
Show HN: I'm bootstrapping my company and this is my first product. Thoughts? - ktusznio
http://www.myminutesapp.com
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ktrgardiner
On an aesthetics note: pick a cleaner, more serious font than the script. It
shows that you mean business with your app and it's meant to be used seriously
rather than as a fun one-off.

On a consistency note: the examples in your copy should match those in your
example image. You have 30 min for exercise and 1 hour for emails in the image
but they're the opposite in your copy.

The app looks good though and quite useful. Might I also suggest, instead of
listing all the features to have them displayed around the image with arrows
pointing to what they're referring to. Context can make all the difference,
especially with a long page.

~~~
ktusznio
Changing the font to something more professional is at the top of my list. I
made a conscious decision to give the app an informal feel but I agree that
that was mistake.

I'll also fix up the examples and look into a more efficient page layout.

Thanks for the feedback!

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j45
I like how you have the 'at least' and 'at most'. There are things with no end
in sight but need an hour a day.

It might be fun to play the background music of your video while the clock is
running in the app, it reminded me of a Sega Outrun feeling for some reason
and might help in gamifying speed.

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ktusznio
Quick pitch: It's a time tracker with a robust goal-setting system that allows
you to set up 'at most' and 'at least' goals. Spending too much time in your
inbox? Set up a 'Do at most 1 hour going through email' goal. Want to work
more on your side-project? 'Do at least 2 hours of side-project development'

I found this method of goal-setting to be pretty helpful for me both in
maximizing time spent on things I want to do, and minimizing time spent on
things I do that I'd rather not. What do you think?

Here are some free promo codes for those hesitant to take a closer look:

    
    
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Please comment if you take one so I can take it off the list.

I'd love feedback on just about anything: design, execution, features, etc.

Thanks so much for taking a look!

-Kamil

~~~
hitsurume
Personally I find it weird looking at my phone each time to mark off a task
done and starting a new one. Its like a stopwatch on my phone.

~~~
ktusznio
That's sort of the idea. The main selling point is to find out where your time
is actually going. If that's not interesting to you then yeah, the app doesn't
make much sense.

For myself, that's something I wanted to know so I built this. When I first
started working on my company I was spending a lot of time doing random
research and reading, and not enough development. Of course, I didn't find
that out until I actually quantified where my time was going.

I then added the goals feature to wean myself off of the time sinks and
towards the more valuable stuff. I found it helped me achieve a more balanced
time allocation for productive vs. unproductive tasks.

Also, the simple procedure of setting up the goals made me way more conscious
of where my time was going, which I thought was valuable.

------
dbecker
The web page could be much more reader friendly (and less about you).

Specifically, the reader shouldn't have to search around the page to get a
clear picture of what the app does. The top section of text (The Mission) does
very little to explain the app. It says that you built this app to scratch
your own itch (which is nice for you, but which we don't care about)... and it
asks your readers for favors before we even know what the app is.

I'd dramatically shorten this. At the very least, the features section should
go ahead of the request that we tell our friends about it.

I know this page is just something temporary to get the word out, but it will
be more engaging and effective with small changes to make it more reader-
oriented.

~~~
ja27
I'm curious why you didn't use the stock iTunes app store badge. That might
convert slightly better if you get some site traffic.

You should make sure to go through AppCod.es preso on app store SEO. I am
regularly amazed at how bad my competitors are on their app keywords.
<http://www.appcod.es/>

You should go sign up with LinkShare and whatever the other iTunes affiliates
are and work out your affiliate link from your site. 5% of the sales through
your site might not be much now, but it's free money.

~~~
ktusznio
Awesome, thank you.

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georgecalm
Well, I can see that this app is going to be useful for me (assuming I don't
forget to use it). Thanks for making it! A few comments:

\- I'd like to start multiple tasks at the same time (like running, and
listening to music--done at the same time, but have different limits)

\- Make the granularity of time equal in 'Today' (curr min: seconds) and
'Goal' (curr. min: minutes)

\- 'Goal tracking' on/off was a bit confusing, I think because it's on the
screen that manages the goal and not on the one that creates it.

~~~
ktusznio
> I'd like to start multiple tasks at the same time (like running, and
> listening to music--done at the same time, but have different limits)

I had support for multiple tasks at once in an early build, but I decided to
nix it to reduce confusion. I couldn't think of any compelling use cases that
were hindered, and lots where running multiple tasks would cause confusion.
Hope that makes some sense.

> Make the granularity of time equal in 'Today' (curr min: seconds) and 'Goal'
> (curr. min: minutes)

You're probably right here. Time input methods should be uniform.

> 'Goal tracking' on/off was a bit confusing, I think because it's on the
> screen that manages the goal and not on the one that creates it.

Good call. I'll be rework the UI a bit to make that clearer.

Thanks for the feedback!

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planetpron
I have an Android but would love an app like this. Are you working on an
Android version?

~~~
ktusznio
Not currently but if there is interest I definitely will. I've had a number of
requests for now so you're not alone.

~~~
ja27
My experience: There's always interest in an Android version, but rarely
enough sales to justify porting the average paid iOS app. The only likely
benefit to you would be having those Android apps in your portfolio if you
need to do consulting work.

------
Irishsteve
You could allow for a pomodoro time metric perhaps? (Instead of 45 minutes for
X, I can spend 2 pomodoros) that way you can piggy back into that particular
community.

Would also be handy to store info on a web interface so I can work on it from
my computer.

~~~
ktusznio
Web interface is definitely something I'll get to if the app gets enough
traction.

I considered adding Pomodoro time, but opted not to for the launch to keep
things simple. I may make it an extra down the road.

Thanks for the feedback!

------
kenotic
I love productivity apps that truly help you manage what you do. I have not
tried this yet, but I will and let you know what I think. On the surface it
looks to be a winner.

~~~
ktusznio
Thanks for the kind comment. :)

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thatusertwo
I've been looking for an app like this I downloaded it, I'll let you know if
it works.

~~~
ktusznio
Awesome, thank you :)

~~~
thatusertwo
It would be cool to set hours per a week dedicated to a specific task (job).

I'm a freelancer with 3 clients, each having set hours per a week (based on my
estimation) that need tracking.

It would be cool if it could suggest different schedules that work for the set
hours.

------
luney
Will it track how much time you spend setting up/managing the data in the app?

~~~
ktusznio
I've tried to make that process as minimal and streamlined as possible. I
tried to make getting started with the app as painless as I could!

~~~
luney
Since the primary intent of the app is to help manage where your minutes go
and make the process of managing the app as minimal and streamlined as
possible - have you considered optionally enabling automated time keeping.
Things like how much time you spend on phone calls, using your phone in
general. GPS insights like driving time, time spent at home/office/bar.
Anything that you could reasonably guess given the different features of the
phone?

~~~
ktusznio
Very interesting idea, I hadn't thought about that too much! Would definitely
be fun to build. :)

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mtjl79
I just bought this. An awesome idea, I could really use this everyday.

~~~
ktusznio
Awesome, hope the app helps you out. Let me know if you have anything you'd
like to see in the app!

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jgv
I could see myself or friends using this but why brush script?

~~~
ktusznio
This was actually a conscious decision. I did it to give the app an informal
feel. Basically to distinguish it from the super-serious professional time
tracking apps that are overloaded with features. I could have been wrong
though because I've gotten a few complaints about the font now. I may change
it in the next update. :)

~~~
mvkel
Using a font to give it that feel is the wrong way to go. It makes it seem
like your development approach was informal.

~~~
ktusznio
Good point. I think that has a lot of merit. I'll work on changing the font.
For some reason it has a special place in my heart, though.

