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Comment by aschearer | Hacker News Reader

Always impressed by people who have strong opinions about calendaring software. Personally, I can't get excited about that stuff. That being said, I think this is reasonable advice. Reminds me of Seth Godin's Purple Cow. In my opinion, people want something authentic, and being opinionated is one way to come across as such.

It also reminds me of Subnautica's (and Klei's) idea of being a "spikey bubble"[1]. You've got to have some spikes/opinions if you want to stand out.

[1]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fkjY_R7zQsM

PS. It's strange to have "About the Author" but no name, don't you think?

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I agree. "Makes scheduling collaborative instead of a nuisance." Isn't really a strong opinion.

Here's a strong opinion (though not a purple cow): "All scheduling should be done by phone with a physical person." Which is pretty much true for every medical office everywhere.

Here's a purple cow and strong opinion: "All scheduling should be done via blockchain." Since what we really need is an immutable record of meetings... There's no reason for this, but I'm sure it'll get attention (and funding).

I'm being cynical, but altogether agree with you. It's worth being different.

Eh maybe cynical, but I would say you're right. There is a lot more nuance and detail to positioning yourself as a competitor to a company that already has huge market share. Sometimes having a small but important opinion is all you need, but sometimes you really have make a bet like your reference and really differentiate.

The examples of strong opinions are really poor in the article. The one you've quoted isn't an opinion at all - nobody would prefer a nuisance over collaborative scheduling!

It's a shame because I do agree with the premise. Opinionated software is easy to use and therefore quickly carves out a niche with like-minded users.

We often hear about unpopular opinionated product decisions, but would love to read some good real examples where the PM has gone out on limb and it paid off.

> Which is pretty much true for every medical office everywhere.

Less and less so in Germany. And I love it, online appointment systems are far superior.

I think you misunderstood...

The way I understood the article, the mentioned calendar software `Makes scheduling collaborative instead of a nuisance.` by having strong opinions about how a calendar should work, and building those into the product. The quote "Makes scheduling collaborative instead of a nuisance." is not supposed to be an example of an opinion.

I heard someone phrase it as "Your user wants to be the hero of the story" and if the opinions you have chosen align that is a good shortcut to getting there.

Thanks for those other references. Going to go check them out.

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