Comment by Petersmart | Hacker News Reader

Comment by Petersmart | Hacker News Reader

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My name is Peter Smart. I am the creator of this project.

Thanks for all your constructive thoughts and comments so far. I am 23 and this was a university project that has generated a lot of interest. Apologies it's so slow right now - apparently that the HN effect.

Thanks for your thoughts on the site design. The site has won Site of the Day at Design Taxi and Awwwards. This was really unexpected as I agree there is still more to be done in terms of making the site as intuitive as possible.

However, the most important thing isn't the site design. It's the premise. What can design do - if anything?

I took a risk and set out into the unknown to answer that question. Some days I failed, some days I succeeded. The most important thing is that I dared to try (and when I failed - got up and tried again). It was an incredible experience so I hope you continue to enjoy it.

Pete

Consider adding some of what you just said to your site's 'about' page? It provides really good context. It also will make the audience more forgiving :)

The basic premise of your site - 50 problems in 50 days, is interesting. But the navigation is not suitable. When I first load the site on my screen (1366 x 768) it shows the map with problems 29 and 30 centered. The first 20 or so problems are completely cut off. So it starts off confusing.

Make the grid view the default instead of the map view. Its more user-friendly.

The Narrative button is mislabeled. Call it quotes?

Your site's heading is "Solve 50 problems in 50 days". Reading that I expected to find 50 problems and 50 solutions. As I explored, it became clear that you offer some solutions, but in other cases you share insights about problems (using sweater to hold hot bowls). Which is fine. Its valid to examine the way we look at problems and solutions. But its not the same as you designing a bowl that can be held with bare hands when hot. So maybe get rid of the "solve" part?

The whole project is super awesome and I love it. Really nice work and am excited to see what you do in the future with this ethos!

Peter, I have gone to your site to be presented with something I don't understand.

Please make a splash page which explains exactly what is clickable, and how to use the website, and what the workflow is.

That should be your first UX job. Have fun.

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