Hello Product Hunters!
I have been active for a while now on PH (thanks @ugurkaner) and inspired by many others I thought let’s build something!
Do you know that feeling when you finally got that date, but you have no clue where to go? I had the exact same feeling and that is why I build Where To Take Your Date.
It is all started with a simple Excel sheet among friends. Soon this list became very popular and rather detailed. At the moment Where To Take Your Date has around 45 places in London with over 200 dating specific variables. I build this website in the last few weeks all by myself, next to my full time job.
Would be great to get a discussion going on how to improve, grow and eventually monetise the website.
Because all of you are awesome, there is even a free little goodie!
@bentossell thanks! Had a similar idea when I was thinking about what to write in a newsletter, really love those one off events and can really make your date special.
@ccarella@telavivberlioz I am looking into how I can scale this to the rest of the world, or at least more cities. At the moment it is mostly an Excel sheet but that would not really work on larger scale. Any thoughts on that? Foursquare API has been mentioned a few times.
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@rikvandonselaar@telavivberlioz What about using Yelp API to help you scale? We used 4Square API for a recent project and it left some things to be desired. Odds are if its a good spot for a date, there is probably already some good info, review, photos already on Yelp you could tap into. Could be a good fit. I think this would do well in the US, launch it on Valentines Day here! lol
@carmelocolon@telavivberlioz haven't looked at the Yelp API yet but definitely going to! What is your view on monetising the website? First growing it's user base and then monetising with affiliate programs, premium paid listings, and advertisements? Any thoughts on that?
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@rikvandonselaar you might want to have a quick 'suggest a city' feature to track global interest. That could even be part of the newsletter signup (although, in this case you'd have I distinguish between a newsletter for date ideas in live cities and updates when you're expanding to other cities for those not in a live city).
@joostschuur@telavivberlioz Good one! Added it to my backlog that is getting longer and longer, which is a great things obviously :D. @joostschuur, what is your view on monetising the website?
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Highly useful site, @rikvandonselaar. Congrats on a nice, lean launch!
You mentioned much of the site being automated. Can you share some of the tech behind it? Are you pulling in opening times and quotes from something like Foursquare e.g.?
I found the rating stars a bit confusing. It's unclear where this data is coming from, and it looks like you should be able to interact with them (cursor icon changes), but clicking does nothing.
@joostschuur Thanks for the feedback! The website mostly uses two sources of data, one is an Excel sheet created by me and a few friends. Every time when one of use goes on a successful date we add the place to the list. All places are rated on many variables that are dating specific. This is where the data like “Is She impressed” and “Chance to talk” comes from. Agree with you that the interaction can be improved here!
The data is very much open source and I am very happy to change something if it is not right. You can simply click “Suggest edit” on the detailed page and I will make sure it will get changed. I wrote a simple script that gets the data from the Excel sheet to my database, so once data is added it will automatically be picked up.
The other source is the Google Places API, this is used for openings times, nearest tube station and so one.
I think when you develop a website like this on your own, with a full time job and you also want to ship something, you want to automate and save as much time as possible.
Glad you liked it!
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@rikvandonselaar That makes sense. Nice and simple. I would recommend a small explainer link next to the star ratings (or on a central FAQ for the site) that explains where these ratings come from or how users can contribute to them (or why they can't if it's a curated experience).
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@rikvandonselaar It also looked like some kind of gallery lightbox was planned for when you click on the images, but even though the URL changes to include a hash, I never saw a larger version of the venue images I clicked on.
Love the concept, a couple of suggestions:
I think 'first date' vs 'been dating' doesn't have too much impact on my choice of place. A variable like "has food" or "live music" could work as better additions.
I'd also love to see the 'real' value around dates, rather than simply a list of bars. For me an amazing date could be V&A lates, wine tasting; 'things' to do, rather than just chat and drink. Don't get me wrong, that's a great date, but I don't struggle with finding places for that. I do struggle with finding spots for incredibly memorable dates, and unique ones.
If those were added, I would use this weekly to find awesome things to do, without a shadow of a doubt.
EDIT: Headsup - "she's impressed" will antagonize some people, skewing to straight-male only. Not offensive in itself, but indicative of a skewed industry that we're trying to move away from :)
@gpat_uk Very much appreciate your feedback! I think the main goal for the website MVP is to validate whether people actually want something like this. So far it is definitely a yes with all the great responses :D
I completely agree with that the goal of version 2.0 should be around creating incredible memorable and unique dates and turn new visitors into returning readers. Added all your suggestions to my Trello backlog.
Cool idea. More stuff up North please! To @joostschuur's question - I wonder if there's a way to use the foursquare API to help with the automation side of things. Specifically, I'm wondering if there's a way you can pull the data on venues that have been listed as 'great for dates' by their users.
@eamonncarey Thanks! I had a very quick look at the FourSquare API in the beginning of the project, couldn't really find much dating specific information. But I agree, definitely worth a further investigation for expanding datasets.
Thanks for all the great feedback guys, that was just incredible!
Not sure whether people still track this thread but just did an small update to Where To Take Your Date.
- You can now suggest a new venue.
- Improved UX for ratings in detailed view.
- Newsletter sign up should be much clearer.
- Added a info box about where the data is coming from in detailed view
- Product Hunt logo on the landing page!
Congrats, nice project. Agree that ratings seem a bit strange. I first thought that % near heart means some kind of discount :D But like the idea, would use this one for my own city.
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