karhuton (u/karhuton)

karhuton commented on Show HN: AirAP AirPlay server – AirPlay to an iOS Device github.com/neon443/AirAP... · Posted by u/neon443

ptk · 3 months ago

We’ve been looking for something like this for our conference room. A PC presenting on a large TV, but mirrored/AirPlayed on iPads for anyone that wanted a version closer to their face.

karhuton · 3 months ago

You can give this a go. Made it for just this type of scenarios: https://bluescreen.live

If it works for you, happy the help you setup a private instance or something. And for in-office use, maybe optimize for quality rather than minimal updates it is now.

karhuton commented on Why I Am Not Going to Buy a Computer (1987) [pdf] classes.matthewjbrown.net... · Posted by u/bookofjoe

YeGoblynQueenne · 4 months ago

In a cruel twist of fate most people today neither own, nor use a computer, not in the sense used in the essay. They instead use their phones to do a very restricted sub-set of things they could do on a computer and in a very limited manner.

I guess the forward-looking tech nerds of the '80s, the tip of the spear of the information revolution, must now be crying in their corn flakes with the irony of it all. Nowadays only nerds (really) use computers.

P.S. Obviously I own computers. I have four laptops and a bunch of small-form clamshells left over from a period when I collected them semi-enthusiastically (including a Viliv, a Zaurus and a Ben Nanonote). I recently went on the market to see if there are any new ones around and ended up buying two, which I shall not advertise. I'm a victim of tech advertisement.

karhuton · 4 months ago

After certain age, all school students up to university use/have a computer.

If they end up in an office job, they very likely will have/keep one around.

And even when not, people with higher education tend to like use the home computer for certain things. For example ”official stuff” like doing taxes, using government services. Maybe throw in some more detailed trip planning, hobbies, spreadsheets…

karhuton commented on A single line of code cost $8000 pietrasiak.com/one-line-o... · Posted by u/lordfuckleroy

spaqin · 4 months ago

I would also put into question if you _really_ need to check for updates every 5 minutes. Once per startup is already enough, and if you're concerned about users who leave it on for days, it could easily be daily or even less often.

karhuton · 4 months ago

To be as user friendly as possible, always ask if user wants automatic background updates or not. If you can’t update without user noticing it, please implement manual updates as two mechanisms:

1) Emergency update for remote exploit fixes only

2) Regular updates

The emergency update can show a popup, but only once. It should explain the security risk. But allow user to decline, as you should never interrupt work in progress. After decline leave an always visible small warning banner in the app until approved.

The regular update should never popup, only show a very mild update reminder that is NOT always visible, instead behind a menu that is frequently used. Do not show notification badges, they frustrate people with inbox type 0 condition.

This is the most user friendly way of suggesting manual updates.

You have to understand, if user has 30 pieces of software, they have to update every day of the month. That is not a good overall user experience.

karhuton commented on Meta antitrust trial kicks off in federal court axios.com/pro/tech-policy... · Posted by u/c420

karhuton · 4 months ago

As someone who’s stuck with Whatsapp and no way out (friends and family won’t switch), I dearly hope for a split.

I do struggle to understand how we here casually lump tohether totally different platforms as comptetitors.

It’s not like I can use Youtube or Tiktok instead of Whatsapp with my family for direct and group discussion. Even X and Instagram would be a stretch, as their raison d’être is public social media and not instant messaging.

Sure the platforms have overlapping features, but you ain’t gonna use a knife insted of a spoon.

karhuton commented on Practical UX for startups surviving without a designer tibinotes.com/p/practical... · Posted by u/tb8424

noduerme · 6 months ago

My most successful client (a company I have ownership in, now) has another slot besides marketing, design and code. That is our point person for filtering, testing and verifying user experience issues. Putting a single point person in charge of that onslaught of emails, who fully understands the software, and having them run a full time bug reporting/feature request channel, I think, is indispensible. They advocate on behalf of users but also know when the requests are silly or something is user error. They know whether an issue is mainly design or mainly code. Having them in place and engaging daily with users means we can filter out 90% of the noise in the signal. But it needs to be coupled with open-mindedness to customer feedback from the earliest iterations. Whatever requests or issues come through that person must be addressed. That person should understand what they can and cannot promise customers, what is crucial vs what is fluff, and how to prioritize those requests.

Her official role is "General Manager" but in fact she was promoted from a customer service role and the position was created for her because she was so good at spending extra time off-hours writing detailed, reproducible bug reports on behalf of customers who had experienced some issue. Reproducing and screenshotting the flow and the issues herself.

This person is a 10x force multiplier by virtue of being a power-user of the software who also interacts with customers and management daily, although she has no code or design experience.

karhuton · 6 months ago

True. When the complexity of the software causes lot of usability issues in ”edge cases”, these technically capable customer connected people are really worth it.

I’ve also seen good things coming from hiring actual ex-users from potential customers that were using competitor’s products. They’d do user training, customer software configuration and development team support. Sometimes even full time.

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But these people are good day-to-day at ironing out the details. Maybe even discovering underlying dissatisfaction with the product.

But the startup’s constant worry should be what else software is being used, how to be relevant in the future. Maybe through cutting costs in the process by co-designing new workflows to eliminate current tasks.

Executives at the client may be more intrested in finding ways to eliminate all the staff with automation in the process rather than optimizing their tools.

You’re not getting that input from the people working on the tasks now.

karhuton commented on Practical UX for startups surviving without a designer tibinotes.com/p/practical... · Posted by u/tb8424

karhuton · 6 months ago

Here’s some typical reasons why a startup can fail:

1) it failed to communicate and market it’s product

2) it’s product didn’t fit the user’s needs

3) it’s technology strategy made development too expensive

4) it’s product technical quality was too low

5) it’s product did not look appealing to potential new users

Developers are responsible for 3 and 4, sales and marketing for 1 and finally designers for 2 and 5.

With competent developers you can start a startup and make sure 3 and 4 never come to pass, but lack of good product designer will eventually kill it.

Here I use the broader sense of user-centered designer, which includes:

- research

- testing

- prototyping

- validation

- UI/UX design

- visual design

- …

The first four being the most important for a product market fit.

This is especially important for B2B products, because there understanding the needs of the business and their processes is key to making sure the product fits the user’s day-to-day work but the businesses’ future needs as well.

It may not be common, but you can and should use extended UCD research methods on the customer business processes itself instead of relying on PMs and sales just asking customer’s what they want. (This is often called Business Design or Service Design around here.)

karhuton commented on Product Development Processes You Might Not Have Heard of (2022) departmentofproduct.com/b... · Posted by u/lgunsch

karhuton · 6 months ago

> Scrum with 2 week sprints may work very well in larger corporates, but startups who need to pivot regularly and change direction may not be as well suited to such a fixed process.

If your pivot frequency < 2 weeks, sprint length is not the problem.