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Comment by mntmn | Hacker News Reader

We made 5 or 6 major versions of a similar tool from 2011-now (https://spacedeck.com), in the end it failed to monetize in a significant way. We will probably open-source it soon to provide a continuity path for the (relatively small) core userbase.

Edit: You made some really good UX detail choices: - Grid that snaps on releasing items - Column object (smart!) - Omitting zoom is also probably a good idea (complicates a lot of stuff in the browser: fighting with native zoom, text rendering bugs in firefox etc) - In general being very resistant against feature creep is probably a good idea (in our case, users demanded tons and tons of stuff to be added)

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Thanks! We're definitely trying to keep it pretty simple—Spacedeck looks cool too :)

Get rid of drag and drop and arrange the grid either LIFO or FIFO instead. Let users rearrange the notes after creation. This promotes getting a thought down without distraction while preserving arrangement for a reflection period. Make this awesome please.

Why do you think it has failed to monetize?

These kind of products are nice-to-have and easily substituted by free alternatives, except for very narrow specific niches that need some of the more advanced functionality (in our case, music teachers). For the general user, these tools are also too tedious/involved to be sticky in the long run. Computer tools with nonlinear/nontrivial interaction only work in the professional space were you _have_ to deal with the complex UI to get your job done because there is no simpler substitute. But this is not the case for creative moodboarding etc: you can use paper, whiteboards, random drawing software. My point is, tools like these tend to be too shallow for professionals who would maybe pay (but they would need more pro, expensive/impossible to build features), and too complicated for the casual user who wouldn't pay anyway. "Prosumer" tools like these do not solve a big enough problem/pain to be viable in a meaningful financial way IMHO.

Hm, food for thought. Thanks for the insights.

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