Nobody likes to make difficult decisions. And while the web has offered outlets for advice for years, ranging from forums to sites like Yahoo Answers, these are prone to flame wars and grossly incorrect information. Now, some new startups are emerging that are looking to take the community element – or at least the flamewars associated with it – out of the equation. Today sees the launch of LetSimonDecide, a new site that looks to help make decisions easier across a variety of topics, ranging from picking a college major to determining if you should buy or sell your stock.
The obvious competitor here is Hunch the new startup from Flickr co-founder Caterina Fake. And while there are some definite similarities – both startups revolve around decision making – they’re taking very different approaches.
While it is powered by complex algorithms, Hunch’s data comes primarily from the community – you essentially vote on each portion of the decision process to determine how it should impact subsequent users. This means that you’re exposed to new options that you might not have previously been aware of, but it also means that you’ll occasionally get a suggestion that you’d never consider as a viable option. Conversely, Simon is more about helping figure out what’s important to you, and then basing a decision off that. In a way, it’s like an enhanced version of the traditional Pro/Con lists people make when they’re trying to make a decision.
It sounds a bit odd at first, so I’ll try to demonstrate how it works with an example. After logging into Simon, I was prompted to build a personal profile, which asked for some of my overarching life goals (these include moving to England and writing a book, for those who are curious). It also asked a handful of other questions, like my favorite activities and my personality type (there’s a choice from a half dozen categories).
From there, I tried using the site to help me with a decision. The first one I tried was to help me pick a college major – a decision I grappled with years ago that I figured might be a common choice for newcomers to the site. The site first asked me for the options I was considering (Political Science and Biology), and then which attributes about each should factor into my decision (I chose ‘Is It Interesting?’, ‘Work Load’, and ‘Job Potential’). The site then asked me to rate each major in terms of these three attributes, and how each would affect my quest to achieve my life goals. Based on my input, it spat out an answer (Biology).
So rather than look at data input by the community, Simon used data I had previously entered to help make my decision. Because there isn’t a large database of existing questions and responses it feels a little too basic at first – it’s effectively just presenting you with questions that you wrote for yourself. At the same time, I can see why it could be useful. It forces you to figure out exactly what’s important to you, and helps you make your decision accordingly.
And in the end, that’s really the best these services can do. For any genuinely important decision, you probably don’t want to rely on the wisdom of the crowds to land on your ultimate verdict – the average answer isn’t always the best one for all of us. So Simon holds your hand and helps you come to your own conclusions. It’s better than the old fashioned Pro/Con list, but it may still have a hard time attracting many users – unlike Hunch, it isn’t all that fun.
LetSimonDecide is the newest product from Ayax Systems, a consumer research company. Rather than include advertising on the site, Ayax is planning to use aggregate anonymized data to generate reports, which it can then sell to universities and Think-tanks.
What happened to having some balls and making choices yourself in life?
Thank you, Gebadia
Took the words out of my mouth. Not only do we have “experts” telling us how to live through every media outlet possible, but we have sites now telling us how to live..
These sites rocks… I am never making another choice in my life… poor magic 8 ball company… who needs them.. we have the web.. where we just follow the will of the people… instead of the old twinkie defence we have the simon told me to do it…
ayaxsystems.com may already be worth $250 million. There is a huge demand for decision making tools because people are too stupid to think on their own. htp://iamned.com/blog/
Might want to link properly to your site, otherwise the spam doesn’t get anyone’s attention…
They don’t even worth 250K
) lol
If they were, they would have hired someone to design a logo or taken some pictures other than using stock images.
interesting…
can’t decide if we like this idea…lol
http://screensh...s2/94069_1t.jpg
I like the idea of letting computers decide for us; so does Kurzweil. All hail the mighty machines. Be nice to your future pets. Where’s Sarah Connor when you need her ?
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This is retarded. So much so that even the iconography is retarded. The pictogram up there looks like he just scored below 90 on an IQ test, and looks suspiciously like Hank Hill, the lead character from King of the Hill.
I’d rather use my own brain, thank you very much.
As you pointed out, the best thing that LetSimonDecide can do for a user is get them to think more about a decision. I can’t see any (sober) person letting past answers to questions or a community of strangers decide on a new direction in life or a new wife.
I’m sure they’ll be a few users that finalize a decision based on “what Simon says”, but outside of satisfying curiosity or building a database, there’s not much the site has to offer…not yet anyway.
I use a throwing dart with a “choice map” on the front lawn to make my choices in life. I find it to be just as useful as this site. Plus if I hit my neighbor with a dart it comes with free room and board at the pokey for a few days.
I think it is a great idea, millions of books are sold every year to help people making decisions based on the same approach this site use. Wish I had that idea first : )
I would rather consult with close friends and family instead of a web startup.
virtually acquire techcrunch on http://www.webm.../techcrunchcom/
who in thier right mind pays real money to “virtually” own some one elses site, within the contstraints of your site?
CRAZY
I think hunch.com will do better than this. Who needs “regurgitation” to help make a decision? At least on hunch.com, there is upside of discovery due to crowd sourcing.
Having said that, both services are not viral…since it’s not light or provide huge value relative to time investment.
I think LetSimonDecide is a great site, and a great idea. The site helps you order your own ideas in order to make a decission. Also if you want you can also share it, so other people can look for your options that probably they haven`t taken or forgotten.
I just logged in, created my profile and “asked” a couple of questions…and i think it´s great, for those who have posted dumb comments it is obvious that they have not gone into the site yet. Simon makes you think about who you are, what you want, where you are in life at this point, it does not decide for you, it makes you THINK…can you handle it?
Looks more like Hank Hill…