Dec 30, 2014
Gizmodo selected Reporter as one of 2014's best apps. Now might be a good time to pick it up and set up a survey for measuring 2015...
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Gizmodo selected Reporter as one of 2014's best apps. Now might be a good time to pick it up and set up a survey for measuring 2015...
Extending Reporter
It's been nearly 6 months since the release of Reporter. We've been thrilled by the response so far and are working hard to ensure that Reporter adds the features you've been requesting. We are currently integrating iCloud backups and preparing for the release of iOS 8.
One of the most exciting developments has been watching the ways in which our users are weaving Reporter into their code. Below is a list of projects we found on GitHub that integrate Reporter:
eturk/reporter-ruby
bradfeehan/reporter-ruby
JorgenHookham/flow-reporter
ecandino/graphic
sambev/reporter_view
Analyzing Reporter data with TileMill is a snap. Will record a brief screencast tutorial soon.
Palladio is a great free tool for exploring your Reporter CSV output.
The second image is an exploration of what I eat compared to the current weather. Clearly, snow dining is unhealthy (yet delicious).
Enabling Users Through The Product
I recently came across the reporter-app-survey-questions tumblr. If you're using the Reporter app it's amazing.
A couple weeks ago I wrote about finding the Reporter app and how I was going to start using it to get more data points on myself. So far, my biggest challenge has been trying to decide what to learn about myself. The possibilities are endless. Reporter helps you out through the introduce of a few standard questions to answer but after that it simply provides a foundation to create questions and answers to capture. The possibilities are endless and can be intimidating.
When I came across the reporter-app-survey-questions tumblr it was a great way for me to get inspired and see what other people are asking. If Nicholas Feltron (the man behind Reporter) tried to build in question recommendations, or a way to find and follow users the core experience of Reporter wouldn't be as good. Instead, he focused on making Reporter about enabling its users.
Take a look at the great questions submitted by users on reporter-app-survey-questions or the Google doc readers of reporter-app-survey-questions have put together to share their own Reporter questions. This is the result of Reporter being a great open ended product that enables its users. It doesn't enforce the user to use Reporter in any particular way and that's what makes it great.
Products like Twitter, Tumblr, and Etsy do the same thing. They provide a structure that enables users and encourages exploration. Doing this lets users dictate what the next steps are for the product and make it their own.
When a team focuses on creating a very particular experience it can result in a stifling experience for the users and a bad product.
I like building open ended products for people. It helps me understand my audience better. I gain a sense of how the product is being used right now and how the product might be used in the future. It makes my job a lot easier, but more importantly makes for a much better product.
Without metrics I can't prove to myself that I'm as awesome as I think I am. I could explain, but other people do it far better.
"Reporter is a new application for understanding the things you care about. With a few randomly timed surveys each day, Reporter can illuminate aspects of your life that might be otherwise unmeasurable."
Many self help apps try to simplify goal achievement. I appreciate Everest for this. Though, I'm not trying to make my personal achievement a social thing. I'm looking for data; cold, raw data. Reporter is a clean yet human interface for the quantifying self.
Reporter isn't trying to squeeze into your life. It's not trying to get you into it's web. Us it because you want to.
Reporter doesn't use many sensors in your phone. It adapts to your mission by using basic variables like sound, weather, location etc... I can't wait until my annual report after a year of reporting. I'll be able to draw conclusions and create new hypothesis to continue achieving greatness!
Like many of you, I often am fully aware of how I'm portraying myself. Sometimes when I'm bummed out I have trouble figuring out what I'm missing. Am I dehydrated? Do I need sunlight? Have I read enough lately? I don't believe there is much reason to accept status quo. This isn't a mandate or anything, but it helps motivate me. There are great services that help simply track this data, but I'm going to give Reporter a go. Reporter wants to help me actualize personal change!
The first few questions are preloaded. "How Did You Sleep? Are You Working? What are you doing?" Some of them are more abstract. "What did you learn today?". These questions inspire me to add my own. I don't want to overwhelm myself so I'm going to start with the stock questions.
I know how I do things, but I always wonder what works for others. What systems are you using to keep track of yourself?