[montrose]

By default, products fail to appeal to users, in the same sense that, by default, ten-digit integers are not perfect squares.

Is this something you and your friends eagerly want and constantly use? I.e. that you and your friends would use if you weren't working on this startup, and had merely come across it as potential users? If so, you should be able to get users from among your friends and their friends. And if not, it's a made-up idea (http://paulgraham.com/startupideas.html) that you can't expect to fix by tweaking it.

My guess is it's the latter. This sounds like a made-up idea to me.

[troydavis]

I’ll second this. OP lists a few reasons that someone might theoretically want to create a timeline, but not why a random site visitor would. That 10 out of thousands of visitors want to create a timeline actually doesn’t strike me as odd, not because timelines are bad but because very few people need one.

If you started a site that advocated for, say, jumping rope as exercise, 10 out of thousands of visitors might go pick up a jump rope. You’re providing something that the vast majority of visitors don’t need.

If you want a higher adoption rate, either:

- solve an acute problem - something that many visitors woke up thinking they need to do today.

- come up with a specific compelling reason/use for a timeline. Not app features, but things I can do with a timeline - solve a problem. Focus on the strongest one. Dumb example: maybe the best use of a timeline you can think of is for someone to put it their resume or applicant portfolio. Once you’ve picked one or two, if you actually believe they’re compelling, focus on those.

- or get much more targeted visitors, like only those few people who are actively looking to create a timeline.

[siddharthram]

Thanks Montrose,

We built this product as an experiment to document experiences in a much easier way than writing a blogpost.People who are not interested in blogging could tell a cohesive story by stitching a set of posts which are easier to understand.

We are trying to experiment this and see if it could be used as a microblogging tool for experiences and stories as an alternative to writing a blogpost.

We will surely reflect on your feedback but if you have anything that we could look to pivot can be helpful for us to consider from here on.

thanks again

[montrose]

What do you and your friends want so much that, if someone else built it, you'd start using it immediately?

[matt_the_bass]

If it’s an experiment, then one possible outcome is lack of success. Maybe you’ve learned it’s not a solution with a lot of demand. This comment is not intended as a critique of your work, just pointing out a possible outcome may not be the outcome you wished for.

[quickthrower2]

It seems so similar to blogging to me, I find it hard to see the difference, personally.

[siddharthram]

The difference is here the posts are structured into threads to make it easier to convey a story than writing a blogpost.