

Show HN: Premortems, help projects be more successful - _jss
https://premortems.com

======
bradfordarner
I'm intrigued by 'premortems' because the name sounds interesting. However, I
find myself very hesitant to pay with my email for a 'free' signup unless I
know what it is. Even with the examples, I have no idea what a 'premortem' is
or what form that takes in your app; its value is still a complete unknown to
me even after visiting your site and blog.

I don't see any unique value proposition that offers me value. For those who
understand what a 'premortem' is they might find it valuable but I cannot even
begin to understand it nor do I find it necessary to invest time enough to
find out because I don't understand its value. In the words of Clayton
Christensen, what job is it accomplishing? When I walk by a restaurant that is
new, I have no idea what the food might taste like but at least I know what
value food offers. In this case, I don't even understand the value that
'premortems' offer.

So, I would offer the following suggestions:

1\. Give a clear, one line explanation of what can be achieved with a
'premortem' (i.e. what job is getting done; more successful projects doesn't
count as a tagline because it gives no explanation of what that means. You set
X = 'Premortem' and Y = 'Successful project' but there is no explanation given
of the correlation between X and Y.)

2\. Give a clear demonstration of that being achieved with an example
'premortem' (i.e. how the job is done with your site)

3\. Show pictures/screenshots of that being done (There is currently too much
reading to be done on the site)

Once again the name is interesting enough to get me to write this explanation.
Thus, there is at least minimal value in the name. I'm intrigued but purely by
curiosity. The curiosity is simply a vessel waiting to be filled in order to
create value.

~~~
_jss
Wow! Thank you. This is really awesome feedback.

I really did drop the ball on that, this is the second person to bring that
up. I intended to record a video for the launch explaining it (Premortems in
60 seconds) but couldn't find a mic.

I think my favorite post explaining Premortems is on the iDoneThis blog:
[http://blog.idonethis.com/post/43078049631/the-perks-of-
cons...](http://blog.idonethis.com/post/43078049631/the-perks-of-considering-
your-plan-dead)

Again, thank you so much for your great feedback. I really appreciate the time
you spent writing it up.

I only spent 3 days on the app so far, it's a weekend project for me, so I'll
be making these changes soon (hopefully this coming weekend)

------
_jss
The story of building this app is interesting. I discovered the premortems
technique the weekend before last, and challenged myself to build an entire
app in 3 days with a full infrastructure (monitoring, customer service,
marketing plan).

------
huhtenberg
> _even anonymously to avoid political reprisals!_

May want to trim off newrelic and google-analytics snooping scripts from your
site then.

~~~
_jss
The point is that the board owner cannot see who raised the individual
concerns, not that it isn't stored.

People who wrote concerns can go back and edit, but it is hidden from view.

Also, you cannot flip an Anonymous board to "Show Names" after concerns are
raised.

