cvanvlack · HackerTrans

cvanvlack

no profile record

Submissions

Show HN: A programmer's approach to finding gifts

givetheperfectgift.co

82 pointsby cvanvlackقبل 4 سنوات81 comments

comments

السنة الماضيةdiscuss

Love that you can pull in other open source plugins. Super cool!

قبل 4 سنواتdiscuss

Super interesting.

My family are farmers. I got a PhD in physics, switched to startups and have one successful exit. However family is still a BIG value for me.

I think a lot about the opportunity cost of time and I spent a lot of holidays trying to be thoughtful in the search of a good gift.

A lot of my family realizes the fortunate position we are in. So I have thought a lot about how to share generously, but also authentically, with a keen eye on the fact that time is our only non-renewable resource.

This is why I have focused on gifts as a search/efficiency problem so I can actually spend real time with the people in my life.

Thanks so much for sharing.

قبل 4 سنواتdiscuss

Web app made!

https://givetheperfectgift-app.web.app/

قبل 4 سنواتdiscuss

Alright, now there's no account creation AND no app download.

I had hoped using Flutter would pay off!

I would only recommend trying on a mobile browser. The swiping doesn't work on desktop yet.

https://givetheperfectgift-app.web.app/

قبل 4 سنواتdiscuss

I think I got the web app version working! I had hoped using Flutter would pay off.

Edit: I would only recommend trying on a mobile browser. The swiping doesn't work on desktop yet.

https://givetheperfectgift-app.web.app/

قبل 4 سنواتdiscuss

Yeah! I found your thing when I was looking for options in the gifting space.

For me it's the difference between wanting to outsource and wanting to optimize.

I was never comfortable with the outsourcing because I never felt like it would have been "from me".

Instead I wanted to find a much faster way of winnowing through a category to see if there was something that I thought the other person would like.

قبل 4 سنواتdiscuss

Thank you so much for taking the time to write this.

I originally had generic tags that people could add but no one would ever add a unique tag. It just kept on pushing the suggestions more into the realm of the mediocre rather than into the realm of unique and interesting.

I'm still trying to find ways with the UX to convey "With this design it's not possible for the app to harvest your data".

I think all of us are DONE with tracking and ads. But giving a recommendation is almost impossible without asking about the context and using continual refinement.

I'll keep working on it!

قبل 4 سنواتdiscuss

Looking for one to add to the app now. lol

قبل 4 سنواتdiscuss

It's lower on the mobile website. Link here: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/wk5-TrIPbpk

قبل 4 سنواتdiscuss

Yeah, part of the reason I came up with this is that my family keeps asking me about gift ideas for my wife and kids.

I know what they like. I can answer that question.

What I have struggled to answer is what's out there that matches what they like.

قبل 4 سنواتdiscuss

Using Firebase for the backend.

قبل 4 سنواتdiscuss

                                  &&&&&     &&&%                                
                               &&    &&&&  &&%   &&                             
                               &&&&    & &&,&   &&&                             
                                 &&&&&  .&&&.                                   
                                   &&&&    %&&&                                 
                                     &&&     &&&                                
                             &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&                          
                             &&&        &&&        &&&                          
                              &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&                           
                              /&&       &&&       &&                            
                              /&&       &&&       &&                            
                              /&&       &&&       &&                            
                               &&%      &&&      &&&                            
                                &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

قبل 4 سنواتdiscuss

Thank you so much! I will definitely check it out!

قبل 4 سنواتdiscuss

Yeah, I'm starting to scrape Etsy (there are definitely some on there already).

Shopify stores seem like another big opporunity. It could potentially be the biggest mall in the world and yet I can't find the Shopify stores in my own area to support local.

100% agree on the reminders. I originally had the gift recipients birthday's in there but that was personally identifiable information so I stripped it. People are already too concerned about data collection. I'll likely add a "When do you want to be reminded about this gift giving date" to avoid that whole issue.

قبل 4 سنواتdiscuss

You're welcome!

The framing I have been thinking of is search engines/Amazon are great when you have a keyword.

What seems to be missing is a product discovery engine. How do you search for something that you don't know exists?!

قبل 4 سنواتdiscuss

Oooohhh, I am super curious by what you mean by this. How is gifting culture different outside of North America?

قبل 4 سنواتdiscuss

I totally respect that.

As I have been talking to people, I have noticed people who are frequently shopping and checking out products are WAY more ahead of the game because they are exposed to more ideas.

I hate shopping so this was my way of trying to quickly get at good ideas while quickly removing bad ideas.

I've been thinking a LOT about the user data collection side. The app is pretty explicit in terms of trying to narrow in on preferences. It's kind of a requirement if you are going to help someone find a unique gift. But it still feels a too much like data harvesting. So how to strike that balance?

Right now I believe I have turned off all ad/app tracking (although I am pretty new at this so maybe I've messed something up. If you know more about this than I do and you see something wrong please let me know). As a user, I only want the information I share to be used for THIS purpose. Not to keep spamming me with more ads.

If I could figure out a way to give you more control over your own data would this still be a flop for you?

قبل 4 سنواتdiscuss

Thank you!! There's a lot that's still clunky about it but hopefully I can make it so that it continues to earn a spot on your phone.

قبل 4 سنواتdiscuss

Thanks for the website feedback. I honestly just put it there as a placeholder and was working entirely on the app. Then I realized that for showing on HN the website is the right way to go so I tossed something together.

I'll put a .gif higher up in the website flow to highlight the point of the app and show a more recent version.

Not sure if I should do a real demo or stick with the office though. It's pretty hard to beet...

قبل 4 سنواتdiscuss

Oh man, this reminded me of something super retro about passing around the same gift: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bi9qSKZuvC4&t=1928s