Hacker News Reader

Comment by spuz | Hacker News Reader

I'm honestly completely mystified what this service is. You say:

"Upload a video" - upload a video of what? "Set a target location" - a target location of what?

Then you give a sample gif which does nothing but confuse me more.

Who is this for? What does it do? Why is it better than the alternative? Is the video generated automatically? If so, how? If not the why am do I need your service at all?

From what I can tell, you upload a video and then create a link for it? Why not just upload the video to YouTube or streamable? It also displays a map with a pin. Why would I not just sent a link to Google maps? You also ask me for my location - why?

I get that it's your first product but I really think you need to look at this from the point of view of someone who knows nothing about the service.

View on HN

I hear your concerns and thanks for taking the time to respond. I will try to work on the messaging

edited: flippancy

Your reply is flippant. I came here to express almost the exact same list of concerns.

Upload a video of what? I believe the answer is of the path between an easily located starting point and the actual final destination, but I'm not entirely clear. You mention unmapped or indoor areas in another reply, but your page needs to make this more clear.

Set a target location of what? I'm actually puzzled by this one. If I'm correct on the first guess then it's presumably either the starting or ending point. However, neither of those makes particular sense. The starting point is easily reached, by definition, and the ending point can't be targeted on a map, by definition.

Your page needs to actually answer the Who, What, Why, and How questions the unfamiliar user will be wondering.

In particular, "we do video magic" is entirely uninformative and is the only explanation of what you're actually offering that might be new. I can already upload a video and provide a map with services I already use.

Something that seems to be a main feature - "let the owner know you're on your way" is hidden in the 'sample' page and unmentioned on the first. From it, I deduce the problem you're solving is last-100-feet for deliveries or visitors.

And why does the 'see a sample' page ask for my geolocation?

Edit: I am actually curious - this might be interesting - and I hope you'll answer these questions here!

Perhaps you should add some extra information below-the-fold:

1) help visitors or deliveries get from an easily-mapped location (the front gate) to their final destination (your door)

2) simply film a video walking or driving the path, and let us adjust its speed into an easily-reviewed guide

3) provide a single, short url with the map, video, and a button to notify you they've arrived

4) perfect for business plazas, college campuses, parks and tourist sites, and unaddressed areas

Take a look at how https://plus.codes pitches itself, since there are plenty of similarities.

This is very helpful thanks!

It might be a bit too wordy. My experience is that people will avoid reading anything. But I will try to get your sentiments across in a video. People like videos :)

Regarding wordiness - that's why you put it below the fold. People who prefer reading know to scroll down to get the textual version instead of having to watch a video.

And that's not saying you have to do pure text without graphics.

You're right in many respects; I'm requiring the users to make a leap from the title of the page 'Gif Directions' to uploading a video, which will become the directions.

I had to strike a balance between short, pithy explanations which make an impact and drowning in waffle.

But as its a v1 I have lots of time to improve, thanks for your commment :)

Same. I skimmed through all comments in this thread and still have no idea what this service does.

From the intro video it seems to be a service that converts a video to a gif.

That's basically it!

Then what's up with the whole "directions" part?

In an answer to another comment you wrote:

> I'm requiring the users to make a leap from the title of the page 'Gif Directions' to uploading a video, which will become the directions.

Maybe you should clarify what you mean with "directions".

Reply on news.ycombinator.com