Ask HN: Should We Pivot or Just Move On? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: Should We Pivot or Just Move On?

2 pointsrooshdi9 comments

Hey HN,

A friend and I thought it would be neat if there was a way to share searches with other people, so we created Seekier.com. We were planning on adding more useful features, such as search result recommending, comment suggestions, and other search collaboration tools if we saw some initial interest in the service. However, we have seen none. We promoted the site on any tech blog we could get on, such as KillerStartups and FeedMyApp, and have received little or no feedback, let alone users. We believe in the benefits of search sharing and collaboration, but we don't want to continue working on something that people simply do not want. What do you think HN? Is there potential here? Should we continue pivoting or just move on?

http://seekier.com

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I don't think most searches need collaboration because the search engine gives meaningful results.

For niche stuff, they can go to a Q&A site or site that specializes in that area.

I'd imagine if you did try to build out the site you'd end up with something like mahalo.

Probably time to move on.

Having read your question, I have zero idea what you really do or why this might be useful to me. Maybe that's the problem?

Imagine searching while simultaneously sharing your searches with thousands of people. Now, imagine the amount of insightful feedback and extra information you may discover from those people.

I agree with the original comment - how does this help me find more relevant results, or find what I am looking for more easily?

I think you could increase the usage of your site dramatically if you featured a simple, single example of a use case on your homepage which highlights the sites benefits.

E.g. if I search for a particular camera brand, how will your site be a better experience (for me as a user) than simply doing the same search through Google without using your site?

Currently, it's not possible to see the benefits, features or example usages of the site without first going through a sign-up process.

I'd make these small improvements and seeing any effects before deciding to move on.

Thanks for the suggestions, we appreciate it immensely. We do have to be clearer about how exactly our service benefits users. Concerning your example, imagine receiving personal experiences of the camera you searched for from friends, family, and other followers. You would receive more valuable feedback from people you know and opinions you trust.

It would totally not be useful. When people are searching they are actively trying to find the answer to a question. They don't want to take extra time to comment. Consider:

1) Google's Experimental Search: http://www.google.com/experimental/a840e102.html. They tried making it the default behavior and no one used it.

2) Facebook: you already have a captive audience to ask for advice on non-timely questions.

3) Delicious: people already save and comment on their search results (the parts of the results they care enough about to keep around).

4) Springpad, Evernote, etc: bookmarklets & cross-platform apps let people save links, web pages, and just about anything else.

5) Instapaper, etc: save content for later.

Thanks for the feedback, we appreciate it. In regards to comments, users would be following their friends searches similar to how they follow status updates on Facebook or Twitter. We may just integrate and focus on sharing users' searches with their friends and followers on those networks, since they are already acclimated there.

No way I would want to share my searches with my friends. Far too many personal and private details there; it would be a mess to try to sync up what I might want shared with whom.

We understand your concern and have a "Private Search" button for users who would like to keep certain searches private. You also have the option to make your profile private.

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