Some great feedback, guys. Thankyou for contributing and sharing. I'm happy and surprised by how well it has been received, it suggests that there is a genuine need there that needs to be fulfilled.
I figure that many people on Hacker News are probably having similar issues that they are trying to solve independently, or have already solved. If we can share our solutions, we can get to where we're going much faster. The reason this will work is because we're all in the same mindset and want to see each other succeed.
I only went with the Google spreadsheet because I was short on time. So how's about we brainstorm it a little and see what we can come up with to make it really helpful? I might export what's already in there and put into more of a web app.
So let's address some of the issues together.
1. "It's going to fall into the background when it falls out of HN's attention."
I was hoping that if everyone shares the link on Twitter/Forums/wherever, then it would generate enough circulation to be self-sustaining.
Assuming that's not the case, how else can we encourage people to keep going back to the list and contributing/helping?
Some ideas:
A. Ask PG if we can actually integrate something with HN so that people DO get rewarded karma for both sharing the link and solving people's problems.
B. Turn it into a knowledge portal where you can find out how other people solved the problem you're trying to deal with, be it technical, business, personal, etc.
C. Make it a pre-payment system whereby you MUST share the link and/or help someone with a problem before you can post your own problem up.
2. Should the multiple choice answers be "select one or more options"?
3. Should there be a "Bump this one up" for people who are experiencing the same problem so that the "greatest pain" bubbles to the top where it's obvious that it needs the most solving.
4. Should there be a "I'd be willing to pay for a solution" for when you find a problem that you too are having, but the original poster said "I can pay you in Pizza/Karma"?
5. Should there be a better interface for browsing/searching through other people's problems? What would it look like?
6. Is there a way of making it easier to read for the people dropping in from Twitter, forums, etc?
7. Do we want a system whereby you can post up your skills so that you can offer to exchange services/skills?
Over to you.