vdizzle

Slowcial[1], a group chat 3D website, built on low-code.

The motivation was mostly around learning game design, which got out of control trying 3D mechanics to see if an alternative to 'infinity-scroll' was possible.

[1]https://slowcial.notion.site/slowcial/A-Group-Chat-3D-Websit...

In case it could be helpful to have an impression from someone new to SF - just moved here six days ago (to kickoff a personal sabbatical & hobby software project).

Unique experiences so far:

* Cappuccino with goat milk in SOMA.

* AirBnB without host on-premises and tenants have to supply their own tp.

* Strangers patiently wait for you to finish your entire thought before responding.

* Walking the outskirts of Tenderloin as a warzone of filth and garbage then going into a majestic co-working space; the contrast was surreal.

* Decision paralysis - there are SO MANY places to eat that it's been anxiety-inducing to adhoc search for anything on map app.

* Unexpected things have useful apps; riding public transportation downloaded three apps (Caltrain, MUNI, Clipper), using laundromat, sampling various co-working spaces.

* Co-living and social clubs - if finances can be justified, there are surprisingly numerous communities to get immediately plugged into for anyone solo.

Still too early to form an educated opinion, but already disagree with the op-eds that SF lost its charm for tech / startup folks. Compared to what I've experienced across Northeast, Miami, Detroit, and Seattle, I notice that SF simply has so much abundance for things I was seeking as a solopreneur - coffee shops, co-working spaces, people working on personal laptops in middle of day, local discord servers, public tech calendars, and a fall-back safety-net to rejoin employment.

Good luck on your documentary!

I got curious about the way games provide fun, and whether that fun can be ported into use cases like news and discussion websites.

During this exploration, I arrived at some thoughts around user interface[0] and user experience[1], and built a simple prototype[2] to show these thoughts in action.

I'm debating to continue this hobby research - anyone out there interested in gamification & want to exchange notes / keep each other updated?

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[0]Buttons, scrolling, and clicking can be abstracted using game assets, camera system, and fun gestures https://waavg.vlaaaaad.com/#ui

[1]For play to happen, a design needs progression loops, choices with consequences, and aesthetic feedback https://waavg.vlaaaaad.com/#ux

[2]The mechanics of a news website (topics & comments) were used to build a digital houseplant simulation game https://waavg-demo.vlaaaaad.com/demo

That's right - you earn more water as people respond to your comments. I want to see (1) if this mechanism encourages people to write comments with more substance, and (2) lets me easily mark topics which have not been watered in a while for removal.

Creator here. Hi5 is a project I've been experimenting for past few months; trying to use simple game mechanics (ruleset, progression, choices with consequences) to make topic discussions more playful and reduce mental fatigue around getting acquainted with new people (eg. concerns sharing personal info, guilt from ignoring messages, stress around managing multiple convo threads). The tech stack used:

    * 3D assets/interactions: PlayCanvas (WebGL game engine)

    * Frontend/backend/database/deployment: Bubble (no-code web app builder)

    * Landing page about section: Carrd (no-code website builder)

The design is still pretty funky (maybe looks better on mobile?), but this is part of a service I'm attempting[1] to help young professionals recently moved to their city attend events together. Happy to answer any questions about building this game!

[1] https://hi5gang.com/

Wish I could upvote this comment more.

As someone who kept throwing out MVPs every few weeks to painfully discouraging indifference, the term "experiment" finally started to make sense - each attempt kept missing a leap-of-faith assumption being tested, so each failure was discouraging instead of enlightening/iterative.

I think first time startup founders incorrectly assume building an MVP is like logically assembling a lego set (one best practice feature + research + user feedback guarantees people using your MVP more than once). When that logic fails, it's a heavy hit mentally.

For example, sure you know that people pay for babysitters - but can YOU get people to pay for babysitters? Pretty sure that breaks all viability if false no matter how fancy the product, so might be a good starting point designing the "minimal" part of your experiment. Educational literature might benefit from less semantics about definitions, and more teachings about what a good MVP attempt #1 looks like.