"DidThis makes it easy to spread micro-actions that are fun or useful to as many people as possible around the world."
I think that messaging does you a disservice. How many people are going to hit your site and say "Finally! An easy way to spread micro-actions!" (what are micro-actions anyway?)
How about appealing to ego: "Use DidThis to tell the world what you've done and encourage others to join you."
Great job on launching. Some notes from first use of the app:
The feed is confusing. It looks too much like Instagram, so it contradicts the idea that this is an app for sharing actions rather than just pictures.
The top activities are plankaday (what's that?), write, sleep, run, and meeting(!). None of those are too interesting. So, I'm not getting a feel for what is this app really good for? Why don't you show more activities rather than just the top 5?
The actions are not very specific, that's probably why they don't seem interesting to me.
I bet you get this a lot, but really, if I'm using Runkeeper or another similar app for my exercise tracking and sharing, why should I use didthis? One possible answer is to push actions to those apps (I haven't tried it if you already do).
The quality of the experience will probably go up dramatically if you choose to focus on a single type of action or community. Everyone keeps repeating this and from recent personal experience, it does seem true.
Social causes seem like a good one to go for, but the problem there is frequency of use. I doubt many people volunteer or donate more than a few days a year. This is the kind of app that people need to use at least once a day or it will die.
I like your deed of the day idea. It might be worth zooming in on. What if your app was totally based around that? Daily deeds?
Finally, you better not steal my contacts! If you do, start working on that apology letter right away.
This will probably sound frustrating, but I cannot make heads or tails about what your app actually is. I get the general idea from the website "say you did something, check in with others" but the Android app stops me in my tracks.
Going from this screenshot[0], which is the first screen:
- What am I following if I tick 'follow'?
- How do I 'do' the kiss task? I haven't done it yet, so why is it labelled re-do? If re-do is your analogy to re-tweet, I would consider changing it to 'do' - re-do implies more than once.
- Re-doing a task requires an account if you want to share, then brushes me off with a toast, rather than taking me to a signup screen (which I would expect on first load).
I hope you can see why I'm a bit frustrated, it does look as if the Android app is a bit of an afterthought compared to screenshots of the iPhone app.
Thank you for your feedback.
The app is not supposed to display screenshot[0] as you share it. So obviously there is a bug here, sorry.
- "follow": place to follow others users. People who are going to inspire you.
- "re-do" is correct. It's about redoing what other people have already done.
- "register to share": yes RossM, you are perfectly right. It's a beta version and we are going to improve the UI.
BTW, so Didthis is about seeing how your actions are spread (redone by others) and being inspired by others' actions. In a way, yes, it's about check-in into actions
He's in the circle(s) of 500,000 people and when he posts a video it has 250 views after 9 hours... how can his click throughs to the video rate be so low.
Congratulations on launching! I too am a big fan of the Seinfeld chaining method.
Just a minor note: on your home page it says "Don't Talk" but then there is a line through it. To me, that means "Don't don't talk", or "talk". Am I being ridiculous or did anyone else notice that?
I'm going to give it a go with the purpose of utilizing it like Jerry Seinfeld's productivity secret calendar (chaining). I started off with the daily activities like working out and taking my multi-vitamin :)
As an aside, your iphone app looks great, but the android version leaves me a little disappointed in the UI department.
"In titles, please don't describe things by their relation to YC unless they're actually associated with YC."
and
"Please don't do things to make titles stand out, like using uppercase or exclamation points, or adding a parenthetical remark saying how great an article is. It's implicit in submitting something that you think it's important."
Your homepage is confusing, but it seems you log what people have done. Have you seen idonethis.com from AngelPad? Very similar concept with a creative implementation (email), and eerily similar name.
Got invited to Mini-Seedcamp. Got covered by Scoble. Got invited to YC interview. Got rejected after YC interview. Launched anyway. I thought that was obvious?
If you use it consistently it gets pretty addictive & you'll start doing more things that are good for you. That being said, with the current UI it's not as effective as it could be. Baby steps ...
Thx:) been sometimes since SF in Sept. Cheers!! (I am in meeting just blown away appreciative by the response & constructive feedbakc) DidThis it's a TEAM and Team wins!
[+] [-] aepstein|14 years ago|reply
I think that messaging does you a disservice. How many people are going to hit your site and say "Finally! An easy way to spread micro-actions!" (what are micro-actions anyway?)
How about appealing to ego: "Use DidThis to tell the world what you've done and encourage others to join you."
[+] [-] webwright|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] c1sc0|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] revorad|14 years ago|reply
The feed is confusing. It looks too much like Instagram, so it contradicts the idea that this is an app for sharing actions rather than just pictures.
The top activities are plankaday (what's that?), write, sleep, run, and meeting(!). None of those are too interesting. So, I'm not getting a feel for what is this app really good for? Why don't you show more activities rather than just the top 5?
The actions are not very specific, that's probably why they don't seem interesting to me.
I bet you get this a lot, but really, if I'm using Runkeeper or another similar app for my exercise tracking and sharing, why should I use didthis? One possible answer is to push actions to those apps (I haven't tried it if you already do).
The quality of the experience will probably go up dramatically if you choose to focus on a single type of action or community. Everyone keeps repeating this and from recent personal experience, it does seem true.
Social causes seem like a good one to go for, but the problem there is frequency of use. I doubt many people volunteer or donate more than a few days a year. This is the kind of app that people need to use at least once a day or it will die.
I like your deed of the day idea. It might be worth zooming in on. What if your app was totally based around that? Daily deeds?
Finally, you better not steal my contacts! If you do, start working on that apology letter right away.
[+] [-] c1sc0|14 years ago|reply
I'm painfully aware of the points you raise. Sometimes you just have to do a "Damn the torpedoes, full-speed ahead" launch. Timing & stuff.
To answer the other points you raise:
The feed will change totally. Less pictures, more "What did you do?" & "How did you do it?" ... in development, coming in one of the next updates.
The actions will become a lot more specific & self-explanatory in one of the next updates.
Right now the app is focussed too much on repetition (I do this x times per day) & because of that I agree it's kinda boring.
Deed of the day is a pretty fresh idea, we're still iterating on that & yes, it's something I would like to consider.
[+] [-] RossM|14 years ago|reply
Going from this screenshot[0], which is the first screen:
- What am I following if I tick 'follow'?
- How do I 'do' the kiss task? I haven't done it yet, so why is it labelled re-do? If re-do is your analogy to re-tweet, I would consider changing it to 'do' - re-do implies more than once.
- Re-doing a task requires an account if you want to share, then brushes me off with a toast, rather than taking me to a signup screen (which I would expect on first load).
I hope you can see why I'm a bit frustrated, it does look as if the Android app is a bit of an afterthought compared to screenshots of the iPhone app.
[0]: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/3637891/didthis-android.jpg
[+] [-] sigwann|14 years ago|reply
- "follow": place to follow others users. People who are going to inspire you. - "re-do" is correct. It's about redoing what other people have already done. - "register to share": yes RossM, you are perfectly right. It's a beta version and we are going to improve the UI.
BTW, so Didthis is about seeing how your actions are spread (redone by others) and being inspired by others' actions. In a way, yes, it's about check-in into actions
Android DidThis dev
[+] [-] dommmel|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] citricsquid|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] chrisacky|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] aarondf|14 years ago|reply
Just a minor note: on your home page it says "Don't Talk" but then there is a line through it. To me, that means "Don't don't talk", or "talk". Am I being ridiculous or did anyone else notice that?
[+] [-] jorisw|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] c1sc0|14 years ago|reply
Short-term: premium paid app
[+] [-] pirko|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] sigwann|14 years ago|reply
you can find my email address in the app (menu/about in first screen) to get in touch with me. With your help, I can try to fix the bug and release.
Android DidThis developer
[+] [-] c1sc0|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] jqueryin|14 years ago|reply
As an aside, your iphone app looks great, but the android version leaves me a little disappointed in the UI department.
[+] [-] damncabbage|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] c1sc0|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] mmahemoff|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] fredsters_s|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] mkuhn|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] harscoat|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] emmett|14 years ago|reply
"In titles, please don't describe things by their relation to YC unless they're actually associated with YC."
and
"Please don't do things to make titles stand out, like using uppercase or exclamation points, or adding a parenthetical remark saying how great an article is. It's implicit in submitting something that you think it's important."
Please use less bait-y titles in the future.
[+] [-] r4vik|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] aaronf|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] white_devil|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] c1sc0|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] jvandenbroeck|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] c1sc0|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] tommi|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] c1sc0|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] shanehudson|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] c1sc0|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Chernev|14 years ago|reply
Denis, you DidThis!
[+] [-] harscoat|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] brlewis|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] c1sc0|14 years ago|reply