[mournit]

I am feeling increasingly frustrated by product websites that assume I already know what their product is. This seems to be especially prevalent on sites of tools meant for developers.

Please, don't make me have to guess by reading your tooltips, feature blurbs, and customer quotes like they are puzzle pieces to the question of "what the hell is this thing!"

At least PaintCode is kind enough to give an overview in their documentation.

[shaunol]

This is becoming an increasingly common and frustrating thing for products posted here to HN.

How did this product even get to the front page when it's almost impossible to actually tell what it is or the problems it solves?

I scrolled down past the screenshot expecting to read an introduction about it and now we're suddenly talking about StyleKits??? Huh?

E: Quite ironic that the URI path is /intro and the main header "Introducing PaintCode 2", when the page does everything except introduce the product.

[fredsted]

>How did this product even get to the front page when it's almost impossible to actually tell what it is or the problems it solves

Just read the first couple lines on the screenshot. It's the first thing you read when you visit the page:

"Use built-in vector drawing tools to design controls" and "PaintCode instantly generates Objective-C or C# code from your drawings"

That's explanation enough for me, didn't you see that?

[evv]

Oh, really? I don't personally develop iOS apps, but as a technical guy, I understood what this thing is within 10 seconds of the page loading.

It is a technical product with a niche. Maybe they weren't trying to market to you?

[ertdfgcb]

I was pretty sure I knew what it was in 10 seconds, but they didn't tell me, so I had to guess. My guess was slightly off - I thought this was for making websites. It's better they tell me what their thing does rather than making me guess, even if it's an easy guess.

[flyingyeti]

Agree 100%. I had the same thought process and assumed it was a tool for websites until I noticed the Objective-C syntax in the code screenshots.

[johnward]

My first impression when I got to the page was ok what does this thing do? A simple blurb about what this thing is may have sparked some interest.

[SaladFork]

For those looking:

> PaintCode is a vector drawing app that turns your drawings into Objective-C or C# drawing code in real time.

[icoder]

I glanced over the website and missed that, now on mobile I'm only reading the comments and see that it is quite relevant for me. So thanks :)

[scoot]

You didn't miss it - it doesn't say that anywhere in one sentence on the linked page.

[jasonlotito]

When I loaded the page, it said this:

"Drawing Tools - Use built-in vector drawing tools to design controls, icons and other graphic elements."

And

"Code Generation - PaintCode instantly generates Objective-C or C# code from your drawings."

Seems obvious to me what it does. I literally have to do nothing besides open my eyes to get that information. Couple that with the screenshot, and the name, and the fact that the price is presented front and center, I can't help but wonder what information is missing?

[vacri]

I literally have to do nothing besides open my eyes to get that information.

What the other people are asking for is no different here. The core functionality of the product is presented in miniblurbs, which most other websites use as feature explanations instead. It's not hard to see why people didn't snap to those immediately as descriptions of the purpose of the product.

Also, as a neurophysiologist with an interest in attention and cognition, you literally had to do a lot more than just open your eyes to get that information.

[jasonlotito]

> you literally had to do a lot more than just open your eyes to get that information.

If you are going to get that anal about the use of the word literally, you shouldn't abuse it yourself. And you complain about the quality of comments here.

[npizzolato]

Very similar text appears if you hover over the bottom right yellow dot. Why the most important sentence on the page is hidden behind a mouse over is beyond me.

[jasonlotito]

It displays by default. It only hides if you mouse over other yellow dots and look at other information.

[jasonlotito]

When I loaded the page, it said this:

"Drawing Tools - Use built-in vector drawing tools to design controls, icons and other graphic elements."

And

"Code Generation - PaintCode instantly generates Objective-C or C# code from your drawings."

Seems obvious to me what it does. I literally have to do nothing besides open my eyes to get that information.

Couple that with the screenshot, and the name, and the fact that the price is presented front and center, I can't help but wonder what information is missing?

[jamra]

Paintcode is like a niche photoshop for iOS. You draw graphics inside the program and it gives you the custom drawing code in objective c.

The use case is if you decide to draw something custom in iOS like a specialized progress bar or a control that you wish to animate as you scroll your finger across the screen, you can make it much easier with this tool.

[iambateman]

I downloaded it and wasn't sure what it was. Still not sure. ;)

[thenomad]

Yep, I had no idea what it was either.

And it looked interesting!

[CatMtKing]

Looks like Flash for iOS apps.