Hacker News Reader

Comment by ignostic | Hacker News Reader

Cool idea, but two things that bothered me:

1) There's no easy way for users to browse. 2) The whole "gig" messaging and the entire call to action on the page is painfully confusing. -"Describe your gig." What? Am I in a band? Is this for a "seller" or a "buyer"? -Why do you need a description of "moving"?? "I'm moving." would be my description. What are you looking for here? Couldn't you just have a button for "I'm moving?" -There's just a general lack of context here.

I do understand and don't need it explained, but I guarantee the average user is going to be totally confused.

View on HN

> 2) The whole "gig" messaging and the entire call to action on the page is painfully confusing. -"Describe your gig." What? Am I in a band?

I think this is a difference in regional word usage. I'm accustomed to hearing "gig" used only to refer to a temporary agreement for musicians or similar artistic entertainment, like a single concert or perhaps a tour of concerts. But I have met people from the UK who use it to refer to any job.

I have friends in LA/Hollywood who use the word "gig" when referring to any job of indeterminate length; especially if it pays well. ex: "Oh, man, I'd love to have that gig!"

I'm also from LA - and I'd never use it in that context. I'd never say I'm looking for a gig, I might describe my existing job as a gig.

Interesting... I'm from the UK and wouldn't generally refer to a 'gig' as anything but musical.

E.g. Fiverr 'gig's caused me a lot of misunderstanding the first time I browsed the site

I think it's generally a term to avoid that has been popularised by quasi-hipster tech.

Most probably, the word 'job' or even 'move' would be much less prone to confusion here.

Hey, thanks so much for your feedback! We're working on adding a way for users to browse existing gigs right now!

We chose to go with "gig" for two reasons:

- It's a less formal way to say "job" which could be misleading for drivers looking for work, since most of these moves will be one-off things.

- We looked at the popular sections on craigslist where drivers post their services or users post looking for drivers and those sections are Services & Gigs; so we went with gigs for familiarity.

Maybe something more like, "What do you need a truck for?" Being more specific is generally better.

You may also consider funneling your traffic immediately to separate "buyers" and "sellers." Car sharing services often ask immediately whether you're looking to rent someone else's car or to rent out a car that you own. It's worth thinking about or testing anyway.

Good luck!

Reply on news.ycombinator.com