Shimmer

Consumer and social

adhd coaching service

SHOW HN2023

229points
265comments
#230of 3,109 in 2023
Top 8%of 2023 by points

How HN took it

RoastedHalf or more of the comments are critical

12 positive, 21 neutral or asking, 3 mixed, 44 critical, out of 80 comments about the project. Thread score -0.38.

Idea: 2 for, 12 againstDesign: 3 for, 9 againstDocs: 1 for, 7 againstPricing: 1 for, 6 againstPerformance: 0 for, 3 against

The thread, comment by comment

Each row is a top-level comment and its replies, in HN's order. Select a cell to open that comment on HN.

positive neutral or mixed critical about another commenter or something else the maker

What HN said

What people liked

  • Makers responsive to feedback and quick to change wording

    From 2 comments
    • Appreciate the feedback! I'm the author here (Christal)...unfortunately I definitely have ADHD! Many of our members and team need the emojis for the visual relation but I…
      christalwang on HN
    • I laughed out loud at the end. That's a good idea. https://www.understood.org/ actually has a good example of this (reduce-motion mode) We'll look into this for sure—I'd love a…
      christalwang on HN

Objections

  • Wording implied medical or clinical services; makers changed language

    From 3 comments
    • Shimmer is NOT clinical and we do NOT provide licensed medical services. We are most definitely not trying to substitute a real doctor. Full stop. We hope that is clear in all of…
      christalwang on HN
    • We've just changed our language with the support of our care team and the folks in this thread! Super open to more suggestions if it can better represent what we're doing (ADHD…
      christalwang on HN
    • We weren't advertising anything that isn't true. We do have qualified mental health professionals on our coaching team (many of them are), but we changed the language so it…
      christalwang on HN
  • Pricing is too expensive for many people with ADHD

    From 1 comment
  • No rigorous outcome data; only self-reported symptom reduction

    From 1 comment
    • Hi yes, I am still here. (1) We currently only have self reported symptom reduction (83% state symptom reduction within 6 weeks) that we've been using as a proxy so far, but we…
      christalwang on HN
  • Auto-cancel of inactive subscriptions is manual and unclear

    From 1 comment
    • Thanks for having us in the "assume good faith" category—we are committed to staying there! And I appreciate your sentiment. We have already made changes to the website,…
      christalwang on HN

Requests

  • Clearer that coaches are not licensed clinicians

    From 2 comments
    • > Shimmer is NOT clinical and we do NOT provide licensed medical services In which case I personally find the phrase "All of our Shimmer ADHD Coaches are licensed or certified…
      ranting-moth on HN
    • This was an excerpt of a longer message; we did not claim all our coaches are licensed or certified mental health professionals. Original wording: All of our Shimmer ADHD Coaches…
      christalwang on HN
  • Searchable content and clearer pricing on homepage

    From 2 comments
    • Obvious and transparent pricing is a requirement for services I sign up for, and the fastest check for services that align with that requirement is cmd+F. As a consumer I'm…
      alex_lav on HN
    • Oh, this is a good idea re: "pricing"; right now it's on the homepage under the section "Flexible plans built for every brain". Thank you for this—will be adding today. Hm, I'm…
      christalwang on HN

Questions

  • What credentials do coaches hold

    From 2 comments
    • "All of our Shimmer ADHD Coaches are licensed or certified mental health professionals or have extensive experience with ADHD & undergo our Shimmer Coach Training program…
      alfanick on HN
    • please elaborate on which licenses and certifications they have. Can I confirm those credentials, how will I know if they are industry recognized and respected instead of your…
      bitwrangler on HN
  • Is there evidence the service works

    From 2 comments
    • Hi yes, I am still here. (1) We currently only have self reported symptom reduction (83% state symptom reduction within 6 weeks) that we've been using as a proxy so far, but we…
      christalwang on HN
    • So you only have one claim (83% state symptom reduction within 6 weeks, whatever that means) at this point and that claim seems very weakly supported as it is not rigorous and no…
      ayakang31415 on HN

Alternatives named

  • Other ADHD coaching services and individual coaches

    From 1 comment
    • Definitely, and we hear you. We're excited for our upcoming pilot with more rigorous study. Also, as mentioned in a different thread, we're definitely not a medical service nor…
      christalwang on HN
  • Therapy and psychiatry used alongside coaching

    From 1 comment
    • It really depends on the person. It's the case for some folks but definitely not all (not myself) and in that case, it's important to address the root cause. Our team actually…
      christalwang on HN

Category, keywords, summaries and labels on this page were made by AI (Thread Reader v2) and not checked by hand. Each point links to the comments it came from.

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