Seems like a cool idea on the surface, but a few minutes of browsing make it look like a jobs board for non-profits/startups instead of solving what I might consider "real" problems.
In other words, I'd rather see something much more specific than what I'm seeing here. Something like:
> Hi, we're FarmBot. We're building drones to help farmers farm better. Here are a list of problems we need to solve: UI for farmers to designate pathways, machine learning tools to identify crop quality, (insert more).
What I'm seeing now looks more like job descriptions.
> We need someone to build us an app to find bodies after the Haiti earthquake.
That's not really a problem to solve -- that's a position that's open.
I feel like I didn't explain that very well...
Edit: To summarize, what I really want is a list of problems to solve. I want to know "Here's something that is stumping us. Got any ideas?"
I don't need a new job. I just want to help change the world. I don't know the specifics of why providing clean water to rural areas is such a challenge. But if I did know the specific problems, maybe I could help. What I don't have time for is to take on the entire scope of that challenge.
In other words, give me something specific to solve.
Thanks for this feedback. I agree with you. At the moment a lot of the projects are looking for open-source contributors.
In fact, the first 'problem' posted was also the first thing to be solved: a charity's website was running really slow and they needed help fixing it. That got fixed in 24 hours.
We're aware of this and recently added 'tasks' to projects so that specific problems can be solved, and solvers get credit for them.
We'd love suggestions for other ways to encourage people to post smaller chunks that are more like specific problems.
This is a terrific idea. The better-blast[1] idea is a terrific example — an interesting problem, and one where a better solution would drastically affect biology (since BLAST is a common bottleneck).
Thanks! Better-blast is one of my side-projects from my PhD that I don't have the skills or time to do alone. I've already had offers of help from some really talented engineers from all sorts of different backgrounds. Some of the ideas people have had are really outside what's being done in bioinformatics at the moment! More collaborators always welcome :)
Hi, OP here. We started building Solvers after discussions on HN in November, so we really want to get your feedback on what we're doing. Please let us know what you think of the site, the idea, and how we can recruit more projects and solvers to make good things happen.
This is suuuper awesome. I've been looking for something like this for a long time.
I've been wanting something that:
-Helps other people like volunteering at a food bank helps people
-Doesn't require me to leave the computer
-Takes advantage of my specialized skills (data crunching, website optimizing, etc.)
-Doesn't require a full time commitment or leaving job
-Can be done in piecemeal when I have time.
I'll be looking over all the posts, hopefully I'll find something to contribute too!
Hi, cofounder here! Was inspired by Richard's post on HN at the end of last year and was determined to help out. We built the site together using Meteor, which was a bit of a gamble with it being one of those shiny new things, but has paid off in productivity and all the great smart packages we're using. If you have any questions about using Meteor for this kind of project just shoot us a message here or at [email protected].
I definitely wasn't expecting the "Got Skills" button to just link me down to the unorganized project listings. I assumed that would be a place to list myself as an available volunteer with the ability to list my skill set or something like that, then receive suggestions for projects with an option to browse all of the projects.
I love the idea, and I don't want to suggest you go toward catchafire's very narrow model of pre-determined skill sets. That leaves me out in the cold, which is frustrating. But the ability to list your expertise and willingness to help so that project creators could proactively reach out to potential volunteers, would be awesome.
That's definitely something we're moving towards. It's tricky figuring out when the best time to post to HN is -- do you want early beta feedback, or to drive traffic to a final product?
Basically what you're requesting is something we really want to move towards -- we have in the works a way to add skills tags to your own profile, for example. This will help out with how you'd like to use the site.
I agree with emhart -- this was my exact reaction. Of course I understand that you can't launch beta with all your features, but please consider this another vote for a more robust matching mechanism. Other than that, great work! I think this sort of opportunity to get our hands dirty is exactly what a lot of people are looking for.
Thanks for the feedback, I agree completely. It's on our to-do list to let people add tags to their profile so they get notified when new projects are posted with their skillset, without restricting them to only helping out with those.
Any other ideas for how to achieve this are very welcome. We'd love to get some UX designers involved in the project long-term, and we've already got a talented designer creating a new style for us.
This is great. Just met someone who works at the FoodBank and as she described some of her tech problems it became pretty apparent that some basic CRUD apps could save them many, many hours every year. I do not think this is an uncommon thing.
Like the concept. There was a guy at a local meetup who was a startup involved with helping the homeless. I think this would be a great resource for him.
If I may, I'd like to comment on my initial impression:
Bland. Sorry. I know minimalist is all the rage these days, but I (speaking only for myself) would prefer more of a grid-image-based view of the projects.1)It'd add some flare; otherwise it just reminded me of stackoverflow. 2) While I think of developers as largely rational, if your sales pitch is going to be "make a difference", you'll probably need to appeal to people's emotions, personalizing the projects, making people feel something. Loving the idea, though.
Thanks very much for the feedback - I agree. Neither of us founders are designers. However, we've now got a great designer working with us, and we'll have a new look in a few weeks. Others have mentioned wanting images for projects, and that's definitely something we're considering. However, we have to balance it with not wanting to make it hard for people to post projects.
A lot of charities, for example, are already tentative about asking programmers for help, and we're a bit concerned that asking them to produce a pretty picture could put them off posting. Ideas for how to have the look without putting off posters are very welcome.
Thank you! It's great having a project you really believe in. I was inspired by Richard's original idea, and if we can continue to inspire other people then we'll be extremely happy.
Our goal with solvers is complementary. We're very focussed on enabling hackers and other technically skilled people to solve problems. And once we've got the platform in shape, we want to build a community that actively seeks out people who could use their help. We hope to have subject-specific task forces that go looking for projects to solve.
Hi, I'm a "creator/founder" looking for people to finish my cockamamie idea in which I can stamp my name all over it when it's finished. I use the old, tired "changing the world" slogan over and over. I'm basically what's wrong with the internet.
Wow, I hope that's not the impression we're giving.
These are scientific or charitable projects, not startups. We've already had a few nice problems solved. For example, a charity that does neuroscience training in Africa had its broken website fixed and now has some long-term help from developers.
Credit for the solution will always be given to the solvers.
[+] [-] Jemaclus|12 years ago|reply
In other words, I'd rather see something much more specific than what I'm seeing here. Something like:
> Hi, we're FarmBot. We're building drones to help farmers farm better. Here are a list of problems we need to solve: UI for farmers to designate pathways, machine learning tools to identify crop quality, (insert more).
What I'm seeing now looks more like job descriptions.
> We need someone to build us an app to find bodies after the Haiti earthquake.
That's not really a problem to solve -- that's a position that's open.
I feel like I didn't explain that very well...
Edit: To summarize, what I really want is a list of problems to solve. I want to know "Here's something that is stumping us. Got any ideas?"
I don't need a new job. I just want to help change the world. I don't know the specifics of why providing clean water to rural areas is such a challenge. But if I did know the specific problems, maybe I could help. What I don't have time for is to take on the entire scope of that challenge.
In other words, give me something specific to solve.
I hope that makes more sense.
[+] [-] Blahah|12 years ago|reply
In fact, the first 'problem' posted was also the first thing to be solved: a charity's website was running really slow and they needed help fixing it. That got fixed in 24 hours.
We're aware of this and recently added 'tasks' to projects so that specific problems can be solved, and solvers get credit for them.
We'd love suggestions for other ways to encourage people to post smaller chunks that are more like specific problems.
[+] [-] chadkruse|12 years ago|reply
The few submissions I got aren't earth shattering, but gave me a few new ideas for side projects.
I'll have to dig up the links, but I believe Caravan Studios has a site more closely related to what you describe.
[+] [-] vsbuffalo|12 years ago|reply
[1] https://solvers.io/projects/XCaemW5kLMoxcx4jr
[+] [-] Blahah|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Blahah|12 years ago|reply
If you want to chat to us in real time, we're sitting in our Gitter room: https://gitter.im/solvers
[+] [-] josephjrobison|12 years ago|reply
I've been wanting something that:
-Helps other people like volunteering at a food bank helps people -Doesn't require me to leave the computer -Takes advantage of my specialized skills (data crunching, website optimizing, etc.) -Doesn't require a full time commitment or leaving job -Can be done in piecemeal when I have time.
I'll be looking over all the posts, hopefully I'll find something to contribute too!
[+] [-] davedx|12 years ago|reply
(Please don't ask about spiderable and SEO...)
[+] [-] catshirt|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] emhart|12 years ago|reply
I love the idea, and I don't want to suggest you go toward catchafire's very narrow model of pre-determined skill sets. That leaves me out in the cold, which is frustrating. But the ability to list your expertise and willingness to help so that project creators could proactively reach out to potential volunteers, would be awesome.
[+] [-] davedx|12 years ago|reply
Basically what you're requesting is something we really want to move towards -- we have in the works a way to add skills tags to your own profile, for example. This will help out with how you'd like to use the site.
[+] [-] bdevine|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Blahah|12 years ago|reply
Any other ideas for how to achieve this are very welcome. We'd love to get some UX designers involved in the project long-term, and we've already got a talented designer creating a new style for us.
[+] [-] vise890|12 years ago|reply
If a simple CRUD app can solve real world problems, then why not make students make it. If it ends up being used, it can even go on their resume.
[+] [-] davedx|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] mehulkar|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Blahah|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] balls187|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Blahah|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] lsjroberts|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] insuffi|12 years ago|reply
Bland. Sorry. I know minimalist is all the rage these days, but I (speaking only for myself) would prefer more of a grid-image-based view of the projects.1)It'd add some flare; otherwise it just reminded me of stackoverflow. 2) While I think of developers as largely rational, if your sales pitch is going to be "make a difference", you'll probably need to appeal to people's emotions, personalizing the projects, making people feel something. Loving the idea, though.
[+] [-] Blahah|12 years ago|reply
A lot of charities, for example, are already tentative about asking programmers for help, and we're a bit concerned that asking them to produce a pretty picture could put them off posting. Ideas for how to have the look without putting off posters are very welcome.
[+] [-] RRiccio|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] davedx|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Loughla|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Blahah|12 years ago|reply
Our goal with solvers is complementary. We're very focussed on enabling hackers and other technically skilled people to solve problems. And once we've got the platform in shape, we want to build a community that actively seeks out people who could use their help. We hope to have subject-specific task forces that go looking for projects to solve.
[+] [-] unknown|12 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] Houshalter|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] nancyhua|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] davedx|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] turbotoilet|12 years ago|reply
Hi, I'm a "creator/founder" looking for people to finish my cockamamie idea in which I can stamp my name all over it when it's finished. I use the old, tired "changing the world" slogan over and over. I'm basically what's wrong with the internet.
[+] [-] Blahah|12 years ago|reply
These are scientific or charitable projects, not startups. We've already had a few nice problems solved. For example, a charity that does neuroscience training in Africa had its broken website fixed and now has some long-term help from developers.
Credit for the solution will always be given to the solvers.
[+] [-] gawbul|12 years ago|reply
€^#&%@* &£@+=% (appropriately censored for expletives) ;)