Which tools do you use for online research?

Question

We are launching a new online research assistant on the 30th of May here on Product Hunt and would love to start with getting your insight on how you research online.

- When you see something you like, but don't want to buy straight away - how do you keep track? 
- When you need to consider a purchase because it might be a little pricey, how do you go about it?

Feel free to head over to our coming soon page and show us some love! We can't wait for your feedback! https://www.producthunt.com/products/liffery

Janine N · Accepted Answer

@eonpilot Great comment! We seem to have a very similar opinion about the current state of social media platforms, their advertising practices and where things should be heading in the future.

Instagram is great at reaching the masses with somewhat target group-relevant ads, but there is one dynamic that is fundamentally flawed in all of the popular social media platforms that we are addressing with Liffery.

We recognise that people don't primarily use platforms like Instagram, Facebook, or LinkedIn to shop. Instead, they turn to these platforms for a brief escape, mindlessly scroll through content, or engage with the creators they agreed to follow. As a result, the overwhelming presence of ads, which currently comprise approximately 25% of the content, disrupts the balance and detracts from the user experience.

At Liffery, we firmly believe that the research and purchase decision journey should have its own dedicated space and not be confined solely to social media. Liffery users are in a protected and unbiased space where they can actively seek to explore, research, and make purchase decisions. This does one very crucial thing: It creates an audience that is ready and willing to receive new information.

This is where the true potential for advertising emerges: The most critical aspect of effective advertising is capturing and maintaining attention. Without a user's attention, advertisers are forced to shout louder and more frequently to convey their message - Just like they have to on Instagram right now.

The future of Liffery will include advertising, but users will be able to search available ads. Using AI with user input we believe will bring better results to the users, better conversions to the seller… and ultimately an overall improved online shopping experience.

With the upcoming launch, we created the ecosystem as the base platform for all of this to sit on first.

André J · Answer

@janine_nitz I think your working on the right problem with the wrong solution. You're assuming users care about this, they don't. And users won't bother spend time to get this to work. You should solve this where the user doesn't have to work. If it takes more than 2seconds its work, and the user won't care and just drop back to how things currently work. To move the needle in this space you have to think outside the box and not create overly complex systems to try and solve things. The best solutions are 1 Has high utility 2. Solves something elegantly (currently you dont) 3. Is easy to maintain. (Complex solutions are often hard to maintain)...But again. I love the problem you are solving, but this will not work in the real world. Just being radically honest here. Or I could be wrong and your website is just not communicating what your solution is really doing. When you have users attention. Try to convey your solution in terms they can understand. Right now I'm not understanding your USP. And I'm pretty gd at understanding a wide variety of products so then other norm users will definitely not. Im not trying to kill your idea here. Just some honest feedback from a product guy who recently raised ~$1/2 M in preseed for my startup in a pitch competition where you win by communicating the problem / solution really well. My recommendation is to bring in some product advisors in your company that help you get product communication right. And also have strong opinions on what the Core USP of the product really is and dial in on that. Right now it's a little all over the place. Focus on 1 thing that solves user pain, and find PMF with that. then add other nice to have features later once PMF is achieved. IMO.

André J · Answer

Answer to both questions: I add it to getpocket.com

Janine N · Answer

@eonpilot we‘ve built something you might wanna check out :) Liffery.com 
It’s a purpose-built research platform and it also works on all devices and it’s free :) Let us know what you think. 
But I know what you mean. Sometimes a hammer can build a whole house.

Janine N · Answer

@eonpilot I'm here for the radical honesty and the feedback, so don't worry :)
You might be right in that we're not communicating well enough yet. On that note may I ask what do you think Liffery is in your own words?

André J · Answer

@janine_nitz Its horrible for product research. But it's ubiquitous (available on all devices) iPad, Mac, iPhone. Sometimes a hammer can build a whole house etc. Syndication of data among devices is hard. Also pocket is personal. Work can't sneak in there. Notion is great but then you have to deal with notifications from your co-workers etc and their paywall keeps moving around. Other tools are mehh. Have not tried Obsidian but as I understand it their paywall is the syndication layer so holding off for now. If someone made Atom.io for all devices. or something like that. I would use it. Opensource. long life span. Free. Etc. Still waiting 😬 My hope is that one day @sindresorhus will build it.

Janine N · Answer

@eonpilot yes I love pocket too! I find it’s better suitable for reading later as opposed to product research.. would you agree?

jeusjdjsj sheueueu · Answer

Hey there, When I come across something I like but don't want to buy immediately, I usually save it to my bookmarks or create a wishlist on the platform I found it on. It helps me keep track of items for future reference. When considering a potentially expensive purchase, I tend to do thorough re Search. I read reviews, compare prices across different websites, and look for any available discounts or deals. I'm excited about the launch of your online research assistant! I'll definitely check out the coming soon page and provide my feedback. Good luck with the launch!

Dave Seth · Answer

온라인 조사를 수행할 때 귀중한 정보를 효율적으로 수집하기 위해 다양한 도구 세트에 의존합니다. 여기에는 방대한 소스를 탐색하는 데 도움이 되는 Google 및 Bing과 같은 검색 엔진이 포함됩니다. 또한 전문 플랫폼과 데이터베이스를 활용하여 특정 주제나 산업을 탐구하여 포괄적인 이해를 보장합니다. "홀덤 사이트"를 조사할 때 이러한 도구는 다양한 플랫폼, 그 신뢰성 및 사용자 경험을 평가하고 비교하여 정보에 입각한 통찰력과 권장 사항을 제공하는 데 도움이 됩니다.

André J · Answer

@janine_nitz I think your working on the right problem. But this solution isn't it. Why are the best ads on IG? because IG knows what I like, because I engage with the stuff I like. IG is more on point than other ad aggregators by 1000x. With AI, you can know customers Like IG does with less info than IG has. The moat that IG and Face, linkin now has is about to fall. Huge opportunity. I would work on something combining ad IQ + AI. An adjacent idea to the one you have now.

Which tools do you use for online research?

Replies