Hunch Ideas

I think this site is totally useless. The posted "questions" are mostly arcane and of little relevance to everyday life. I thought it was fun to answer the personal preference questions, but after that, so what? The navigation of this site is definitely not intuitive. What are we suppose to do here? I had high hopes and spent some time checking this site out to determine if there was some interesting behind the scenes logic going on. Unfortunately, that was not the case. Too bad!

Posted at: 4:24AM on July 3, 2009. [ permalink ]

Sorry you feel that way. I think if you spent more time on the site you'd see that we have many practical questions. For example, we have topics to help you decide what to purchase for pretty much any product category. I agree that some of the "Just for fun" topics are, well, just for fun, and not useful. But I think many other topics are.

The easiest way to navigate is probably to use the search box in the upper right of the screen and type a word (e.g. "car," "tv shows").

Updated at: 10:49AM on July 3, 2009. [ permalink ]

You say in the blog posting that people leave feedback only 40% of the time on the game plays. I probably fall into that category too and here's the reson wjy.

When I'm asking about something I don't know about or I'm looking for a recommendation, I don't really know whether your answer is good or not until I've tried the suggestion. So rather than answering yes or no (because I don't really know yet) I'd love to have the additional options of "This sounds like a good suggestion, I think I'll try it", "I'm not sure, but I'll try it anyway", "I'm not sure and I don't think I'll try it" and "It doesn't sound like what I'm looking for."

I still reserve the No for things I'm sure I won't do or already know I don't like.

BTW I love the site. I think it really gives me a chance to add my expertise, experience and knowledge to others. I like the ability to add questions and results to existing topics and I've already added two topics about things I'm passionate about.

I found out about the site when Caterina spoke at Intuit this week. I hadn't heard about it from anyone else.

Posted at: 1:44PM on July 3, 2009. [ permalink ]

I think it's fine that we only get feedback 40% of the time. As you say asp3, many people using the topic don't know the right answer and so we'd prefer them not to just guess. You bring up a good point about having other options besides just yes & no.

We've played around with more options before, but settled on just yes, no and favorite (which is sort of a super-yes to the result) since that gives us most of what we need to learn from. But maybe it's time to go back and re-examine that decision and offer a range of feedback options.

Posted at: 3:26PM on July 3, 2009. [ permalink ]

I feel that "It sounds like crap" and "It doesn't sound like what I'm looking for" are both covered by no. It's pretty successful for the most part though. I've got to wonder about using the hunch for things that are momentary (like should I go to sleep).

Posted at: 12:45PM on July 4, 2009. [ permalink ]

Agree with @asp3 - it's impossible to answer suggestions definitively. If Hunch tells me I should try listening to an album I've never heard of, how would I be able to say 'yes' or 'no' to that question until I've tried the album?

Maybe a periodic reminder should come up based on answers you got. e.g. "We recommended this album to you a couple of weeks ago. Did you try it? Did you like it?"

Posted at: 10:13AM on July 10, 2009. [ permalink ]

I happen to know that any rap album it suggests I would hate. I also know that if I got a suggestion of an album from Scooter I'd like it. I can answer definitively. I also wouldn't want dozens of popups every time I visit. I happen to know that I can use this new website to search for reviews of products and I can even use it to find samples (or full versions) of almost everything. The link is www.google.com/ let me know how you like it.

Posted at: 11:49AM on July 10, 2009. [ permalink ]

@arenlor-- You can't assume everyone is as black and white as you. Some people actually prefer a diverse spectrum of things (some rap, some rock etc). So having multiple options other than a simple YES/NO makes much more sense, especially when considering what asp3 said about not even having tried items.

Also, assuming you can get reviews about said results doesn't even mean you will like the item. That's basing your own likes against the person/people doing the reviews. I know for a fact i've bought games in the past that had great reviews that I just didn't like, even though they were the kinds/genre of games I generally do like.
More options is always a good thing :)

Posted at: 4:43AM on July 13, 2009. [ permalink ]