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Ask HN: “Didn't know I needed this. Now I can't work without it”

14 points by nullcode000 ↗ HN
Hey HN. Most people seem to "get" what our app does only after they use it at least once.

One of the most common feedbacks is "I didn't know i needed this. Now i can't work without it."

How could we communicate it better? http://snappy-app.com/

17 comments

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davismwfl
I just went to the site and looked at it.

Your demo is confusing and not very communicative to me. Even after seeing it I couldn't figure out what you were trying to communicate with it.

I think you'd do better to have a video demo showing a specific use case, and explaining better how it works.

Also, Facebook sdk is complaining about an invalid app id.

BTW -- I am on a mac using chrome on the site, if that helps as far as the demo experience.

nullcode000
Understood. You're right, a video is definitely better than the current demo for showing how it works. I'll look into the Facebook problem too. Seamed to work fine. Thanks a lot for the input!
PhantomGremlin
No, I don't want video. Tell it to me in simple words and pictures.

I have two complaints about video: 1) I don't want to enable JavaScript or use Flash. Most video fails one of those. 2) I don't want to spend the time to watch a video. Tell me in words and pictures, in less than a minute. I.e. an "elevator pitch".

I'm absolutely astonished at how many companies have horrible websites. In many cases I can go to Wikipedia and learn much more about a company, much faster, than from that company's website.

Major FAIL!

debacle
You're trying to upsell the act of taking a screenshot. From that perspective, you have about thirty seconds of my attention before I close the tab. Your site has a B2B design for a B2C product.
nullcode000
So, it needs to become clear what it does in under 30 secs, preferably in the header. Ok. Why do you think the website has a B2B design?
debacle
Because if it was B2C you would be treating the customer like an ADHD addled child. You should have a 3 or 4 pane slideshow above the fold that explains why they need your app.
nullcode000
Fair enough :) Ill a/b test it with a few versions. Thanks!
bramgg
Slideshows suck. Don't hide important information behind a slideshow.
bnb
Just a quick list:

1. You use the name "snapshots" in the header, yet call it a Snap everywhere else.

2. You don't outright define what a Snap is anywhere on the page. I have to infer what it is from the screenshots and specific, single words you use.

3. Platforms in the header are disjointed. Put both on one side. Information should be modular--the OS X/iOS parts should be close together--so the user doesn't have to look around for it.

therealmocker
Had me interested enough to look at the App store and then I saw a bunch of in-app purchases are required for full functionality. Lost interest at that point. Would rather just pay for an app and not have to worry about unlocking features.
nullcode000
The base functionality is free. In app purchases enable annotations and other more specialized features.

Would you say most people prefer paying for an app upfront rather than pay per feature?

jtfairbank
Definitely, especially for a business focused app like this.
nullcode000
Ok. Makes sense. Truth is, we're not really pushing for monetization right now, it was more of a try out with the in-apps. Maybe, at our stage, power users working with the full app are more valuable than the earnings from a bunch of purchases.
jtfairbank
You'll also get more detailed feedback from them, meaningful bug reports, etc.
spdustin
From only reading the site, my guess is that the product allows you to select a rectangle, and whatever apps' window surface is in that layer stays there. So I could highlight the bottom 40px of my slack window and those bottom 40px would always be visible and updating even if I open another window over the "snap".

That's how I'm reading it. If that's actually true, that's pretty compelling. A "bring to front" of any portion of any app that keeps it live.

If not, then either I'm way off base or the site isn't clarifying the purpose behind keeping a snap "floating" - why is that a marketable point?

Edit: typo and clarification on final question

mszyndel
There's one million apps that do what yours do. Tell me in one sentence why I should use yours (+ an explainer video maybe?)