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What does 'neat idea' mean?

1 points| wanghq | 12 years ago | reply

I asked someone to provide some feedback on a project I am working on. Two of them start with 'This is a neat idea'. One person did give useful feedback. It sounds to me that 'neat idea' is an ok idea but not great.

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[+] pedalpete|12 years ago|reply
I'd suggest it means they aren't completely enamoured with it, but that is a fairly small number of people, and it's possible your pitch isn't great (it's also possible it's a crap idea and they were just being nice).

Try to get some feedback on what they don't like about it. Ask directly, and go from there. You may find a new opportunity in what you hear.

[+] wanghq|12 years ago|reply
Right, I kind of don't believe what people say unless they give me concrete feedbacks.

Recently I also tried to get some feedbacks through mturk. Probably those guys want to get their feedback approved so they all complimented my service.

Still doing different experiments and see what are effective...

[+] BjoernKW|12 years ago|reply
Was that person British? In that case 'neat idea' could literally mean 'This idea sucks.'. British English is known for its euphemisms.
[+] prateekj|12 years ago|reply
One possible interpretation is that they think the idea is great, but the execution is not.
[+] wanghq|12 years ago|reply
Interesting interpretation. This might be true for one guy who said 'neat idea' and at the same time told me his bad experience.