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30 minutes with a stranger

pudding.cool

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Re: 30 minutes with a stranger

#41

Post by rkagerer »

pavlov wrote: post #18

Really great design. This is the unicorn of fancy websites because for once, it actually makes sense to override browser's standard scrolling behavior. The 30-minute timeline on the right provides an obvious context for what you're navigating with the scroll actions, and you wouldn't be able to do that with a regular scrollbar. Usually scrolling overrides happen because the designers' mindset was that the site should…

I don't mind designers overriding when they take meticulous care to craft a better tailored experience. But once I scrolled past the initial content I found the site a UI disaster. Not long after it said "Pick a person to explore", I wanted to tap a particular box to read one of their conversations, and couldn't figure out how to bring any dialog up. I wound up scrolling further down afterward to see if that was how to trigger some dialog for my selection, and all the boxes started moving around at seemingly random, performance tanked and the whole thing got stuttery. I couldn't scroll back to where I was or find that box again that I was interested in. I left in frustration. Design fail, as far as this user's encounter.

Re: 30 minutes with a stranger

#42

Post by kccqzy »

willemlaurentz wrote: post #30

Following the book "The Power of Strangers" I once did an experiment with talking to random strangers, it is amazing what you'll learn from random conversations: https://willem.com/en/2023-10-13_hello-stranger/

You need structure for this to be amazing. Talking to a random person at a train station and asking for their destination isn't a meaningful conversation, even if they divulge a bit more about their travel plans.

Instead, I've personally really enjoyed talking to strangers while having a meal in the dining car of Amtrak trains, where they will force you to sit with three other people. This gives you more time together and more structure. I've talked to a retired real estate agent who told me stories about the houses his clients bought; I've talked to an old lady who told me first hand stories of the AIDS pandemic in the 1980s.

Re: 30 minutes with a stranger

#43

Post by saagarjha »

Recursing wrote: post #29
tiniuclx wrote: post #23

For us that spend a lot of time on the internet, it's easy to forget that most people are not that different from you. I believe comments online, on Hacker News on otherwise, tend to be made by people with fairly extreme views - you have to feel something very strongly to shout your opinion into the internet! But most people are, well, normal, including you. Step out of your bubble every now and then and you'd be sur…

Reminds me of the most upvoted post of all time on r/slatestarcodex https://old.reddit.com/r/slatestarcodex/comments/9rvroo/most...

I guess I am here to contribute a little bit of my insanity to this site.

Re: 30 minutes with a stranger

#45

Post by pbhjpbhj »

darkwater wrote: post #24
pavlov wrote: post #18

Really great design. This is the unicorn of fancy websites because for once, it actually makes sense to override browser's standard scrolling behavior. The 30-minute timeline on the right provides an obvious context for what you're navigating with the scroll actions, and you wouldn't be able to do that with a regular scrollbar. Usually scrolling overrides happen because the designers' mindset was that the site should…

I'm with you and I actually love these "special scrolling" websites. They are much closer to a truly work of art exactly because of the different design. To the haters: why do we have churches or buildings with marble statues in the walls or column instead of a standard stone wall, which was designed to do the job in a standard way?

Niches (recesses in walls for statues) and columns in church buildings are actually central features that serve the primary purpose of the building.

Niches provide spaces for statues for remembering the dead, or prayers and veneration (for Catholics), enhancing the link between the spiritual and corporeal realms. Arguably they're also used to encourage payments from patrons for a church building's upkeep or construction.

Columns allow spaces within a building to be connected, ensuring the body of the church (the people) can worship and receive teaching together. They can also reduce material cost of construction.

Yes, for historic church buildings decoration was applied, ornate capitals in the pillars and such; bright, garish paint on the statues and everything -- and expression of the vitality of the building and of worship to God.

I think perhaps your analogy needs buttressing (heh!) to make it clear? All I got really was 'I like the scrolling'.

Maybe a revolving door is a good scrollbar analogue - it's central to access to a space (website), some people hate them, but used properly they enhance access (they're really good for limiting heat exchange with the outside when compared with regular doors!).

Re: 30 minutes with a stranger

#46

Post by a022311 »

As someone who is generally shy, this sparked some hope in me. I have a really stressful time meeting new people, I just have absolutely no idea what to say, I panic and I leave. Well done for the execution, it's a very nice way to reveal interactive content!

Re: 30 minutes with a stranger

#47

Post by llmthrow0827 »

hackboyfly wrote: post #40

After moving to a new city I desperately need this in my life. Something like omegle but more serious.

Go to an event that you have an interest in, and strike up conversations with random people who are unoccupied. You at least have one common topic to talk about, and in my experience the odds you find someone you want to grab a bite or a drink after the even with are pretty high, and at the very worst the next time you go to a similar event you might see some familiar faces.

Re: 30 minutes with a stranger

#48

Post by rkagerer »

alex-moon wrote: post #39

I'm increasingly convinced that social isolation is the single great social ill of our time. I am not one for "respecting others' opinions" at all, make no mistakes, if someone believes something incorrect - or worse - then they need to be corrected. But so much of the hate simmering away like a pot about to boil over is the result of loneliness. The evidence on this is startingly clear. https://www.sciencedirect.com…

I wonder how much of this is due to social media sites and how the choice to interact that way (where the medium is geared to show off shallow facets of our achievements or amplify polarized opinions) is robbing us from traditional ways of spending time together.

Re: 30 minutes with a stranger

#49

Post by mihaic »

alex-moon wrote: post #39

I'm increasingly convinced that social isolation is the single great social ill of our time. I am not one for "respecting others' opinions" at all, make no mistakes, if someone believes something incorrect - or worse - then they need to be corrected. But so much of the hate simmering away like a pot about to boil over is the result of loneliness. The evidence on this is startingly clear. https://www.sciencedirect.com…

It's not just loneliness, it's that by being isolated you can make sweeping generalizations about other people, and fall for the hatefull narative.

When you actually and honestly communicate with people different than you, and are able yo understand them, you stop feeling that simplistic hate for them.

Re: 30 minutes with a stranger

#50

Post by tjoff »

pavlov wrote: post #18

Really great design. This is the unicorn of fancy websites because for once, it actually makes sense to override browser's standard scrolling behavior. The 30-minute timeline on the right provides an obvious context for what you're navigating with the scroll actions, and you wouldn't be able to do that with a regular scrollbar. Usually scrolling overrides happen because the designers' mindset was that the site should…

Took me a really long time to realize that I should scroll. Because why would I? There is absolutely no indication that there is anything to scroll to.

I clicked on the two avatars but that didn't get me very far and the only thing left to click was "by alvin chang" but that was about as fruitful as I imagined it would be.

So I assumed it was a podcast, re-checking that I had audio on etc. But nope, so I checked another browser. Same there... Then I read HN comments, ah ... Great design? ...

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