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Designing NotebookLM

jasonspielman.com

51–60 of 91 posts

Re: Designing NotebookLM

#52

This is my website! I love seeing everyone’s perspective, design is all about iteration and constant evolution. I have no doubt NLM will continue to evolve and change. I feel immensely lucky to have been there towards the beginning of that evolution. As I designer I was trying to skate to where the puck was going technically. We’d get some insight on what was coming from the model side and we’d try to build UI around…

Thank you for your hard work. I gripe about it sometimes but it’s still the most compelling learning experience I’ve ever come across. I hope it keeps getting better and better.

Re: Designing NotebookLM

#53

This post has the same issues as NotebookLM for me -- overdesigned, overengineered for what at its core is a simple and valuable UX. NotebookLM: obviously useful, but I just wanna select some files and chat w/ them or have them summarized for me. It's got low info density, way too many cards/buttons/sections/icons, and it makes the core UX really difficult for me to navigate. This post: I wanted to know what cool tho…

Not too negative, I really appreciate this perspective and agree with some of what you said.

IMO if you wanted to simply talk to a file or two Gemini, ChatGPT, and Claude are great for that.

The goal of this experimental product was to think creatively around what a true source grounded tool could be. (Obviously while building to best support the user needs). Our team put in immense work to move quickly while trying to be creative while keeping it simple. I have no doubt the product will continue to evolve and improve based on continued feedback like this!

Re: my website, I personally digest things better visually. I had hoped the additional visual elements would explain my decision making process to others as well.

Re: Designing NotebookLM

#54

This post has the same issues as NotebookLM for me -- overdesigned, overengineered for what at its core is a simple and valuable UX. NotebookLM: obviously useful, but I just wanna select some files and chat w/ them or have them summarized for me. It's got low info density, way too many cards/buttons/sections/icons, and it makes the core UX really difficult for me to navigate. This post: I wanted to know what cool tho…

Not too negative, I really appreciate this perspective and agree with some of what you said. IMO if you wanted to simply talk to a file or two Gemini, ChatGPT, and Claude are great for that. The goal of this experimental product was to think creatively around what a true source grounded tool could be. (Obviously while building to best support the user needs). Our team put in immense work to move quickly while trying…

Thank you for your work. NotebookLM has been invaluable for my learning experience. With the summaries, the mind maps, the multi-source synthesis and dialogue with the material, it adjusts pretty well to my learning style.

Re: Designing NotebookLM

#55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wait until you find out that the client who signed the contract, the lawyers who wrote it, the pre-sales who designed it, and the account executive who started it… also all used NotebookLM for their stage of the deal. (btw, it’s “NotebookLM” – one “L” – not “Notebook LLM”)

That’s why my kickoff meetings always involve validating what the client wants as far as business outcomes instead of blindly trusting account executives and sales. On the other hand, part of the reason I never desired to go independent is because working for a company, we do have a sales department to get clients, a legal team, and finance to chase payments. I can just concentrate on the client and the project.

Honestly, you’re in the bravest part of the process. We call it “professional services” but same thing… you’re the one who has to deliver on whatever was promised to the customer, which was totally outside your visibility.

Re: Designing NotebookLM

#56

This is my website! I love seeing everyone’s perspective, design is all about iteration and constant evolution. I have no doubt NLM will continue to evolve and change. I feel immensely lucky to have been there towards the beginning of that evolution. As I designer I was trying to skate to where the puck was going technically. We’d get some insight on what was coming from the model side and we’d try to build UI around…

Hi, there's a bug on your website.

Apparently it advertises to browsers and other extensions that it has dark mode activated when it's actually not, which prevents them from applying the appropriate theme.

Re: Designing NotebookLM

#58

I'm curious from people who use it regularly. What do you use it for? Aside from audio overviews, what does it do better for you compared to vanilla chat interfaces or docs integration?

I use it for asking questions about a specific board games. It is INVALUABLE for learning very complex games. Instead of hunting through a rulebook trying to find an obscure rule, I just ask it and it answers, citing where it finds it.

Re: Designing NotebookLM

#59

I stopped using NotebookLM after one use. Not sure what’s the fuss aside from the podcast generation gimmick

I was putting together an essay/podcast about a news event in another country, and I was able to collect multiple YouTube videos, search and translate their transcripts, and ask questions like 'is this the video where someone talks about _?'
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