RateMySite: [coffee][talk] (San Francisco only right now) | Hacker News Reader

RateMySite: [coffee][talk] (San Francisco only right now)

coffee.gabandgo.com

18 pointsmp3jeep0116 comments

I like the idea but it could use a little sprucing up to become actionable:

1) Let me enter conversation topics. Or just ice breaker topics. In my head the table headings would read: Hi, I'm | @ | on | for | interested in |. Interested in would then be the place for me to dump some suggestion for breaking into a conversation. I could say "Ponies and Unicorns" so that someone would just have something comfortable to say to me other than "uh...hi, i saw your on this website". Or i could put "Communism and the fall of the USSR" to ward of small talkers.

2) I know you probably want to avoid having people log in and junk like that but it would be nice to (optionally) let people log in to their favorite social service (facebook, twitter) so you could pull their profile image and display it in the table. It helps with identifying people.

Sounds like a great idea.

With respect to 1:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coffee_Talk#Discussion_topics

ohhh, I like #2. To expand on it, you could "invite your friends" to join you!

I started this as an interesting way to get people communicating with each other - I'm fairly new to San Francisco, and am always interested in meeting new people to chat with, so I decided to make a site where you can post online that "i'm sitting at a coffee shop, and interested in chatting with anyone around" - then other people can go online and see which coffee shops have people at them - kind of a longwinded explanation for a simple site...I'm hoping the concept makes sense with the minimalist approach on the page. Still need to make a mobile version, I know the JS doesn't play nice with the BBerry, not sure about iPhones - anyone out there that can try for an iPhone?

I like the concept a lot, I'm not so sure on the small and dotted border. I think the small text could possibly work without the border though, for some reason it just distracts me.

Really cool concept though.

Seems to work fine on the iPhone.

You probably have this in mind already, but it would be nice if I could:

- See my entry immediately added to the table (rather than having to refresh)

- Remove my entry. (In case I get a phone call and have to leave before the time is up, or have a change of heart.)

Other than that, I really like the minimalistic design. The dashed border doesn't bother me at all[1] as it gives it a nice hacker feel --- unless that's not what you were aiming for --- and goes well with the [coffee][talk] header.

One thing that I'm not too sure of is the red text on gray background (the column headers). But I can't seem to think of another color that would go better.

[1] Not that I'm a web designer or graphic artist.

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EDIT: Additionally, maybe you should number the instructions at the top of the location page as it gives the impression that you can click on them, like a menu. e.g. On the iPhone I scrolled back up with the word "instructions" out of view, and thought it was a menu.

There also doesn't seem to be a way to get back to the homepage, although that's not too much of a problem since there is only one location.

I have a recommendation for a cool new 3D surround-sound interface that will not require any additional coding. It's called: real life. Try putting down the iphone and laptop and just striking up conversations with people around you. You'll be amazed at how well it works.

Honestly, when I'm at a coffee shop, I normally don't want strangers walking up and starting conversations with me, because I'm normally working. I think this is a good way to basically take down your "Do not disturb" sign.

Even if I realize I have someone in the same coffee shop who's looking to talk to strangers, how do I recognize them short of hollering?

Haha, you have a valid point - slightly easier than a kid yelling "DAD, WHERE ARE YOU?" in a store... I was thinking about that, and thought about adding an "advanced options" tab that will open up a few additional items, like: what color shirt are you wearing? different time limit (preset @ 30min right now) etc.,

The problem is trying to keep it very minimalist and simple though while throwing all those options in the loop

Why not a simple "Tell them how to find you" field, and let the user type in their own quick criteria.

"Ask the person behind the counter for me, they know me", "sitting in the comfy armchair by the door with my laptop and xyz headphones on"

seems like it would stay pretty simple that way.

I like that, does make it easier than a specific like shirt color

And one more thing - if there are any special requests for other cities to throw into this first version, let me know...for all the help you guys at least deserve to get your city put up on the site! I saw a Milbrae and a Palo Alto - any NYC, Boston, etc.,?

I like it! As usual, the issue will be enough traffic to make it worthwhile to post. Otherwise, my interest in posting will trail off over time because of few successful link-ups. "Network effect" relevant here.

Thank you for all the feedback, some great ideas here! Sorry to those who I didn't get to send individual replies back to, the Blackberry gets a little tiring after awhile!

mp3jeep01,

i like it too.

how about getting the list of cafes at yelp?

Also add tags to get an idea what a person's interests are.

by the way, which cafe do you usually work at? i'm up for coworking in the city. msg me at dannyroa _at_ gmail.

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