It's unclear what the app does, or why I'd want it. From reading the text over and over I think all you need to write is:
Find happiness and peace, amidst difficult situations.
At least that's the benefit I saw in the wall of text.
Place the text beside the picture of the app with a button that says something like "Get the app"
See http://piictu.com/ as an example, the "We are the same" app as currently pitched sounds like work, and from the tiny iPhone screenshot it looks like it's a gorgeous app.
Correct...you need to clearly identify what it does and why I want it. After having to scroll down to see "How it Works" I still don't get it. Change the wording on "Exercises are designed to induce practical experiences of various aspects of compassion." And give me some screenshots that I can actually see. Cool idea.
It's a very interesting idea and as a Buddhist, I absolutely commend you for trying to help people learn compassion. I'm curious to know if compassion can actually be built through a digital relationship.
Personally, I feel that words typed out on the computer carry less compassion than words through our mouths. But does this mean that this app is about building more compassion for yourself, helping others, i.e. in the mindset of Kiva? Or is it more about developing better relationships with those around you?
Unfortunately, I tried connecting with Facebook and nothing happened.
The idea of the app is not to communicate with people directly, but to see them from a different perspective - as human beings, equal to ourselves, deserving our affection and respect.
The app is based on Buddhist approach to developing love and compassion.
Would love to debug the Facebook connect issue. Feel free to contact me on matjaz [at] humane-tehnologije.si
Those with neither Apple devices nor a Facebook account can't try this out.
Edit: My tired mind didn't realize this at first - this service utilizes both photos and statuses of the same person. Facebook is one of the few services which brings together a person's photographs and status updates, and has a large stock of both. The next best supply would be...a mash-up of Twitter and Flikr?
This explanation helps more than the link does to tell me what this application does.
So, it's a photo and status slideshow mashup? Why not advertise it as such?
The buddhist(?) jargon makes this extremely unapproachable to people not versed in this terminology. I hear "lessons in compassion" and imagine a religious lecture over war orphan pictures or something equally unappealing.
I'm the app's author. We are thinking about letting users create their profiles in the app. That would be "practice material" for users without Facebook accounts.
Another option would be using the address book on the phone.
I think I would be more likely to sign up if the page included a short example of an "exercise in practising compassion". As it stands, I don't have any idea of what this app actually does.
Please make the "how it works" more prominent. I like the proffered benefit, "practice compassion", but the two screenshots don't really communicate what the product is or how it works.
That's not what "compassion" means. It is "a feeling of deep sympathy and sorrow for another who is stricken by misfortune, accompanied by a strong desire to alleviate the suffering."
A trial without me linking up my facebook would be good, or a really clear example of what will happen. People want to see visually not read a whole bunch of text and imagine what it will be like.
Interesting idea, but wouldn't pulling a profile from your pool of Facebook friends limit this in a pretty big way? How often are Facebook users friends with people who are really different from them? This seems like it might allow a user to "practice compassion" for people who are superficially different from them, not people who are more radically different, in culture, political leanings, religious background, etc
That's a valid point. We are thinking about letting users submit their profile into the global pool of people. With that the practice would not only cover friends but also people we don't know.
Cool idea. If you haven't already, you should share this app with Stanford's Persuasive Technology Lab -- they work on using technology to influence and change human behavior, especially across differences - http://captology.stanford.edu/
Considering hackernews' way-above-average aspberger's demographic, expect a lot of "ERROR INCOMPUTABLE" type comments in here. You're going to need a lot more hand holding in your pitch (not literal hand holding, that makes us uncomfortable.)
Find happiness and peace, amidst difficult situations.
At least that's the benefit I saw in the wall of text.
Place the text beside the picture of the app with a button that says something like "Get the app"
See http://piictu.com/ as an example, the "We are the same" app as currently pitched sounds like work, and from the tiny iPhone screenshot it looks like it's a gorgeous app.