Comment by smortaz | Hacker News Reader

Comment by smortaz | Hacker News Reader

Parent Full thread

This is why I love HN. Great advice & to the point :). We actually experimented with various msgs & lots of people resonated with the Environmental angle. Here are some mind numbing stats:

1. Over 100,000,000,000 pieces of junk mail per year sent in the US

2. 18 pieces of junk mail for 1 that you actually care about

3. Several -months- of your life spent processing junk mail (!)

4. 100s of thousands of dollars spent by cities (ie, your tax money) on post processing, landfills, etc.

& Nevermind the carbon footprint from manufacturing, processing & delivery of junk mail...

re Description: check!

Cheers,

s

I had no clue what the app did untill I visited the "about" page. Normally I don't have the patience.

The snippet explained me the entire app. Perhaps some of it belongs on the home page.

  How does PaperKarma work?

  The PaperKarma app enables you simply snap a picture of
  your unwanted junk mail, press Send, and get 
  unsubscribed. That's it! Just snap your junk mail away. 
  (In about 24 hours you'll receive a notification that 
  you've been unsubscribed. You can always use the app to 
  check on the status of your unsubscribe requests.)

A video/animation showing the unsubscribe process could also help clarify the purpose of the app.

Those stats are great hooks, but I doubt your potential users would need convincing. You stop spam for yourself first and foremost, that it helps the environment is a nice add-on.

Dang. The general HN feedback seems to be: great idea, lousy initial messaging :). Back to the drawing board. Thanks for the feedback - will update.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com