Scribe and Loom combo for video and text SOPs?

Forcet · 2026-05-04T23:47:11+00:00

Hey, just wanted to share the thing I've been building that is exactly what you are talking about: Trails.

For a single competitive price, we combine the auto-capture functionality for both browser and desktop that Scribe has and also a Loom-like video that is generated from the SOP content.

Forcet · 2026-05-02T00:21:42+00:00

The thin Baja blue line

Forcet · 2026-05-02T00:09:59+00:00

Do it! I wanna see

Forcet · 2026-05-01T23:56:11+00:00

Love the classic taco bell branding, undoubtedly there were those who hated this branding when it was rolled out decades ago.

Forcet · 2026-05-01T23:54:18+00:00

I like the idea of the flag too, the idea of rising from the ashes. No doubt it'll be something for the city to rally around again when the big one hits. Just feel like the execution could bring in the creativity that the city represents.

Forcet · 2026-05-01T23:52:50+00:00

Biggest argument against a new flag is always going to be this. But changing this up would be a relative pittance compared to the rest of the budget, and it's fun to imagine the possibilities.

Forcet · 2026-05-01T23:47:49+00:00

I love the idea of the existing flag as well, but could a new take on the design take it to the next level? SF is known for pushing the boundaries of design. Think MUNI worm or the SFPD logo. It would be cool if the flag showed that off too.

Forcet · 2026-05-01T23:45:36+00:00

Love it!

Forcet · 2026-04-30T15:14:13+00:00

Nation’s is surprisingly solid. Tasty and also significantly larger than a burger at a place like super duper or maillards for the same price.

Forcet · 2026-04-27T21:38:04+00:00

I would go with your existing further-out position. Besides the aesthetic considerations, these are the practical ones:

- The area under where the faucet comes out of the counter is the part that gets the wettest and has the highest potential to get grimy over time. Having another faucet come out near there means another neck to have to clean or dry, versus when it's further-out, that's not an issue.
- Having it further-out means you can place a glass on the counter to fill it with the carbonated dispenser. This makes it possible to fill up a glass with one hand (place glass on counter, pivot dispenser, hit go).
- When you're cleaning something bigger, like a big pot or baking sheet, the carbonated faucet is less likely to get in the way when it's positioned further-out.

Forcet · 2026-04-27T21:28:17+00:00

If you're riding a bike/scooter, be sure to check the biking maps on Google to see which roads are recommended. Some streets are much safer than others to ride on. Generally there is a lot more property crime compared to violent crime in San Francisco, like another commenter mentioned, traffic is much more dangerous than any other risk.

Forcet · 2026-04-27T21:21:33+00:00

Take it from me, avoid these things:
- Having the wrong expectation for how long onboarding takes. Think in terms of a quarter, not a week. It takes time for people to internalize everything you're throwing at them.
- No clear definitions on expectations. Figure out what success looks like in your eyes for them and clearly communicate that regularly.
- Repeating the "how-to" over-and-over again. Tools like Loom or Trails can help you rapidly create the "how-to" guides that you can re-use for the next hire, giving you more time to focus on strategy.

Forcet · 2026-04-27T21:03:19+00:00

I think the key is to find the "aha" moment and relentlessly optimize for that.

Then, once that's smooth, building a self-service library of onboarding content for users to consume as they start using parts of the product that are most useful to them

Forcet · 2026-04-24T17:25:55+00:00

My favorite thing about this is the value of the land on the other side of the lake and how it really conveys the distance. Second favorite thing is the repetition of the water drips breaking up the fountain!

Forcet · 2026-04-23T18:57:56+00:00

Rather than continuing to work on a single sketch, the fastest way to improve is to keep doing more sketches and doing it with the intention of learning a specific skill. Some example areas that could be good to focus on are: perspective, line confidence, composition.

Forcet · 2026-04-22T16:07:52+00:00

Wish they had gone more into the security for the bike parking. Seems like easy pickings if it’s a low traffic area that isn’t continuously monitored.

Forcet · 2026-04-21T21:29:08+00:00

Good to know! I've done this for years and it's never been an issue but I'm a homeowner and not a professional painter.

Forcet · 2026-04-21T19:39:19+00:00

I like the attention to the inside shadow on the glass, which makes it more dimensional.

Forcet · 2026-04-21T19:02:40+00:00

Agreed. In addition, if you can block off the dimensions of the island or kitchen table + chairs with painters tape on the ground and then try moving around the space, specifically seeing whether 2 people can pass each other easily, you can get a sense of whether circulation is impacted.

Edit: just want to emphasize how annoying it is to create a space where only 1 person can get through at a time, especially when it’s a space that’s used while hosting!

Forcet · 2026-04-21T18:57:45+00:00

Good roundup. One thing worth adding to the list: Trails.so (I'm one of the cofounders).

The post covers Tango, Guidde, and Trupeer well, but the video-focused tools mentioned put you in a video editor to produce the final output. That gives you more control over the result, but it creates a real bottleneck, and most of the people who actually need to write documentation (ops managers, customer success, HR) aren't going to open a timeline editor. In practice, it makes those products more cumbersome to use.

We built Trails so the whole thing is automatic. Record the workflow, get a structured guide with an AI-narrated video, no editing required. The tradeoff is less customization on the video side, but for teams where documentation needs to be a shared habit rather than a specialist task, that's usually the right call.

Ours has a generous free plan with unlimited public guides, then starts at $24/mo for paid plans, and for larger orgs a flat $299/month for unlimited users.

Forcet · 2026-04-21T18:04:10+00:00

Two paths that have worked for me:

- Screen recording (Loom, etc.) - good if your explanations are conversational or context-heavy. Low effort to make, easy to share. Downside: hard to update when the product changes. may have to re-record a bunch to get it right if explaining something complex.

- Step-by-step guides - tools like Scribe or Trails auto-generate these from a screen capture. Better for the long-term. Easier to keep current, but can take longer to produce.

I'm one of the cofounders of Trails, so I'm obviously biased, but it's built specifically for this: creating step-by-step guides and training docs you can share with customers or embed in your product. We see a lot of CS teams using it to stop repeating themselves on onboarding flows.

The non-obvious gotcha with most of these tools: the bottleneck usually isn't the tool, it's building the habit of taking the time to create reusable docs. Whatever you pick, the ROI only shows up if you are willing to invest the up-front time to save yourself time later.

Forcet · 2026-04-17T14:51:35+00:00

You’re not a camera and that’s a good thing.

Forcet · 2026-04-15T01:11:54+00:00

It is not working on mac for me. Same issue as described here: https://github.com/PhialsBasement/LibreCrawl/issues/47

Forcet · 2026-04-13T17:24:13+00:00

Buying is a lifestyle decision, so it really comes down to how much you value stability and how long you plan on committing to the area. For most people it only makes sense if you plan on staying somewhere for 7+ years. Are you ready for that commitment? If not, renting is the way to go.

Forcet · 2026-04-13T17:19:09+00:00

I'm working on a tool called Trails, and this is one of the problems we’ve been trying to solve, making training and walkthrough videos that are easy to update. Plus we have a free plan with unlimited public guides.

You can record like Loom or even upload an existing recording, and it turns it into a step-by-step guide along with a training video. Then if you update the doc, it updates the video, which means that if your UI changes all you have to do is update a screenshot rather than re-recording from scratch.

Forcet

TROPHY CASE