
Forrst: Where Designers Who Code meet Developers Who Design - jmonegro
http://carsonified.com/blog/design/forrst-finds-designers-who-code-developers-who-design/
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pbh
I have two top level questions for Kyle if he's still around (even though this
isn't an Ask HN or Tell HN or anything).

First, what is the problem you are trying to solve? Second, what do you think
are/will be the key components of your approach?

At least to me, the problem I have is that I'm a developer who isn't any good
at design. I'd love to be able to make small (and big) projects that look
professional. Unfortunately, while I know lots of good developers, I don't
know any good designers.

Furthermore, working on a web site with someone seems to involve a lot of
trust: there's a lot of asymmetric information involved. How does the web
designer know I'm really doing anything? How do I know that the web designer
is really doing anything? Doing things iteratively can help, but it's
obviously not possible to do everything iteratively.

I could also try to learn some design skills, but ultimately I think that I'm
unlikely to be able to match a decade of specialisation in my free time.

It seems like most attempts at solving this problem amount to either portfolio
sites or dating/outsourcing style sites. But these approaches don't seem to
solve the trust problem.

Forrst seems to be trying to make a forum/community for designers, developers,
and designers/developers, but I wonder if designers really want to learn about
Common Lisp web frameworks, or whether developers are really interested in
design problems. I also wonder whether trading links, code snippets, and
images can produce the same kind of trust as that produced by working side-by-
side on an actual project. That said, this may not be the goal.

~~~
kylebragger
Both good points.

> First, what is the problem you are trying to solve? Second, what do you
> think are/will be the key components of your approach?

Before Forrst existed, I didn't really _enjoy_ sharing design- or development-
related things on Twitter or Tumblr -- it felt like sharing these things into
a black hole. I wanted somewhere that felt more close-knit, and where
interesting discussion could be had around those things. For me, Forrst is
that place (and I'm hoping others will agree). I don't think you necessarily
need to be a designer-developer combo; designers with an interest in
development (who may or may not write code, too), and developers who
appreciate (or create) design, both could potentially find a good fit on
Forrst.

One of the biggest goals I have for Forrst is to help people connect and
engage with like-minded peers.

Am I far off in inferring you see Forrst as a place where you could
potentially meet a designer or developer to collaborate with? I think this may
be a very interesting -- and plausible -- side effect of having a very focused
community.

> Forrst seems to be trying to make a forum/community for designers,
> developers, and designers/developers, but I wonder if designers really want
> to learn about Common Lisp web frameworks, or whether developers are really
> interested in design problems. I also wonder whether trading links, code
> snippets, and images can produce the same kind of trust as that produced by
> working side-by-side on an actual project. That said, this may not be the
> goal.

Agreed, not 100% of the content posted on Forrst will be relevant to 100% of
its users. There are some things in the works that should help to address the
filtering problem -- being able to find things that are highly relevant to you
is something I hope Forrst help with. Like I mentioned before, I think that
even if you're not 100% hybrid dev-designer, anyone with an interest or
appreciation for the other side would be at home on Forrst.

Feel free to email me at kyle AT forrst.com (or reply here) if there's
anything I can clarify for you.

-Kyle

~~~
pbh
That makes sense. I think the key will be the community norms (and social
features to support those norms) that you build, but you seem aware of that.
Looking forward to seeing how things evolve!

~~~
kylebragger
Thank you sir.

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kylebragger
If you want an invite, email kyle AT forrst . com and mention HN and I'll get
you one.

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DenisM
I skimmed the articles and couldn't figure out what this thing does. Anyone
has a tl;dr version? Thanks.

~~~
pbh
It seems like you are looking for a functional answer to this question, and I
just signed up to take a look.

It looks like twitter + images/screenshots, more or less. You can follow
people, users can post text + maybe a screenshot, and there are comment
threads about the posts/screenshots. I think what has the potential to be
distinctive is the community that develops, rather than any particularly
notable features. (That said, since on the web most features should arguably
be community driven, this is probably just the core set of initial features.)

I think there is a lot of demand for a site that really facilitates developers
meeting designers, but I'm not sure what format, and what interactions, make
the most sense. I've been looking for a solution to this problem for a few
years, and I haven't found anything really satisfying.

~~~
nir
_"It looks like twitter + images/screenshots, more or less"_

Perhaps another way to use forrst is as something like ffffound.com for code &
web design - I browse it mostly in "Everyone's Posts" view, just to see
interesting/inspiring stuff.

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bmelton
I'm a recent new user of Forrst, and while I do like it, I was convinced that
it wouldn't achieve much market popularity without really great news articles
done about it.

I've been thinking about it as a Pownce-like app, in more of a Twitter-based
format, but I guess the reason for its success is the same as HN's, which is
the focus seems very narrow.

I like that about it, and as a programmer who designs (that hadn't ever
categorized himself in that way before) -- I realize it's a very apt cross-
section of what I've encountered on Forrst.

Seriously though, it definitely gets a thumbs-up from me, though not
necessarily for the masses.

~~~
kylebragger
Glad you're enjoying it thus far. I think you're spot on in saying it's not
necessarily going to have mass-appeal. I think it fits that very interesting
niche of designer/developer blend. Excited to see where it goes from here.

~~~
bmelton
The one thing I see lacking in this, so far, is the ability to find like-
minded friends. I'm not deep 'in the scene' of either development or design,
though I have plenty of developer friends (with a smattering of designers),
but it would be neat to connect with NEW people whose work I could appreciate.

~~~
kylebragger
That is one of the biggest things I'm working on right now. I'm calling it
"people you should know" and I'm antsy to release it as soon as possible.

