netspencer

by Spencer Schoeben

I think Stamped will be useful while Oink will just create more noise

Oink is an app released by Kevin Rose’s new lab company, Milk, which lets users rate everything in the world around them. Stamped is an iPhone app which allows users to put their stamp of approval on things in the world. Both apps are very similar but take different approaches. Oink lets you rate things with a thumbs up, a thumbs down, or as so-so (they call it “ho-hum”). Stamped, however, is all or nothing: you either give something you like a stamp or don’t rate it at all.

There are a lot of reasons why I like Stamped so much more than I like Oink, but I am going to focus on one key area: each app’s ability to be useful and actually solve a real problem (versus just creating more noise and being another useless social network.)

When you open Oink, you see a stream of things that your friends have rated, usually featuring a picture of the item very prominantly. Naturally, when browsing through this feed, I feel like I am looking through Instagram (only the pictures aren’t nearly as good). The fact that this is a feed of items that my friends have recently rated means nothing to me. Sure, it can be fun to look through pictures of items that your friends have reviewed to see what they think of the item. But when it comes down to actually wanting a recomendation (getting real-world utility out of the app), all these random ratings are just fluff and make the app useless to me.

Stamped, on the other hand, does exactly what I think an app of this nature should do. When browsing through the stream of recently stamped items by my friends, I know that everything I am seeing in the stream is something that my friend actually suggests that I should try (and would probably like). This is how real-world social interactions work. When you watch a movie you absolutely love, or eat the most delicious chocolate cake you have ever had, you will want to tell your friends. Stamped offers a platform to make this easy. Whenever something in the world gets your stamp of approval, you open the app and let your friends know. It’s that easy. When I am looking for a great place to eat, I don’t have to sift through noise, I can simple open Stamped and see a list of places that my friends approve of.

Most importantly, Stamped actually has a place in my life. While Oink may be a cool novelty, I can’t see myself using it on a daily basis. Whenever I experience something new that I absolutely love, I will remember to use Stamped to give that thing my stamp of approval. With Oink, however, the app seems to expect users to use the app regularly to rate all sorts of things — both good and bad. This means I am exepected to somehow make Oink one of the apps I use on a daily basis.

Both apps have potential and I look forward to seeing them itterate. However, for now, I give my stamp of approval to Stamped. I am ho-hum about Oink.

Gain a user’s trust

This is my response to a question asked in MLGen, a private group for young technology entrepreneurs.

Would you rather launch a product that is 60% complete, or hold on and launch with a better product that is 90% complete? Shahed Khan

People often answer this conundrum by saying “you only have one chance at a first impression.” While I agree with this statement, I interpret it differently than most people do.

Instead of ensuring a good first impression by not shipping until your product is perfect, ship features as fast as possible, but stay honest with your users the whole time. Make them trust your product from the very begining. If they trust you, they will be willing to come back to see new features. And they will be rooting for you even if you make small mistakes and your features aren’t all perfect.

So I would rephrase and say “you only have one chance to gain a users TRUST.” So if you value design, make that evident from the begining. Don’t ship ugly stuff! But that doesn’t mean you can’t ship incomplete products. Let your products evolve. The users whose trust you have gained will help along the way.

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