn't you use sleep.io as the default?

Hmmm because our primary target (middle aged women) are not that web-savvy i guess, and the .com is the default TLD. We bagged sleep.io when it first went on sale but haven't considered using it as the default. To ask the opposite (and possibly stupid) question - why would you make sleep.io the default?

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