www.quietnearme.com

sigridviaene·Oct 05, 2022

Posted in:Solo Founders Advice Favors Health & Wellness Lifestyle Show Elpha Tech Wins

Hi hi,

I’m Sigrid from Belgium and I created & build Quiet Near Me.

quietnearme.com is a free website that makes quiet places searchable. Especially in big cities. God knows, we sometimes need them - to take a break or to concentrate :)

For who?

People looking for quiet.
Anyone with hearing problems.
Mental healthcare professionals: share your favorite tranquil spots with your clients + attract new customers via your quiet profile.
Hearing aid professionals: share your favorite tinnitus-friendly spots or conversation-friendly restaurants with your clients + attract new customers through your quiet profile.

Go check it out. And share it with people who would enjoy it.

As I've built & designed this solo from scratch, I’m very eager for comments + reviews + improvements I could make (eg user flow, what's unclear, ...). Please don’t hesitate to let me know.

A lovely autumn,

Sigrid

ps: the dream is that every major city around the world has a few tranquil places on the map. Thanks for adding your suggestions.

teresaman·Oct 05, 2022

This is a DREAM! I'm so excited and happy that this exists! I'm absolutely someone who constantly looks for "quiet" so I can unwind, read, or just relax.I poked around quickly and some quick thoughts :1) would be great to see larger pictures of the locations!2) it's unclear to me why I'd want to sign up for an account. Upon seeing the search results, I'd likely search the place name on Google so I can learn more about it3) maybe this is embedded in the gated Quiet Profile view, but I'd love to know what the rating system would really mean for Quiet. As you've mentioned in the FAQ, the rating itself can be quite subjective, AND I think the interpretation of the rating can be equally so. What does a 3/5 star even mean and what's 3/5 to one person could be 4/5 to someone else. A suggestion would be to see this framed differently such that:a) we have concrete examples of what each increment means, eg. completely silent library → low chatter → busy sidewalkb) it shifts the thinking from 1/5 star being bad (which is the usual connotation) to, people opting for the noise level that they want, because they MAY want some liveliness after all and it's not necessarily a negative!

sigridviaene·Oct 06, 2022

Hi Teresa,First of all: so so grateful for the feedback. Seriously cool and really helps. Thanks for taking the time.To answer your thoughtful remarks.1. Yeah, improving the images is something on my to do!2. Hmmm this is super interesting to me. And very true!Your remark shows me that the value of my website is not clearly enough stated AND I'm giving too much away before the sign-up.I'm afraid moving more behind the sign up page will scare off users. I should run an A/B test. I should definitely clarify the value better ☺️. In any case, here is why should you sign up:a) To discover new quiet places - which as you stated I'm giving away too much. I should move all or parts of it behind the wallb) I should make the detail page per quiet place also more enticing or more valuable for quiet seekers. There is room for improvement here.c) To discover quiet profiles: these are profiles of fellow "quiet seekers" with their quiet suggestions in your area. You can find quiet profiles similar as yours and discover their favorite places. 3. I like the suggestion. The increment examples (eg. completely silent library → low chatter → busy sidewalk) would make sound levels more concrete for people, which in turn would make the ratings more reliable. I’ll see if I can visualise this on the website. Although subjective, I believe the Quiet ratings will be a good & user friendly indication of where to find tranquillity, even more so when we can dependent on averages from a good amount of reviews and trends (in the form of tags “avoid during the weekend”; “only in the morning”,… ). I did not opt for an objective approach with a decibel meter because eg. 70 dB doesn’t necessarily present a vivid picture. Nor does it show when a sound becomes noise. Or for who. Thanks again for the input. Very valuable. This means A LOT! A lovely autumn

teresaman·Oct 12, 2022

Totally hear you on leaning far into a very objective, arguably technical, decibel-based approach! That almost makes reduces the serenity of your space and makes it quite mechanical :)Can't wait to hear updates on how this progresses!

lwhite718·Oct 06, 2022

Congrats on this project, Sigrid! From conception to completion, how long did this project take you?

sigridviaene·Oct 06, 2022

Thanks Leslie! I would not say it's completed :) Maybe version 1. Probably half-time for 6 months since conception. I did everything myself (design, code in nocode, ..) , on practically zero budget and it's nearly completely automated. Why do you ask?

lwhite718·Mar 31, 2023

Just getting back to this six months later, smh. I ask because I'm a serial project starter but a non-completer (new word, lol), and I was inspired by how you came up with the idea and made it happen. I've had a dozen website ideas that I could've built myself but never finished. All the best to you!

khillcontag·Oct 06, 2022

Love this idea! I can’t get the URL to work - I get an error message from Chrome that the IP address can’t be found. I also Googled your site and got the same result. Can’t wait to check it out soon!

sigridviaene·Oct 06, 2022

Hi Katharine,Very strange. At first glance, I couldn't figure out why. I'll check this out tomorrow in dept. In any case, thanks for the interest.www.quietnearme.com

ellenflanagan·Oct 11, 2022

Hi @sigridviaene, I love the site! It's very soothing and inviting. A couple of things:1. consider re-writing this phrase " We showcase to businesses that there is a market for tranquil places, we are here". I know what it means but it seems a little clunky to me. 2. Re-write "it's free it's explicit but not that loud and it only takes a minute." I'm not sure that explicit is the correct word here3. I was just reading, what is your idea of a great date, a question on elpha - I love the idea of people being able to contribute specifically for a "date." I met my husband at the NC Botanical Gardens 18 years ago. We've been married for 14 years. It was very quiet and lovely. I hope you feel really good about your work, it is beautiful. Btw, what font do you use? I love it!

sigridviaene·Oct 12, 2022

Hi Ellen,Thank you so much for your feedback. It's wonderful and invigorating. 0. It made my day that you think the website looks soothing & inviting. I was aiming for a "quiet and hassle-free" design, so right on the mark :)1. Yes, you are correct. I'm no natural writer, thanks for pointing it out. I'll adjust it.2. The word "explicit" has been bothering me too. I'm not yet sure how to replace it. I want to convey that we should not stay silent about our need for quiet. We generally take silence for granted. And people who love quiet places usually don't speak about it. It's only natural that we enjoy tranquility in silence :). However quiet needs "explicit" defenders / supporters, especially in cities. 3. That is a marvelous idea. I could add a tag "quiet date idea". The Botanical Gardens NC look wonderful (I looked them up). I personally would love that kind of first date: easy for conversation, outside & walking, and beautiful surroundings. The font I used is a free Google font: Barlow thin cf https://fonts.google.com/specimen/BarlowThank you so much for your words. You are giving me energy. A lovely autumn, Sigrid