

Tinyproj - Week One Recap - calebrown
http://tinyproj.tumblr.com/post/10532332195/week-one-recap

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alttag
One of the problems I had was that the link to learn more about a project
sends the email. I was curious, and there wasn't much (immediate) explanation
of what the consequences of the link were, so I clicked.

Yes, one of the pages that's linked in the sent email is to the guidelines
saying "don't click unless you're actually interested", but the consequences
of clicking links isn't explained _before_ the project list is presented.

(In much of the web, links don't have side effects. Things that do are
typically buttons. Maybe this is a design issue?)

EDIT: Grammar, clarity.

~~~
kylebragger
You're right -- it was a big issue for folks, which is why I ended up
scrapping it in lieu of the new process:

\- you get the project email and click "learn more" \- that takes you to a
page w/ details and an "i'm interested" button \- clicking that button tells
the project owner \- the project owner then chooses to initiate contact
further (which is why it's helpful to have a URL on your account.) \- _that_
is what sends the first email

It was intended to both cut down on project owner email overload as well as
fix the confusion around what exactly happens.

Also, I plan to let folks attach a blurb of text as to -why- they're
interested in a project. Should be an interesting experiment.

~~~
skeptical
To be honest I prefer the way it was before. Clicking the link would send the
email. That was the beauty of it. Cluttering the interface with webforms all
over the place will just make your service more like dozens of other out
there. Of course, you would have to require good descriptions from the project
owners.

But I still love the interface love the simplicity of the interface. Email,
never gets old.

~~~
kylebragger
I hear you. I'm going to leave it as is for the next send and watch what
happens. I think it's still sufficiently simple right now, since it only adds
one click (which I think could be called a confirmation click) to the intro
experience on the talent side. Time will tell, though.

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tiles
I love how this is progressing. One bit of feedback, I would love to see more
legitimately "tiny" projects become available-- most of those sent out every
week are $500-$2000 and require multiple week commitments. If there's a market
for smaller projects or libraries that need work in the $100-$500 range, I
would snap up those in my spare time. Obviously those kinds of projects have
to exist first to be listed, so not much of a feature suggestion so much as a
general desire :)

~~~
LiveTheDream
I'm sure you will find no shortage of $100-$500 projects on sites like odesk.
There's a threshold at which it seems to not be worth the time though.

~~~
proexploit
Many of those projects are poorly defined and ask too much work for the
payment. The OP is asking for projects at a lower cost and lower time
commitment, not devalued work.

------
0x12
I absolutely love this project and I really hope that the momentum that it has
found will be preserved. Anything that helps the web to become a marketplace,
especially for labor will have a huge impact in the long run.

~~~
kylebragger
I'm thrilled to hear that. It's been really interesting to watch, and even
though I only have a week of data to play with, I'm fairly certain there's
something bigger at play here. Just a matter of tuning the product, continuing
to grow on both sides, and start to figure out how to solve the biggest issue
right now, which is helping people make sense of the tons of intros they get.

------
kylebragger
By the way, I'd be happy to do ten bucks off any approved projects that
mention HN.

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mcallister
Looking forward to hearing back from some of the intros for work I've
requested. I can't believe each project gets so much attention. Pretty
competitive!

Seems like a fantastic resource though, I'm excited to see how it progresses,
and I can't wait to get the next email.

~~~
kylebragger
Thanks a bunch. I'm amazed that the intros/project is averaging so high, too.
I'm actually thinking of trying out some kind of VIP thing, where you could
pay a few bucks a month to get the email a few hours early.

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scopendo
The guidelines sensibly mention to use a contract. Does tinyproj have anything
to assist there? I've used 99designs once before and it was good that they
took care of the contract between designer and client.

~~~
kylebragger
Actually yes. Working on this over the next few weeks. If it works as expected
it will be a few clicks and out comes a contract.

------
Mizza
Cool! Thanks for releasing your data. (We're playing in the same space at
gun.io - I think they call this 'validating the market.')

