1. "background messenger" = Content is created in the background (ie what you're up to at a high level comes from the phone versus you needing to manually input it), and then you can see what other people are up to before you message them. We've worked on a couple ways to better describe this -- the two components of both creating content passively/in the background, and using that info as a springboard into messaging -- and other ideas were "contextual messenger," "automatic away message," and "passive messenger." It's been tough to find a description that captures those two elements -- any preferences based on those alternatives (or ideas)?
2. Definitely a fair point -- "background messenger" is the quick couple word decriptor (as in, Facebook is a social network), and "A window into your best friends' lives / Waldo keeps you in the loop, all the time" is the value prop we're trying to convey. I think you make a good point, though, that bridging those two needs work.
3. This has been one of the more interesting challenges -- getting away from the notion that it's for spying on / being spied on. The goal of the app is to help you stay connected to the most important people in your life by providing an authentic window into their world, wherever they may be, without them having to manually update all the time.
So we make sure of three things: one, you're only sharing high-level location (ie it's 'Out in SOMA' and not your dot on a map), and you can go hidden whenever you like. Two, there's no feed or history, it's only real-time -- so there's no "where was Tom last Tuesday" kind of thing anyone can do. And three, it's with a close-knit group of people -- it's a very different audience than public/FB friends/Twitter followers, and you can block anyone you don't want.
We're seeing people use it to save a text when coordinating (see if someone's already on their way) and also, more interestingly, to stay in rhythm with people they're close with who may not by nearby -- instead of a 30 minute call to parents or a sibling recounting the week, people use it to feel closer to what those close friends and family are up to when they can't be there, and then have richer interactions when they do connect.
Appreciate you checking it out and the feedback -- hope this helps explain some, and I definitely hear you on explaining the value proposition more clearly. Thanks a lot.
We passively track how you spend your time – you don't have to do anything, and it lets you know where you’ve gone, with whom, and breaks your time into categories (work, sleep, exercise, home, social, etc.).
Thanks for the feedback, and sorry to hear -- our goal in connecting to Facebook is to make it easier to add friends (so you can see how you spend time with people IRL). We could allow for adding via email+pw, but then we run into the problems I outlined above, and having friends on the service would be much more difficult.
I've had apps where I've been hesitant to connect with Facebook, but it's when I'm concerned the app will post to my wall or my friends' walls without my consent -- given that we don't do this, what is it about connecting to Facebook that turns you off? Is it a concern that Facebook would have access to the information in the app (they don't) or something else?
Thanks for the post -- trying to best understand so we can develop the best solution.
Definitely a fair question; you could add email addresses from iPhone contacts, but then we'd have to deal with things like
-name fragmenting (e.g. in my phone, I have 'Dad', you have 'tommy', and someone else has 'tom from bowling'). Facebook provides a consistent ID matched with an email, a first name, and a last name.
-number fragmenting (one person has my work phone, one person has my cell, one person has my home -- we don't want these to be three separate accounts)
-usually, no pictures for any users (and again, fragmentation of pictures in rare instances when you do have a picture for a user).
Facebook is an easy way to quickly get first and last name, photo, and social graph -- there are certainly some limitations, but to make the experience as seamless as we could for the user, we thought building it on Facebook Connect initially made the most sense. That said, there are people who would rather just have a new account on chronos, so we're exploring the possibility of allowing people to create one with an email and pw.
Sorry to hear that Facebook Connect is a non-starter for you -- FWIW, we only use FB to to make adding friends easier; otherwise, people would have to manually enter email addresses, or select Twitter follows (which tends to be a less complete superset of one's real-world social graph). We never post to you or your friends' walls or anything annoying like that.
We're looking for ways to develop a solution that would both allow people to use it without a Facebook account but also seamlessly add friends, and trying to figure out if that's possible. Appreciate your feedback, and sorry that you weren't able to use the app.
1. "background messenger" = Content is created in the background (ie what you're up to at a high level comes from the phone versus you needing to manually input it), and then you can see what other people are up to before you message them. We've worked on a couple ways to better describe this -- the two components of both creating content passively/in the background, and using that info as a springboard into messaging -- and other ideas were "contextual messenger," "automatic away message," and "passive messenger." It's been tough to find a description that captures those two elements -- any preferences based on those alternatives (or ideas)?
2. Definitely a fair point -- "background messenger" is the quick couple word decriptor (as in, Facebook is a social network), and "A window into your best friends' lives / Waldo keeps you in the loop, all the time" is the value prop we're trying to convey. I think you make a good point, though, that bridging those two needs work.
3. This has been one of the more interesting challenges -- getting away from the notion that it's for spying on / being spied on. The goal of the app is to help you stay connected to the most important people in your life by providing an authentic window into their world, wherever they may be, without them having to manually update all the time.
So we make sure of three things: one, you're only sharing high-level location (ie it's 'Out in SOMA' and not your dot on a map), and you can go hidden whenever you like. Two, there's no feed or history, it's only real-time -- so there's no "where was Tom last Tuesday" kind of thing anyone can do. And three, it's with a close-knit group of people -- it's a very different audience than public/FB friends/Twitter followers, and you can block anyone you don't want.
We're seeing people use it to save a text when coordinating (see if someone's already on their way) and also, more interestingly, to stay in rhythm with people they're close with who may not by nearby -- instead of a 30 minute call to parents or a sibling recounting the week, people use it to feel closer to what those close friends and family are up to when they can't be there, and then have richer interactions when they do connect.
Appreciate you checking it out and the feedback -- hope this helps explain some, and I definitely hear you on explaining the value proposition more clearly. Thanks a lot.