

Maily: Your Kids' First Email - jentulman
http://www.maily.com/

======
jawns
I've been thinking about how you might go about designing an email account for
non-readers.

The target audience, I guess, would be kids in the 2-5 range, but I guess more
generally, it would be anybody who can understand a language but not read or
write it.

Obviously, for kids, you would want more of a "pretend" email account than a
real email account, but it would be cool if the basic functionality were
there, so that a kid could send a cute little "Hi Mommy" or "Hi Daddy" message
to a parent who's away at work or traveling.

I guess the best interface for it would be a touch-screen tablet, which is a
little more intuitive than using a mouse to click.

Because the intended users wouldn't be able to read, they would have to be
heavily guided by voice prompts.

Maybe it would go something like this:

(email app loads up)

Voiceover: If you would like to _send_ an email to someone, tap the picture of
the disco-dancing pony. If you would like to view the emails you have
_received_, tap the picture of the hula-hooping pterodactyl.

(kid taps the disco-dancing pony)

Voiceover: Here are pictures of some people you can email. Tap the picture of
the person you want to email.

(kid taps the picture of his dad)

Voiceover: Now, it's time to record a video message for Dad. When the giant
roller-skating ice cream cone appears on the screen, you can begin recording
your message. When you're finished, tap the screen.

(kid records a short "Hi Dad!" video message)

Voiceover: If you want to replay the message you recorded, tap the picture of
the elephant in the hot tub. If you want to re-record your video message, tap
the picture of the bacon strip doing jumping jacks. If you're happy with your
recording and want to email it to Dad, tap the picture of the unicycling
weiner dog.

(kid taps the weiner dog)

Voiceover: Great! Your video message has been emailed to Dad. Hey! You just
received a new email from Grandma. If you're ready to view it, tap the picture
of the monkey modeling ladies' hosiery.

(kid taps the monkey)

Voiceover: Here is the text of Grandma's message. If you'd like me to read the
words for you, tap the picture of the transcendentalist turtle.

------
tomdeakin
Having watched the video my first thoughts were why can't (for eg) the child's
grandma reply using her email client. Why does grandma have to login to the
website?

~~~
connortomas
I presume one reason (as suggested in the video) is that Maily wants to
promote "kid-friendly" email replies. I imagine kids (particularly the very
young) would find it more fun to receive a visual reply than a standard email
reply.

~~~
ebzlo
An account is still a barrier. They could create a "click to read and respond"
link that contains an access token.

------
brackin
Great idea and name. My only criticism is for it to be really smart I'd love
to be able to reply without having to login to maily. That would really become
like a safe version of email. Another would be for the child to be able to
request to add a contact (like a friend) where the parent is sent a
notification with the email and a note.

The other thought would be an iPhone app. The iPad was definitely a smart
place to start with but I know a lot of kids (maybe slightly older) have iPod
Touches with parental settings on, these are replacing the Nintendo DS and
goes everywhere with them.

------
tomgalle
Site is having difficulties indeed :) Demo video can be seen here:
<https://vimeo.com/40147990> Download here: <http://goo.gl/umkig> Thanks!

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jvdh
Pro tip: make sure you have enough processing power and bandwidth available
before you post things on HN :)

    
    
      503 Service Temporarily Unavailable

~~~
d0de
Any stats on how big the typical HN traffic spike is?

~~~
dangrossman
#1 on HN for almost a full day: ~21,000 visits and at peak 815 people with the
site open at once.

~~~
d0de
Huh. Less than I thought, somehow.

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DavidAdams
Free copyediting: You've got a "grocer's apostrophe" on your more info page:
photo's --> photos

<http://www.maily.com/Learn-More>
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apostrophe#Superfluous_apostrop...](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apostrophe#Superfluous_apostrophes_.28.22greengrocers.27_apostrophes.22.29)

~~~
peapicker
Yeah, that drives me nuts when I see it.

------
creativityhurts
A small suggestion for the website: always show the scrollbar because the
transition is pretty annoying otherwise.

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brador
Interesting concept, questions:

Who will kids be emailing? can they email anyone? can anyone email them?

How would you get signups for something like this?

~~~
slig
I couldn't find that too, so I watched the video. Very well made and answer
all those questions.

~~~
brador
Site was not loading before and now I'm getting a 503.

~~~
tomgalle
Website problem fixed! Sorry for the trouble.

------
volaski
This is a "drawing app", not an "email app".

~~~
marknutter
Kids are more likely to draw an email than to type one. It sends an email when
they hit send, and it receives emails from people the kids can view. Why
exactly does this not qualify as an email app?

------
pixelcort
Looks like this is being run from Belgium. Do COPPA laws affect US children
that may try to use this service?

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troels
This looks like a good idea. I could certainly see myself using this. It isn't
clear from the presentation, but it would be a real annoyance if it only works
with ios, as this puts a limit on who my son can mail with this app.

~~~
tomgalle
Only ios for the moment, but non-iPad users can use the web dashboard to
communicate with kids they are close with. Android development foreseen in the
future!

------
drallison
I believe the maily folks should do some market research and learn more about
their target users. Computer savvy kids will, I suspect, find this product too
simplistic and condescending.

------
simon
I love this idea. I have some pre-teens that I would love to allow to send
more email while having control over who they can reach.

Any plans for other than iPad?

~~~
tomgalle
Glad you like Maily! We're planning to develop an android version in the
coming months.

~~~
michael37
Another +1 for non-iPad application. Kids love sharing information, but even
young reading kids can't type well.

I'd see as much value in HTML5 in-browser app as in Android tablet app.

~~~
simon
Yes, a browser version, even without the drawing stuff, would be great. A
walled garden that I can let my kids use while they get used to that big old
outside world. Not trying to over-protect, but expose gently.

------
dyeje
Great job, felt like a really polished pitch. Loved the video. I wonder if the
would kids ever get weary of seeing the same images in their parents' replies?

------
lewisflude
Scrolling isn't working for me! Chrome Version 23.0.1271.10 dev.

But I love the idea. :)

~~~
lewisflude
Working now! Love the idea even more, great work on the video.

------
rglover
Cute idea. Checked out the video linked in the comments, looks like a fun app
for kids.

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twodayslate
Hook it up to Google apps and this would be great.

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evolve2k
Anyone want to give a summary for lazy readers?

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kirklove
Really well done, great job and best of luck.

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mattrandle
A good idea. They should be charging for it.

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cocoflunchy
Nice domain name! Did you buy it long ago?

~~~
tomgalle
We bought the domain name about a year ago for an acceptable price :)

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wanghq
Nice done! To UX/UI designers who are excited about Maily, contact me
(wanghq@twitter) pls. You could make the next brilliant app too. (sorry for
the spam)

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alan57
I think kids spend way too much time on phones, tablets and computers. I want
my kids playing outside, not staring at a screen.

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BostX
This is Tom. One day Tom realizes instead of siblings he's been having
gadgets... Great work guys.

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joaquinzrr
i like it :D

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hayksaakian
Finally something that really 'disrupts' email.

~~~
ryangilbert
no.

