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It's not live, and it's for the gun owning community. You didn't really need to know that to answer the question though, the basics still remain: do you have a

It's not live, and it's for the gun owning community. You didn't really need to know that to answer the question though, the basics still remain: do you have any advice for dealing with a non-web-savvy audience? Sorry I don't have anything to show right now, though. Wish I did.

revorad 16y ago
Well ok, fair enough. But at least describe it in detail. Non-web-savvy people is too vague. The only thing I can think of for "dealing with" your audience is to go and talk to them and listen to what their problems are. If they match your idea of what their problems are, then tell them about your product. Otherwise, build what will solve their problem. If you're wondering how you will get them online to use your webapp, find out what they use the web already for (email) and use that as a channel to get in. If your audience is people who're not using the web at all, pick another audience. PS A lot of stuff like this gets posted on HN. If you want to get noticed and useful help, be specific and detailed.
- msquared 16y ago
  Thanks for the advice, will take it into consideration. Saw a similar post that made it into the top submissions, figured I'd add my own.
  - revorad 16y ago
    There's a lot of luck involved in submissions getting to the top. All you can do is make it the best possible. Here's an idea: Make a simple landing page explaining your idea with an email sign up form. Submit that as a link, rather than a text post. It will most likely get a lot more upvotes.
msquared 16y ago
I've been doing just that, running each flashy new component by the panel of people with varying web skills. And non tech savvy means just like what it sounds like. Imagine 35+ year olds running antiquated versions of IE. That's my target base.
- revorad 16y ago
  Ok, so clearly you've already got some data from interactions with your audience. If you shared that, you would likely get useful feedback on that. Just because most people here are programmers, does not mean they don't have interests or know people with interests in non-tech domains (guns? ESR?). From whatever little you've mentioned, it seems unlikely you are building a node.js chat box for gun lovers, So, is it ecommerce or a message board?
  - msquared 16y ago
    It's a target score tracking tool, built around aggregating scores, ammunition makes/types, individual gun scores, etc to let individuals track how well they do (in general, with one of their guns, etc) and track performance metrics across the user base to determine which ammo works well, which guns perform best, etc. So, a tracking tool mixed with a social network. I guess. It started as something to help me track my scores and see how I progressed. I made a score calculating algorithm just using Excel that factored in ring size, distance, wind, and a whole load of other factors and it worked really well. I had one of those "this is madness" moments and started porting it into a CakePHP app. There are a ton of AJAX page interactions, UI/UX elements, etc that are very different from what traditional message boards and forums use.
    - revorad 16y ago
      Yeah baby, now we are talking! Ok, so you've already got version 1 of your product in Excel. So, my first question is: have you shared that with any of your audience? Why do you want to make it a web app? Why don't you just sell the Excel workbook itself. Make no mistake - it's a big readymade market. See this for inspiration - http://startupdesi.com/100000-startup-revenue-in-12months/ http://startupdesi.com/100000-startup-revenue-in-12months/. It might at least be a good starting point to get hold of your customer base. Presumably, you can create a much more useful version if it's a webapp. So then, the question is how do you market it to your customers? It's great that you yourself are a user of the app. You exactly understand the pain points of your users. Now, where do these people go to practice their shooting (or whatever the technical lingo is)? Are there clubs? Are you a member of any of them? Can you make a presentation in any of those places? Are there relevant magazines? Newsletters? Have a look at Tim Ferriss' 4-hour work week for ideas on advertising in the right places.

revorad 16y ago

Well ok, fair enough. But at least describe it in detail. Non-web-savvy people is too vague. The only thing I can think of for "dealing with" your audience is to go and talk to them and listen to what their problems are. If they match your idea of what their problems are, then tell them about your product. Otherwise, build what will solve their problem. If you're wondering how you will get them online to use your webapp, find out what they use the web already for (email) and use that as a channel to get in. If your audience is people who're not using the web at all, pick another audience. PS A lot of stuff like this gets posted on HN. If you want to get noticed and useful help, be specific and detailed.

msquared 16y ago
Thanks for the advice, will take it into consideration. Saw a similar post that made it into the top submissions, figured I'd add my own.
- revorad 16y ago
  There's a lot of luck involved in submissions getting to the top. All you can do is make it the best possible. Here's an idea: Make a simple landing page explaining your idea with an email sign up form. Submit that as a link, rather than a text post. It will most likely get a lot more upvotes.

msquared 16y ago

I've been doing just that, running each flashy new component by the panel of people with varying web skills. And non tech savvy means just like what it sounds like. Imagine 35+ year olds running antiquated versions of IE. That's my target base.

revorad 16y ago
Ok, so clearly you've already got some data from interactions with your audience. If you shared that, you would likely get useful feedback on that. Just because most people here are programmers, does not mean they don't have interests or know people with interests in non-tech domains (guns? ESR?). From whatever little you've mentioned, it seems unlikely you are building a node.js chat box for gun lovers, So, is it ecommerce or a message board?
- msquared 16y ago
  It's a target score tracking tool, built around aggregating scores, ammunition makes/types, individual gun scores, etc to let individuals track how well they do (in general, with one of their guns, etc) and track performance metrics across the user base to determine which ammo works well, which guns perform best, etc. So, a tracking tool mixed with a social network. I guess. It started as something to help me track my scores and see how I progressed. I made a score calculating algorithm just using Excel that factored in ring size, distance, wind, and a whole load of other factors and it worked really well. I had one of those "this is madness" moments and started porting it into a CakePHP app. There are a ton of AJAX page interactions, UI/UX elements, etc that are very different from what traditional message boards and forums use.
  - revorad 16y ago
    Yeah baby, now we are talking! Ok, so you've already got version 1 of your product in Excel. So, my first question is: have you shared that with any of your audience? Why do you want to make it a web app? Why don't you just sell the Excel workbook itself. Make no mistake - it's a big readymade market. See this for inspiration - http://startupdesi.com/100000-startup-revenue-in-12months/ http://startupdesi.com/100000-startup-revenue-in-12months/. It might at least be a good starting point to get hold of your customer base. Presumably, you can create a much more useful version if it's a webapp. So then, the question is how do you market it to your customers? It's great that you yourself are a user of the app. You exactly understand the pain points of your users. Now, where do these people go to practice their shooting (or whatever the technical lingo is)? Are there clubs? Are you a member of any of them? Can you make a presentation in any of those places? Are there relevant magazines? Newsletters? Have a look at Tim Ferriss' 4-hour work week for ideas on advertising in the right places.