Show HN: Skuuddle – Arrange face-to-face interactions with online acquaintances | Hacker News Reader

Show HN: Skuuddle – Arrange face-to-face interactions with online acquaintances

skuuddle.com

32 pointssuhas_oodi49 comments

When the description of an app starts like "XXX changes the way you meet new people. XXX is so much more than a social app." then I feel I've come across yet another app where the developers watched The Social Network and recreated... Facebook / Google+ / Bebo / Path / {add an existing social network}?

but adding extra stuff that is missing from these social networks.

Engineering wise I'm sure it's a fun challenge to build something like this, but product wise I can't see how this will get traction.

My advice would be to target a niche group (either geographically or interest wise) if you are going down the social app route. It's a chicken & egg problem getting a community that makes using an app worthwhile.

PS: I wanted to try the app, but the first line of the privacy policy scared me off: "You will not provide any false personal information on the App, or create an account for anyone other than yourself without permission."

Damn right I won't give real data to test run an app I have no reason to trust. Since on the registration screen the only thing to read is the privacy policy, which does an excellent job intimidating me as a person - I guess so much for the test run.

To reinforce your point, even Facebook followed that exact strategy by starting exclusively in ivy league schools. Then expanding to all colleges. Then opening the gates to everyone.

The day it opened to the world was the day it died

Many a startup wishes it could "die" in the way Facebook did :)

Thanks for your feedback, and point taken.

It was definitely fun to build the app, but also quite challenging. More than differentiating ourselves from other social networking sites (or being another one), we're trying to make it easier for users to get offline and meet up in person.

In regards to the privacy policy, we needed to make it more comprehensive to protect users from abuse, as much as possible. Moreover, App store has fairly stringent standards for privacy policy which needed to be met.

I hope you try the app! We would love your feedback on the app itself, as well as the idea

Try to make lingo a bit simpler, I think most people won't get through all the complicated explanations:

> Catching up with Facebook friends has never been this easy or straight forward before.

This does not mean anything to me, does not deserve main spot.

> Download the app to see what all the fuss is about

Maybe go with "Download the app and start meeting friends for real", emphasize what is it actually about.

> Life's too short to sit around at home

This should be at the top of the page

> Skuuddle helps you be the most socially proactive version of yourself.

I can imagine people with blank expressions when they read this. I would re-word that to "Go out and meet people, a lot", ok, maybe not that simple, but you get what I mean.

> Skuuddle helps you turn your acquaintances into friends.

"Skuuddle helps you turn your virtual friends into real ones."

And so on.

It's like tinder minus the fucking, got it.

Maybe that should be their tag line.

> Catching up with Facebook friends has never been this easy or straight forward before.

It already is easy and straightforward, you can do it right on Facebook itself!

How many of us actually catch up with our facebook friends who are not already part of our friend circle? Yet, your facebook friends list is already packed with people who you know (some well. some not so well). So it's a great place to start to expand your social circle and do stuff with people outside your usual groups of friends. The point of the app is to get people to meet up face to face, and your phonebook/facebook contacts are a good place to start, right?

That's really helpful feedback. We're going to rework the content on the website and make it simpler, more straightforward. Cheers.

Any app that tries to make me talk to strangers is an instant no from me. I can do that quite easily without an app and I choose not to, daily.

This is not the case for many people. There are people that need this "catalyst".

This can happen when you move to a new town/country. Or when you're just not socially weired to be open to strangers with easiness.

I mean, an app like this does have value imo. Maybe not this one, but like this. Ie, i'd love to meet other people trying to meet other people, but like online dating, i want the right grouping.

I don't want friends with no common interests. Right there that means going to a bar and making a friend is not likely to fit my profile desire. I could go to a common interest ground, like a sports bar or gaming center, but then i'm with a group of people who are not all looking for friends/etc.

I think there's room in this scape for most people. A dating site for friends. However i'm not sure what good features or UX is needed to wrap this concept in.

I'm trying to start something very similar to what you described. I would love to hear your thoughts on it: https://www.thecoopapp.com

The app collates your phonebook/Facebook contacts and you can create your own groups! You can create groups for people who are good friends, besties or acquaintances. So when you're making a plan to do something, you can send out an invite to whichever group you choose. At that point, invites are sent out randomly (you can also choose instead to handpick who you invite) to those in that group. It's kind of like social potluck. Let serendipity choose who you end up hanging out with.

I think most people (even introverts like me) do want to talk to more random people, they just want a small level of vetting to weed out the complete crazies.

Exactly! People have, on average, 338 friends on facebook. That's a good pool of contacts who are easier to vet, right?

But it's not about getting users to talk to strangers. The app is only meant to help you do stuff with people you already know, but are not necessarily good friends... in other words, people you might have only met a couple of times and find interesting enough to want to catch up with.

Congrats on your launch, nice website and getting to the first page of HN! Some feedback :

1. It took me a moment to figure out what the app actually does. As some other posters suggested, the name doesn't sound very straightforward.

2. I think it's an idea that could be explained very nicely in a video. Happy people, happy places. Everybody using the app.

3. Can somebody explain me (this is not the first time I see it) why so often the download buttons are "download on the app store" and then "get it on google play"? Why a different verb? Is there any implicit reasoning behind it?

I assume it has to do with the official branding of both Google Play and the Apple App Store. The official button images that they've approved use the verbs 'get' and 'play' respectively, and I believe it is probably against their TOS to use non-approved graphics/text/branding for download buttons.

Yep, that's exactly what it is.

Great feedback! thanks!

We're going to rework the messaging to make it simpler, clearer and more straightforward. and yes, a video is something that would go a long way in explaining the app. have downloaded the app? WOuld love it if you used the app and let us know how we could improve it! cheers

I don't understand what is this from your homepage

Skuuddle is an app that aims to expand your active social circle. The app does it by mining your phonebook/Facebook contacts. You can categorize people into groups depending on how well you know them.

When you're making a plan to do something (throw a party, go see a movie or gig, for example), you can send out an invite to whichever group you choose. At that point, invites are sent out randomly (you can also choose instead to handpick who you invite) to those in that group. It's kind of like social potluck. Let serendipity choose who you end up hanging out with.

"Skuuddle helps you be the most socially proactive version of yourself."

Um, what? Also, at least provide some real use screenshots/videos, I'm not going to download some random app and give it permissions to my contact list, location etc. just to check it out. I didn't try this app, but if you want to get any traction (especially in such competitive market as socializing), make a better and more informative landing page. Flyer like product pages only work if you are an already well established brand.

Three points possibly worth considering: 1.) The app should probably have a web interface, trying to get someone to download the app before they sign up may prove difficult. 2.) Social networking is a crowded space, does this one have some kind of angle, some "reason for existing"? 3.) Not sure about the name...Skuudle? What does it mean? This is my most tentative point, there is after all a popular dating site called zoosk.

Thanks for providing your feedback.

- We're using Facebook as the conduit to sign up for the app, and we're hoping that encourages user.

- Our "angle", is social potluck. First, the user categorizes their contacts in groups depending on how well the know them (besties, pals, acquaintances and so on). Then, the user can send an event invite (can be public or private) to one or more groups of contacts. At that point, the invites are sent out to a random set of people in that group and the first ones to accept get to attend the invite.

My making it social potluck, the app makes it more likely that you'll meet up with contacts you might not otherwise make the effort to meet, or might find it a bit too forward to invite.

- we're going to a name that would stick in the mind. something that would be fun to say as well...

This feels like what Meetup does. What makes this app different?

The difference is that, the app enables to manage events, whether public or private. You can use it to organize a party, and find events in your city and send out invites to random subset of your contacts. Kind of a social potluck

Kudos for not messing with scrolling on you landing page!

In a nutshell, an app that shows you which of your contacts happen to pass by close to you or viceversa, so you can socialize in person with them. Is that correct?

I don't think so... Based on http://www.skuuddle.com/#features I'd say:

  - Lets you find people who aren't contacts who happen to pass close by you.
  - Lets you organise events with open invites.
  - Lets you discover nearby events.

You're right and I'm right too. I tapped the link on my phone and went to Google Play. The description there is different and it reads

> Skuuddle is a powerful tool that mines your existing phonebook contacts, Facebook friends, and even acquaintances to expand your active social group.

That seems at odds with the features on the desktop site which I checked right now.

The name could definitely be better. I have to scroll down to the bottom of the page to figure out what the app actually does. A one or two line explanation in the landing area would be great.

Hey congrats on launching your project, regardless of feedback and however it goes you should be proud of the work you and those around you put in, don't forget to reward yourself and reflect on the experience.

---

Feedback, now, it is negative, but please don't take it personally, it's purely intended as an honest, transparent brain dump from when I landed on the page.

1. Rather than telling people something as you see it in the main paragraph - tell them WHY this product is needed in your minds and WHY you made it, I don't think many people are going to read that paragraph to find out why the app exists and why it might be important or valuable to their lives.

2. The front page is very noisey, I didn't know where to look and it felt 'too bright', I don't know why but when I saw the bright baby blue it made me think of either something disposable or something to do with babies / baby care (no idea why!), so the blue makes me think of immaturity for some reason and the yellow makes me think of danger or healthcare for some reason (again, I don't know why healthcare, it's just what came to mind so I thought I'd mention it).

3. Source code - where is it? If it's not open source why? and if it uses some open source components what are they?

4. Privacy / Security information, independent audits or the source code would be useful to instil trust. What data do you store / share / ask for / share with, how and where is it stored and handled (or classified) and why.

5. 'The possibilities are endless' - sounds like lorem ipsum title, from what it looks like the possibilities are actually very limited and that might be fine but saying that this product gives or opens you to endless possibilities, as a side node, I can't see the reason to clutter the page with # tab-like titles that scroll you down just a few lines as the landing page isn't that long, on my desktop for example it's not even 1 full scrollbar from top to bottom.

6. Facebook is dying and quickly, why not integrate with other platforms or do something decentralised / network neutral? When I think of Facebook in 2017, I think of out-of-touch social meetup groups, privacy concerns, a different kind of blue (yes as in the colour), siloed culture and social bubbles. I just don't see it as relevant and I watch as more and more people say similar things every few months.

6. Can you export your 'data' at any time? and if so to what formats / where can I sync it to?

Again, _please_ take this just as constructive criticism, I'm probably not your target audience, I just wanted to give honest feedback and it shouldn't put you off want to improve / change the product, create new products dream of ideas or down right disagree with me - that's all fine and I really hope you keep whatever passion and ambitions you have rolling forward.

About me as some random internet person that saw the site and brain dumped for you: Male, early 30s, works in IT engineering (ops platform delivery in a very devops like culture), I have 330 apps installed on my iPhone 7+, I use macOS on my work desktop and laptop as well as my home desktop, I have a couple of Linux (Fedora) laptops / handhelds and I also have an Oneplus 3 Android phone just for playing with. Location is Melbourne, Australia, Personality is driven leader and enabler, overly outspoken (as you can tell), know what I don't know (which is a lot) and this is now sounding like a dating profile!

Hope that helps in some weird way!

-Sam.

Very detailed post haha!

Anyway, is there any reference to Facebook dying and especially quickly? I don't think that's the case at all and the metrics aren't showing that either as far as I can tell. Sure the HN crowd is against FB. But a small niche is just that.

Sure, Facebook's decline is very widely documented and well studied, I've been tracking it for some time here are a few links that are easily digestible:

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/jan/22/facebook-...

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/facebook-dying-michael-spence...

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3628903/Have-...

http://www.dakinassociates.com/facebook-dying-slow-death/

http://www.business2community.com/facebook/6-studies-show-fa...

http://marketingland.com/facebook-organic-reach-drop-steepen...

http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/technology/2016/04/...

http://etfdailynews.com/2016/07/25/potential-facebook-bombsh...

http://www.cnbc.com/2016/10/13/snapchat-is-king-among-teens-...

http://www.smh.com.au/business/media-and-marketing/facebook-...

https://inewsjournal.com/social-media-may-losing-popularity-...

http://www.techtimes.com/articles/30603/20150203/faceook-los...

http://venturebeat.com/2015/02/27/facebooks-active-users-are...

http://www.businessinsider.com.au/facebook-is-losing-its-gri...

http://www.business.com/social-media-marketing/facebooks-use...

http://www.intadvertising.com/blog/2016/5/16/is-facebook-los...

http://www.gamenguide.com/articles/56737/20161019/facebook-l...

http://www.adweek.com/socialtimes/how-much-longer-will-faceb...

http://www.valuewalk.com/2015/02/facebook-losing-popularity-...

https://www.cnet.com/news/why-teens-are-tiring-of-facebook/

http://fortune.com/2016/04/07/facebook-sharing-decline/

http://au.pcmag.com/internet-products/4605/news/study-facebo... (note: 2014)

http://www.econotimes.com/Wayup-Instagrams-Popularity-Will-O... (note: 2015)

http://www.techtimes.com/articles/148829/20160409/decline-in...

http://www.zdnet.com/article/unfollowing-social-media-youre-...

http://www.theverge.com/2016/4/7/11387604/facebook-personal-...

http://growingsocialmedia.com/facebook-decline/

Why would they provide the source code and export abilities? Do you get access to the source code of facebook, twitter, gmail...? What exactly would you be exporting or syncing if it uses contacts that are already in your address book or friends list?

if by people you mean me as the person evaluating the site and looking for information about the production, I'd want to see the source code to give it a once over to see how / where my data was being handled and if it was a sensible choice to recommend to friends or relatives.

No I don't get the source code for all of Facebook, although they do open source a number of projects, they're widely known or at least suspected of misuse of peoples information and / or meta data and because you can't see the source it's a good reason not to use the platform, and I for one no longer do.

Twitter and google are the same story, they open source many projects and services that run and monitor their platforms, those are trustworthy and it shows an investment in society in general, the bits we can't see however are the parts of I am wary of.

I personally would like to export point-in-time state of contacts before / after sync A) in case anything wrong B) for my own personal trending / information over time

> Catching up with Facebook friends has never been this easy or straight forward before.

Isn't that what Facebooks for?

Not available in your country :(

Canada

Also no web application at launch in 2017? It's a bit on the exclusive side.

It should be available now! Please try again.

> not available in your country.

Where are you located?

canada

Not available in my country (UK)

Not available in the US yet?

If you had two phones one for farming and one for business this would be good for meeting up

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