from Hacker News

Show HN: We Got Sick of Giving Out 'Ballpark Estimates' So We Built This

by wmboy on 2/21/19, 3:29 AM with 34 comments

  • by morpheuskafka on 2/21/19, 4:51 AM

    Looks very similar to http://howmuchtomakeanapp.com/ and appears to exist primary to upsell the user at the end to the paid service.

  • by supermw on 2/21/19, 5:01 AM

    These things never work out well. Picking out options for an app the same way you'd pick options for an automobile implies the work is fairly well siloed and commoditized. So it should be cheap and fast, but then the price and timeline at the end is not what you expect, so you take your newly created list of requirements and go elsewhere. People going through these things want instant gratification.

    It also implies that if you want something that does not fall neatly into the categories given then you're going to pay even more.

    Giving estimates is just part of sales. If you're tired of it, then don't work sales.

    Edit: Ok I decided I should probably give some constructive advice with every teardown I do, so here's a tip: If you really want to do things this way, instead of instantly giving a price at the end, create the illusion that the info will be sent to a human and you'll send a quote by email after they've had a chance to review. Then just set up a cron job to go through your list of emails at certain strategic times of the day and send personalized messages with the quoted price and time frame. This way you start a conversation with the potential client and keep them on the hook.

  • by jonahx on 2/21/19, 5:08 AM

    Lots of negative comments, but whatever you think of the prices, this is very well done:

      - Clean, intuitive UI.
  - Clear, *short* copy.
  - A complex process broken down 
    into easily digestible chunks.

  • by kfrzcode on 2/21/19, 5:45 AM

    This is a clear sales pitch - inflate cost estimates, obscure any source datasets and then pitch a 70% cheaper solution?

    Lipstick meets pig.

  • by 12345432123 on 2/21/19, 4:49 AM

    Momentum scrolling isn’t working on iOS. Add -webkit-overflow-scrolling: touch to whatever element is overflowing. You’re welcome.

  • by puranjay on 2/21/19, 4:54 AM

    Aren't the estimates a bit on the higher side? Moreso in terms of time than costs. A barebones mobile app shouldn't take 6-9 months to develop.

  • by mrsmee89 on 2/21/19, 4:24 AM

    Super cool. Would be awesome to to see a price breakdown in the results view.

  • by cellularmitosis on 2/21/19, 4:58 AM

    Mobile web feedback: something on that page is breaking vertical scrolling on iOS (there is no scroll momentum — the page stops dead the instant you lift your finger, and it appears to be scrolling at maybe 10fps)

  • by konschubert on 2/21/19, 6:36 AM

    I went through it with some of the ideas I have but it never asked me “Is there a special technical challenge included that needs to be solved?

    So I feel like this missed it a bit.

  • by evanwarfel on 2/21/19, 5:25 AM

    Nice idea. One issue is that most users will think that you have responded to the incentive to inflate the prices and make yourself look better by comparison. Some ways you can make your estimates more credible include:

      - 1) give ranges of price estimates

  - 2) communicate the uncertainty around different parts of the estimate

  - 3) show what size team you are estimating will be working on your project

  - 3b) have a slider so that people can play around with the team size (and explore the team-size / price / time tradeoff)
 
  - 4) show an estimate of what kind of volume the finished mvp can handle

  - 5) show real-life estimates you've gotten on a set of projects. possibly include how much it would have cost to build this very website at both a large institutional design agency and a well-regarded boutique agency.

  • by huxflux on 2/21/19, 7:06 AM

    Another "guerilla marketing" project by some random studio/agency trying to get new project (don't' blame you for that) but please, at least open source the goddamn thing.

  • by superkarolis on 2/21/19, 8:24 AM

    I wonder what do they mean by "Hybrid MVP build process" for 70% cost reduction. Does it only refer to a mobile app being non-native or what else could it imply?

  • by xrd on 2/21/19, 4:46 AM

    Fantastic. I'm sure this has them lose out on many opportunities that shops with less integrity will sell them on. And, that might mean they won't survive.

  • by hazz99 on 2/21/19, 11:06 AM

    I really like the UI/UX in this. How was it built?

  • by tedmcory77 on 2/21/19, 4:43 AM

    Agree with the other comments on price breakdown; would allow to hit a different number based on understanding implications.

  • by dookahku on 2/21/19, 5:30 AM

    Love it! <3

    When I'm on https://www.productdone.com/contact/ and I click 'about' in the nav bar it doesn't seem to take me anywhere.

  • by hartator on 2/21/19, 5:34 AM

    That’s a bad website. Hijack scrolling and back button.

  • by senectus1 on 2/21/19, 4:35 AM

    be nice if they broke the costs down a bit. bit yeah cool idea.

  • by dustingetz on 2/21/19, 5:33 AM

    i’ll cap costs to match estimates from this tool at 1/3 the timeframe, email me to see if it’s a fit

  • by stephenhuey on 2/21/19, 4:26 AM

    Fun idea. Just wanted to point out the typo with the word startup on page 3:

    statup