Show HN: FeedSnatch - A Reader for the Lazy. Tear it apart please.

by ALM • 15 years ago

1 3 15 years ago

ALM• 15 years ago

This is the first web app I've ever created. I decided to take the dive and create something of my own. I'm really loving web development and I'm learning so much so fast.

I want to get the honest constructive criticism of the folks here at HN as I feel it would point out some weaknesses early in my game and help me grow as a developer.

So please, tell me what you liked or tell me what could be improved.

neetij• 15 years ago

My two bits: It's great that you're having fun developing apps. I can't say much as to the robustness of the app. But, you should not discount the user experience when developing an app.

What does the site do? Why is this easier/better/nicer than X/Y/Z? I have no idea. What need or issue are you trying to address? Why should I use this over other services?

A reader for the lazy would ideally do something like NewsBlur (which is fabulous, BTW) and pick up my feeds from a competing service. Consider providing an 'import from Google Reader' option. You're asking me to add sites one by one, in a non-intuitive manner - if there's only one feed, just let me click 'subscribe' - don't bother giving me a (non) choice.

I like that you're loading the actual site within your app. However, I have a 13" screen at 1280x800 and there's all sorts of scrolling required, which makes for a messy experience. Gets worse when that lower frame is pulled up to view the site. Design for multiple resolutions.

From a usability perspective, the site is confusing. I've spent more time crafting this response than using the site because of this. I could possibly click on things and see what they do, but that's 'risky' and not lazy. For instance:

1. What do the up & down arrows do?

2. What does pull up mean?

3. I clicked on a link in a feed and nothing happened. Oh no, this site doesn't work! (If I hadn't scrolled down, I would not have realized the site had loaded in the lower 'box', which I also had to then 'pull up'. This process is not obvious or easy.) Consider an email inbox view - just titles to click on, and full previews in lower 'box'.

4. Keyboard shortcuts?

5. Why is the default post count only 3? Once read, a post remains in my view instead of minimizing itself. Infinite scrolling would be great to load more posts.

6. UI-wise, what happens once I have 30 feeds? How does your horizontal nav handle that?

There's more obviously, but this hopefully this is a start. It's always easier for someone (me) to criticize, so keep this in mind with my comments.

puzz• 15 years ago

What's the big difference between this one and other RSS readers. Why should I use your instead of google reader? I think you should answer to this question on the first page.

Show HN: FeedSnatch - A Reader for the Lazy. Tear it apart please.

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