With web design, you can very quickly scroll through a lot of portfolios and find a style you like. That wouldn't work at all with web developers and backend code.

We're going to be launching the index page shortly and it'll become even clearer why this form only works for visual works.

Turns out those things are really hard to get a feeling for in isolation, but in comparisons, people are really good at it. I know I want an iPhone app; I come across http://www.flingmedia.com/, and the contact us form gives me his rates. Then you try to see if Brian's rates are valid; the pricing itself gives a marker of credibility. If Brian's rates are in line with what I see elsewhere, and his portfolio seems directionally suggestive enough that he can build what he says he can build, at the very least, I'm going to contact him. The conversation with Brian will tell me, as a client, if he'd be good to work with. Sure, it takes more work - you can't make judgments based so heavily on portfolios - but I really think Haystack would be really helpful to both clients and developers. (So, please, add developers!)

Semi-related, I'll bet you a dollar that people will be looking for local designers before they look at portfolios (rather than starting with portfolios) because you give them that option. For developers, I bet they'd do the same. You'll be able to track that relatively easily.

- There's a higher likelihood they share networks, or have the potential to share networks, which provides additional incentive to do a good job.

In short, all the reasons that geography still matters in most businesses.

http://37signals.com/svn/posts/466-sketching-with-a-sharpie

http://37signals.com/svn/posts/1880-the-different-sketch-sty...

All of my freelance clients in the last few years have been startups in the Bay Area (where I live) so I understand all of those reasons and the benefits of proximity. Hell, I wouldn't have moved up here if I hadn't read Hackers And Painters in 2005 - I wanted to be where the action was. But I've been slowly doing less and less on-site work and have gotten to the point where I don't do much more than weekly meetings and not even that with some clients, so I can't help but realize that I could've technically been anywhere in the world for all intents and purposes. And these aren't low-paying entry level portfolio builders either, it's real paying work with the same challenges as always.

So again, are the reasons for working with a local designer more important than overall skill and portfolio?

Since "near this city" is filter 1 and price range is nr. 2, people are going to pick their city to shorten their options from several hundreds to a couple dozen to make it easier to choose.

Not too big of a deal right now, but once there are 10x as many designers on there, this is going to be one of those straws clients will grasp on to, even when geography really isn't that relevant to them.

Interesting to see the contrast b/w 'visual' search to search by 'algorythm'. Less work involved, product gets out quicker and works. Will the machine, the algorythm make selection better (easier for users). I'm thinking of Demand in particular ~ http://stephenlaughlin.posterous.com/demand-media-uses-algor...

EDIT: Second piece of feedback: you should add a "see other designers like this" on the page. For example, for http://haystack.com/company/161-right-sizer, there should be a link to see all other Chicago designers under $3K. (I got to this page by clicking on its card on the front page of the site.)

This is the most frustrating thing about any designer I've ever contacted or worked with.. Half the time their plates are so full that you can't get a slot.. I'd like to know that in advance so I have a better idea of wait time..

  Status:

  (x) On Fire
  ( ) Busy
  ( ) Available
  ( ) Bored

Haystack IMHO is just a card catalog — a painless way to get a basic idea of a designer's work. No more, no less.

For comparison's sake, this is very similar to another website that's been around for a few years, Carbonmade (http://carbonmade.com). Carbonmade is a bit broader than just web design, but it's likewise beautifully designed and it's also a lot cheaper ($12/month for a pro account).

I don't mean to take away anything from this particular announcement or product, but I think it's useful to consider existing products as well in the contexts of discussions like this one.

(FWIW I have no affiliation whatsoever with Carbonmade.)

For example, I heard of online invoicing when I came across Freshbooks. However, I did some research and went with Harvest.

I think people will see Haystack, see the value proposition, do some research, and then Google search and come across Carbonmade.

I think Haystack will be successful. And I think that will make Carbonmade more successful, too. Haystack legitimizes the market.

Haystack seems more focused on clients while Carbonmade is more focused on helping designers manage their portfolio quickly and easily.

If they can give designers a decent return and keep clients coming back... wow.

Its another situation like StackOverflow where they can tackle chicken and egg situation others can't because of their exposure.

Perhaps the trick is also in knowing what you got; and what problems others have got.

hmmm... I do wonder if some kind of specific advertising like this was a thought very early on for them when they started dedicating themselves to blogging, speaking to build an audience, as a financial rationalization of what they wanted to do anyway. :-)

That being said, it looks to me like a bust in the making because if only other designers are looking at your $100 per month "ad", then it's actually working against you.

hmm.. I bet that some coders do need designers (e.g. if the coder was hired first), but it's probably a tiny tiny fraction of all clients.

Besides, 37signals weren't born with their readership, they built it.

Because if the service doesn't bring the value, nobody is going to continue to pay for it in the long run.

(see http://haystacksearch.org/ for example)

If an unknown company had launched this website I doubt it would have made anyone's radar, let alone have found a willing group of companies to pay $100/month. If it only works because 37 Signals made it and promoted it (as opposed to being an elegant solution to a problem) is it not a little exploitative?

Haystack's simplicity comes from a dearth of functionality and a small number of users -- neither of these are sustainable in the medium-term for the project to remain viable in its market (which, despite 37 Signal's claims, is pretty well serviced).

They risk damaging their brand by creating a feature-light product that doesn't exhibit any capability to grow beyond a small number of portfolios. They could well find an increasingly dissatisfied group of customers demanding features and results for their $100/month. It will be interesting to see how they keep these people happy while continuing to look after their other interests.

I think that's one of the perks of becoming successful ;) The app rides on the fame that comes with Basecamp's success and there's nothing wrong with that!

I agree, though, that US$99 is quite pricey considering that you'll still be a needle in a haystack (albeit a smaller haystack). If I paid that rate, I'd want more tools for my profile of clients to narrow down on me.

People will pay for Haystack if it works for them. Just like people have paid and continue to pay for the 37signals job board. Both applications work because we have a very targeted audience that's a perfect fit for them.

This is in part what we mean by "Build An Audience". We've spent 10 years doing that at 37signals.

I'm not dissatisfied, just seems like a slightly opportunistic project that has backlash potential.

Screenshots of sites they programmed wouldn't be as useful as they are for designers. Clients wouldn't understand code snippets...

You have no idea how goddamn hard it is to find developers - they're generally terrible at any semblence of marketing. And I say this as someone who spent over $100,000 on a web development firm for my startup before I was able to recruit an internal team. Everyone knows about Pivotal Labs, but after that, it's all-but-impossible to know where to look.

I tried some Google adwords for my freelance services and it was money down the drain. Granted, I am a lone freelancer so most clients would be looking for firms for their larger projects. But I would still be interested in the answer.

[1] http://pivotallabs.com/clients

And did you proofread it?