Review my webapp: FlashcardsAtWork.com

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2510171

6 7 15 years ago

news.ycombinator.com

Hi, this is a flashcard learning webapp for lifelong learners. It uses spaced repetition to optimize your review schedule (uses artificial neural networks for this), so it's a lot like SuperMemo, Mnemosyne etc.

The site is under heavy development (check the blog), so consider it beta it is not ready for public consumption.

You can use Markdown / LaTeX equations on the cards, I use it to memorize programming language commands/syntaxes and learn foreign languages.

I wrote some pretty decent amount of JavaScript, please check out the card editor, commit some cards then practice.

You can register with fake email addresses if you just want to have a quick peek.

It will use a freemium model, where the first ~500-1000 flashcards are free, then you have to upgrade to a paid account, or you can get more free cards by inviting friends.

Any comment is greatly appreciated, thanks.

Site: www.flashcardsatwork.com

davidw• 15 years ago

> You can use Markdown / LaTeX equations on the cards,

That's not exactly something that will attract the masses.

fistfulofparens4• 15 years ago

Lol, I know. But I need it too much for myself. :-o

fistfulofparens4• 15 years ago

Clickable: http://www.flashcardsatwork.com/

AmberShah• 15 years ago

I think this is a good idea because it is both simple and useful. There are lots of possibilities and I like that you already have the option for private or public flashcards.

Here's the thing: you HAVE to update the design. This is very 1990s geocities and honestly plain white space with black text would be better. The logo truly hurts my eyes. And the text that randomly shakes... just no, please. Sorry if I sound harsh but I'm dead serious - I could not in good conscious send people there even if that's what they needed (at least without a disclaimer, or not even then)

fistfulofparens4• 15 years ago

You're absolutely right, the inner pages need a serious redesign, the current one really is the first iteration ("thank god it works" state). OTOH I consider the landing page to be "final-ish" (except the logo / footer), do you think that is ok?

I use random shakes (jQuery rumble) at two places, the big "Sign up" button on the landing page, I think this is ok to grab the attention. The other shake effect is on the dashboard, the tutorial uses shakes to guide the user to the right actions to take, but these shakes will go away once the user did what the tutorial asked. Do you think both of these (landing page/tutorial) have to go? Maybe the tutorial could use some other effect, or I could make the UI simpler, so there is no need for such effects.

I will do the redesign in the next 2-3 days, your feedback was very well received, thank you.

eswat• 15 years ago

Thoughts on the shakes: I almost never see those used online unless I indirectly initiate it, and usually it’s subtle (http://foound.com/). I guess it does grab my attention on the landing page, but during the tutorial I wanted to explore the app but felt pressured to get through the tutorial to get rid of the distracting shakes—I’m just really not used to them and prefer a simple arrow, subtle strobe effect, etc.

I was also a bit lost when it came time to practicing a deck, where the tutorial seems to stop before. I come from Smart.fm where I was expected to input an answer somewhere and it’s been a while since I’ve used flashcards for anything.

Then there’s the issue with aesthetics mentioned already. Just like the shakes I think your design needs to be a lot more subtle.

Good work though. I might use this for learning Japanese and the current flashcard limit seems generous. Are you sure many people will hit that limit to sway them to pay?

fistfulofparens4• 15 years ago

When I read what you wrote about being "pressured by the tutorial", I had an "a-ha!" moment, I know what you mean.

The site's first users came from language classes who learn English as their second language (at beginner and pre-intermediate level) and teachers send new flashcards to them after every class -- that functionality of the site (teacher/student accounts, sending flashcards etc) is not shown to the public atm. These beginner English students had problems navigating the site and after introducing the "aggressive tutorial" student retention became a lot better. That's the story, this is a result of a pretty hectic development and there were just no time to really think about these issues.

I'm in the process of redesigning the site aesthetics (I'll try to do a better job this time), I will really rethink the tutorial too, thanks.

You said you were a little bit confused during practice because you thought you needed to type the answers, I see and I'm sure this will bite other users too so I will do something about it sometime next week. When you think about it you'll find that thinking about the answer is enough (and it is fast), typing is unnecessary most of the time.

There is no clear/professional business plan for this thing so it may be destined to fail from a business perspective, we will see. Don't worry the site will be up because some friends and I need it daily.:) I absolutely want the application to be a usable (non-crippled) tool for free users, also one will be able to increase their free limit even further by inviting friends. <salespitch>I want FaW to show people that flashcards aren't just crutches for cramming things anymore, computer assisted flashcards is by far the best lifelong learning method.</salespitch> I hope when people see that they will reach the free limit pretty fast. I plan adding some features to paying customers only, like images inside flashcards, but free users will always have every feature that is crucial for learning.

Thank you for trying out the site, I appreciate it!

Review my webapp: FlashcardsAtWork.com

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