

Show HN: I suck at remembering names, so I built an app to help - tomasien
http://wehighfive.com

======
marknutter
The best way to remember people's names doesn't require an app or any
technology to speak of. When you meet someone, key in on their most unique,
memorable physical feature or personality quirk. Come up with a quick story or
catch phrase that revolves around that feature. The weirder the feature and
the story, the more likely you are to remember their name.

For instance, you meet John. John's eyes seem like their closer together than
most people's eyes are. So you could say to yourself "John, John, stared at
his nose for too long". Every time you see John and his funny close-together
eyes, you'll remember the story you made up and thus remember his name.

Once you get good at this you'll never forget another person's name. It works
like a charm. I find it helps to make the stories especially strange or even
offensive. The more of a caricature you can create in your mind about them the
better. Just don't accidentally say what you're thinking out loud :)

~~~
IanCal
> For instance, you meet John. John's eyes seem like

By the start of the second sentence I've already forgotten the name.

~~~
nsxwolf
This is my problem too. When someone introduces themselves to me, I can feel
their name slipping out of my brain seemingly before they've even finished
saying it.

An app would not help me. "Hello, I'm..." "Wait! Hang on! Let me launch this
app... ok, go ahead!"

~~~
_mulder_
I know just what you mean. Often, when meeting people for the first time,
there is so much else going on to take in and remember (their company/job/what
I'm going to ask them/what they're asking me/the name of the person next to
them) that the name just drops out of my head instantly.

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networked
Good idea. Do make an Android version! Also consider letting the user add
photos and _custom fields_ to contacts (those could range from "research
interests" to "hair color" to "college class" to "favorite drink" and so on),
not just an unstructured, unsearchable mess called "notes". If you do decide
to support custom fields do not force every contact to have every kind of
field.

\--

However, (and I think I speak for a lot of people when I say this) what I'm
really waiting for is the obvious "ultimate" solution to this problem: an
augmented reality device and app combo that would show people's names hovering
above their heads. Making the names "glanceable" would make a huge difference
and there would be potential for a lot for extensions. Add
research/technological interests in highly visible large letters and
conferences suddenly get a lot more interesting; add "going to <city name>"
and it's a hitchhiking app; add "single" and it's a dating app (use at your
own peril); add selectable multilingual subtitles (e.g., at an official
speech) and it's a live translation app, etc.

I wonder if this could somehow be made viable without advanced augmented
reality glasses.

~~~
sillysaurus2
_an augmented reality device and app combo that would show people 's names
hovering above their heads._

Being able to tag people with whatever phrase you wanted would be hilarious.

~~~
networked
For a darker turn add a friend or foe identification system to that and it
could become very useful for all sorts of gang activities.

------
dalore
I had an idea for a similar app, perhaps you can incorporate my idea into
yours. My idea was when you write down their name, it also saves the available
wifi mac addresses it sees in the vicinity. Then when you see someone again
somewhere else you can look at the app for names that might be them (based on
the visibility of wifi mac addresses).

The theory is that people carry a phone on them that is unique and is often in
wifi mode trying to make a connection which broadcasts the mac. So when you
record a contact, one of the visible mac address might be them. In a new place
it sees what mac addresses are around and loads up your contact list based on
what addresses were visible at the time.

~~~
tomasien
I'm not sure I follow - what information would the wifi signals nearby where
you met them give you? Or would it be that hopefully they have their phone
again when you see them, and it will know who they are that way?

~~~
dalore
Most people will have their phone with them. So the app will use the id's it
can currently see vs the one it saw when it recorded the contacts it will
cross reference and show you possible contacts.

------
kylelibra
Rapportive is another app that people might find useful if they have this sort
of problem. It is a plugin for gmail that pulls in social media profiles to
attach a name to a face when emailing with someone.

[http://rapportive.com/](http://rapportive.com/)

------
speedyrev
How about a text field that allows you to write something about them. "Dude
with weird hair, works for Widgets Inc. Said he was divorced but had a
daughter in college." Then make that info available when he calls me.

~~~
tomasien
Love it. Almost put that in there for the first version, but we were intent on
making this MVP

------
Etab
Nice work.

My first reaction was, "Huh? Why not just use your phone's built-in Contacts?"

But then thinking about it for a minute and watching the very helpful video
demo on the homepage...

I like how you can open the app and start entering info. Much better than
fiddling through Phone or Contacts app. Really nice touch on including the
location.

Seriously -- good job, Tommy!

~~~
tomasien
Hey thanks! I'm sure a lot of people will have the same initial reaction -
it's a very simple app that does, what I thin are, some very powerful things.

------
theboss
Wait? These are TheCitySwig guys? Just to let you know your last website was
so horribly insecure. It was like a whois who of Owasp Top 10 issues. Just
letting you know in case you build something like that again...

On topic of WeHighFive, I think it is a stupid idea. Takes one more step away
from the paradigm of 'face-to-face' communication.

At the very best, you're saving 30 seconds of time writing the text message,
and wasting 3 minutes looking through all the texts you have to remember the
person's name.

Either ask the person their name again or say it a couple times in your head
when you first meet them. With your app, when I re-meet someone, I have to
look at my phone and figure out who they are again.

~~~
ScottWhigham
Downvoted for the unnecessary negativity x2. Fine, you think it's a stupid
idea - just move on and close the tab then. Your opinion is just that: one
person's opinion. If you want to offer the guy feedback on his app, go for it.
But there's just no need to comment on HN on every app/idea you don't
like/hate/think-is-stupid with "I think it is a stupid idea." Surely you have
better ways to spend your time (as do I).

~~~
theboss
Ha. Thanks.

Isn't the point of this to save time or remember someone's name. Actually
think about how your interaction with another person would go and how this app
fits into that....It makes the interaction awkward and you probably won't even
find their text message in time (your messages screen is a most recently used
list...the message will be buried).

Where is the plus side? I think the idea is stupid. If they like they are free
to prove me wrong and show me it is a good idea.

edit: I think sugar coating opinions so they have to be positive is pointless.
Maybe me saying the app is stupid helps them realize some problem with their
app that helps them improve it and make it much better (and then prove me
wrong).

If we were to Sugar coat all feedback then the feedback of horrible products
will be indistinguishable from good products which makes it pointless.

~~~
tomasien
I really don't mind the feedback. If you don't get the use-case, you don't get
the use case. No offense taken.

------
tomasien
Tommy - creator here. I'd love any ideas about how the app can help you
exchange and remember names better - but to start, it indexes by Time and by
Location, so you if you remember where and/or when you met somebody, this can
help you remember them!

I built it for myself, but some friends helped me make it into something
anyone can use. Looking forward to the feedback!

ANDROID USERS - if you like the concept id love to hear from you, if it seems
people want it I'd love to make an Android version

~~~
CraigJPerry
I just switched to an Android phone so apologies if this is old news, but as i
make a call to people it pops up their last Facebook status on the dialer
screen.

I can appreciate this may sound like a total waste of time but i've been
grateful of it so many times now!

The effect is almost like my phone could read my mind and it's saying
something like "ohh, you're going to talk to so-and-so? Well here's something
current to talk about!"

~~~
InAnEmergency
For a long time my friend's last Facebook status was that his dog had died.
Really depressing.

------
discardorama
I used to be bad at names. Now I've become somewhat better. What's helped is:
when I hear their name, I say it back to them: once loud (as in, "Hi John!
Nice to meet you."), and several times after that in my mind ("that's John, I
just met him"). I'll revisit his name a few times with increasing delays in
between, and after a couple of iterations, it's baked in.

Another thing that helps: if you notice something weird, latch on to it
immediately. It could be anything: something he's wearing or about his voice
or his looks (a guy I met recently had a Facebook style t-shirt with a thumbs
down and "meh" instead of the 'like'; I made a note of it, and now, even a
couple of weeks later, associate him with that t-shirt). These techniques have
helped me remember names of up to 20-25 new people in a night of socializing.

~~~
purplelobster
Spaced repetition at work. Works great for me too, whenever I actually
remember to do that, but sometimes I'm just caught off guard and instantly
forget their names, but I'm not too embarrassed to ask again if I think I'll
run into this person again.

------
chromaton
My current system is a plain text file that I can open with one tap on my
phone's home screen. I started keeping track of the people I met after reading
How to Win Friends and Influence People.

This might be a step up, thanks!

~~~
tomasien
Hope it helps you out!

------
henryaj
Damn. I was thinking of building something like this! (More specifically, I
imagined the UI flow would involve getting the person to take a photo of
themselves.)

Seriously, this is a great idea.

~~~
reddit_clone
It may all be moot when(if) Google glass get popular.

I expect an info-bubble will appear when you see someone through the glasses
and tilt your head in an inquiring manner.

------
acallwood
I think Speedyrev2 hit it on the head. A notes section makes too much sense.
"Cute girl, bitchy freind, etc etc". That functionality makes it even more
interesting than it already is.

------
henryaj
Hey, this doesn't work in the UK, despite being on the UK iTunes Store - it
won't accept a UK phone number (it's too many digits).

~~~
tomasien
OH hey I did absolutely not think of that. International numbers are 11 digits
is that right? Or what is it?

~~~
gbl08ma
Depends on the country. But really, why do you need to know? Just set a high
limit, like 20 or 30 digits.

~~~
tomasien
There's a UX thing that is really nice right now that is limiting the number
of characters, it does a button animation when and drops the keyboard when
you're done filling out the contact. I'd like to find a way to keep it, but
maybe I'll just do an international version that doesn't have that and set the
limit to whatever.

------
jlsync
I've got the same problem, the app I built
[http://Big.first.name/](http://Big.first.name/)

~~~
tomasien
A different side of the same problem!

------
Brajeshwar
Other good apps doing somewhat similar stuffs;

* [http://evernote.com/hello/](http://evernote.com/hello/)

* [http://www.refresh.io/](http://www.refresh.io/)

~~~
tomasien
Evernote Hello was my inspiration for this actually! I really, really disliked
it very, very much and I'm a big Evernote fan. It needs to be simpler, IMO - I
want to drive user input toward 0 if I can, let the app do the work.

Thanks for sharing! I haven't seen refresh.io

~~~
jasonlotito
Just want to back up your statement. Evernote Hello is one of those "Wow,
that's awesome to look at" but was painful to use. To much work and effort for
what needs to be a fast and simple thing.

~~~
tomasien
Thanks! Hope you like High Five better.

------
rafaelordaz
I like the simplicity of the app, just the right number of field. I couldn't
find a suitable name for the location I was. Can I edit the location name?
Where is the app getting the location names? (Maps, Google Maps, foursquare?)

~~~
tomasien
Foursquare. I'm going to add a field where you can just make a new location on
the spot so you can call it anything you want - "Joe's Party" for instance.
Whatever would be helpful for you. That'll be at least one of and possibly the
only thing in the next update.

------
jonaldomo
I love the screencast on the site. Is there a tool you used to get that going?

~~~
tomasien
Is there ever! I used Reflector to mirror onto my screen, Quicktime to screen
record my laptop, then MPEG Streamclip to crop it, then an online converter to
convert to OGV for Firefox!

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msane
How does it work? I'm reluctant to click to try it out because the mobile page
didn't explain enough about it / don't know what I would be getting.

~~~
tomasien
You add contacts to your phone and it adds them based on where you met them
and when you met them. You can also send a really easy text back to them with
your information auto-populated.

Then, if you remember where or when you met somebody, you can more efficiently
remember their names! Check out the non-mobile site, it has a really quick
video that shows it.

------
tomasien
Did this just get UN-flagged? It's back on the front page now. Anyone ever see
this happen before? That's pretty weird in my experience.

------
tomasien
Hey whoa - did this get flagged and booted from the front page? Any reason?

