Show HN: My first MVP - A Tea Search Engine

http://theteafinder.com/teas/search

by mmcdan • 16 years ago

24 32 16 years ago

theteafinder.com

brk• 16 years ago

Looks neat. Would be nice if you added Harney and Sons teas to the database.

Swizec2• 16 years ago

Pretty freaking cool! I'm a tea lover and this might just be the catalyst I need to start buying online.

[pedantic] This is more of an index than a search engine though. [/pedantic]

mmcdan6• 16 years ago

Nice:) At what point does a search engine become an index/directory? The site scans the tea websites for product updates periodically, but it does add contextual knowledge about the domain(tea) rather than general matching like google.

Swizec2• 16 years ago

Well if it only crawls predetermined sites then it's an index plus a scraper. If it finds new sites, then it's a search engine.

At least I think that's the distinction.

gsivil• 16 years ago

This can give to someone the idea of content specific search engines. Still use Google for generic search but a specialized search engine in various fields could be of interest. Imagine something like the let's say: the Java finder, the soccer finder, the physics finder, and the list can go on almost infinitely. At these times that technical people tend to complain about Google's spammy search they could find such search engines (not just indices) very handy

revorad3• 16 years ago

This looks beautiful. What stack are you using? I'm thinking of building a similar site for another category of products and am wondering whether to roll my own in Rails or just go with Wordpress. Would love to hear any suggestions based on your experience.

jacquesm3• 16 years ago

http -h http://theteafinder.com/teas/search | more

X-Powered-By: Phusion Passenger (mod_rails/mod_rack) 3.0.0

revorad3• 16 years ago

Thanks!

mmcdan6• 16 years ago

I'm using JQuery, Rails w/Passenger, and super-fast searching with Sphinx. Rails is awesome. This combo makes coding awesome and efficient... I wouldn't even bother with Wordpress.

revorad3• 16 years ago

I'm reasonably comfortable with Rails. Never tried Sphinx or any other search library before, so it's a good time to give it a go.

jacquesm3• 16 years ago

Hm, you missed my favorite addiction, cinnamon ;) Pretty cool otherwise!

Samuel_Michon4• 16 years ago

Cinnamon can be found under 'Herbs'. Perhaps you expected it to be under 'Flavors'?

jacquesm3• 16 years ago

Yes, exactly.

Cinnamon is actually bark, not an Herb.

jasonb05• 16 years ago

Great site, well done. Now iterate!

3pt14159• 16 years ago

Couple of thoughts off the cuff:

1. Make the text size larger. I know I can ^+ but the people using your site may not. Many of them will be over the age of fifty and you want them to really enjoy using the site.

2. Give me more information at a glance. Maybe a symbol or icon for "improved digestion" etc. Sometimes I don't want to just filter on health benefits, because I don't want to close off options, but I still do want to see neat little green icons.

3. Social proof. This one doesn't belong in a MVP, but eventually you will want people to be able to rate teas. Make sure that this doesn't require a login.

duck• 16 years ago

It would be interesting to hear about your experience with ShareASale.

spencerfry• 16 years ago

You should work with http://steepster.com.

I'm friends with those guys if you want an intro. Just shoot me an email.

mmcdan6• 16 years ago

Thanks, will send an email!

Samuel_Michon4• 16 years ago

I'm missing the option to select teas by vendor. However, listing vendors would make it clear to users how few vendors are included in the search results. The database seems to consist of less than twenty vendors, and I'm missing well-known brands like Yogi Tea and Zhi.

I understand that the idea is to earn through affiliate links, but you'll get more users if you also include some well-known brands that aren't necessarily Share-a-sale partners.

mmcdan6• 16 years ago

You're right, the diversity of vendors is pretty small at this point. My first goal was to make the # of searchable teas as large as possible. Next on the TODO list is to add those smaller shops that have some delicious custom brews. Soon there will be a filter to search by vendor size(e.g large tea retailers vs. mom-and-pop shops) so that they don't get lost in the larger suppliers.

diego• 16 years ago

1. I really like the design. Simple and elegant, no clutter. 2. I keep looking for a search box because you branded it as a "Tea Search Engine", but it's more like a directory. I'd either call it a directory or add a search box. Let me know if you need help with the search function.

mmcdan6• 16 years ago

Good call... still debating which direction to go with it. My initial prototype was search-box based. But I found I actually had more fun exploring the teas by slowing adding filters rather than typing exactly what I was thinking of.

moge• 16 years ago

agree that it needs a search box. It doesn't have to be the primary function but it should be there. I clicked around and couldn't find 'pu-erh' and didn't want to scroll through the 2 dozen black tea pages.

As a huge tea drinker I love this site. Agree that the design is clean and simple.

acgourley2• 16 years ago

I like how you have collected a lot of data and let me peek into it in different ways. However - even as an avid tea drinker, you're still not solving a real problem of mine. I'm not wondering "what is the complete set of tea that contains ginger" or "or what are the set of teas from cylon".

I look forward to see what you do with the site, but please solve a problem and make it clear on the site what that problem is.

dannyr• 16 years ago

Care to tell us what problem the site can solve for tea-drinkers?

ps: i'm not affiliated with the site. just curious.

delano• 16 years ago

I would imagine by use (digestion, rest, energy), flavours (sweet, savory), caffeine content, etc.

That said, OP, congrats on your first MVP!

mmcdan6• 16 years ago

Thanks for your feedback. What would make it more useful for you? Finding teas that contain ginger isn't too useful, but apple and cinnamon-flavored teas that help improve digestion would be useful for me, at least. I get the health benefit with my favorite flavors.

acgourley2• 16 years ago

It's a tough question. I suppose it would be useful if it helped me make less regrettable purchases. Steepster is of course aimed in that direction, and it's proven unprofitable for them. I wish I had a better answer for you.

I would probably see if anyone has solved this problem for wine, beer, chocolate or coffee and see what value they are adding.

narenst• 16 years ago

Nice site. Very simple and easy to use. I'm not a tea lover but it got me hooked!

A couple of suggestions - I would like to see the number of results I would get after applying a filter (shown in braces next to the filter words). a few times i got zero results. so it will be useful.

Also a small 'x' can be shown next to the already added filters at the top. Easy to understand that clicking it will remove the filter.

Other than that, nice work!

codemonger• 16 years ago

MVP?

Samuel_Michon4• 16 years ago

Minimum viable product

http://www.startuplessonslearned.com/2009/03/minimum-viable-...

Show HN: My first MVP - A Tea Search Engine

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