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851 points swyx | 2 comments | | HN request time: 0.632s | source
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eightysixfour ◴[] No.25827086[source]
I remember reading this the last time and it was posted and I still think the core failure is that the author didn't actually recognize the issue he was solving. He thought the problem was choosing the most effective medicine when the real problem was decision fatigue looking at endless shelves of things that all seem to do the same thing. Those two problems sort of look the same, but the latter cannot be resolved by selling the tool to doctors in their offices.

The tool should have been designed (IMO) as a consumer tool, either a kiosk at CVS/Walgreens/pharmacies to assist with OTC med selection or possibly as a website with ads/referrals. I would absolutely choose a pharmacy over another as a result of them having something to help through that process, especially when I have a headache.

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1. wpietri ◴[] No.25830715[source]
I'd be skeptical that would work.

A friend did a ton of user testing of improvements to a price-comparison site back when those were the rage. With some frequency the engineers would come up with a way to help people make a better buying decision. E.g., picking a TV is a problem, so they'd make a wizard that would ask you questions and then give you a recommendation. Problem solved, right?

Alas, no. Turns out most of these user guidance things wouldn't help, because people had no reason to trust the thing. They might go through the process, but their behavior didn't change. I'd expect to see the same effect with a kiosk. Most wouldn't engage, and those who did wouldn't weight the recommendation very highly.

A website would have an even deeper trust problem, and would add an SEO problem on top. Imagine a referral is worth $1 on average and you spend $0.50 on coming up with good answers, $0.49 on making sure you're on the first page of Google results, and take $0.01 in profit. You'll very quickly have a competitor with that spends $0 on research and $0.99 on being ahead of you on Google. Sure, their data will be garbage, but the page will be just as convincing to somebody who doesn't know anything, which is your target market.

I suspect the real outcome, as with many would-be startups, is that this is a feature, not a business. Somebody like Wirecutter or Consumer Reports could turn this into solid content that would be a nice addition to what they have already. They've already built a trust relationship with their users, and they don't have to specifically find people in the (very rare) moment of choosing a new medication.

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2. ag_user123 ◴[] No.25881727[source]
It's true people don't trust new user guidance things, but if your product is useful you can build trust over time or not?