Show HN: Redesigned site for my iPhone app. Looking for feedback.

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4069134

by dmotz • 14 years ago

8 9 14 years ago

news.ycombinator.com

I launched ChainCal back in late January, but I recently redesigned the app so I built a new site to promote it.

I'm not much of a marketer so I was hoping to get some constructive feedback from the HN community, having plenty of experience with this.

The site likely won't work well in old browsers at the moment since it uses a lot of CSS3.

Thanks!

dmotz3• 14 years ago

Clickable:

http://chaincalapp.com/

gawker2• 14 years ago

Hi there, it sounds like a really neat app. Love the clean look of the app.

However, maybe it's because of my monitor colours but everything looks pretty faint with the minimalist theme. I can't really see the various tasks that you've picked as samples. Also, personally, I prefer if you would tell me step by step what the app does instead of me having to wait for the animations to run through them step by step. However, I'm a technical user and I may not be your target audience.

Also, if you're looking to promote this app via your website, I'd recommend you have something that works well in most browsers so you can reach out to a larger audience.

Good luck!

dmotz3• 14 years ago

Yeah I wrestled back and forth with those example goal boxes. When I made them less faint, I felt that the content of the page became overwhelming since those boxes are more ornamentation than actual information. I haven't fully decided yet though.

You're right about the need to convey what the app actually does. Do you feel the annotated screenshots suffice? Or is it that they take too long to begin cycling?

Lastly, you're absolutely right about browser compatibility. I just have to put in more time on graceful degradation.

Thanks for the feedback!

gawker2• 14 years ago

I think the annotated screenshots might suffice short of an entire video that demos the app. I don't view those demo videos but I don't know if it's an effective marketing tool or not. I prefer the annotated screenshots :)

But yeah, I do feel that it is taking too long to cycle. I'd have to wait for a while and if it doesn't catch my attention, I'm gone so you'll have about a few seconds to grab attention :)

trevorgeise• 14 years ago

I'm a fan. A little busy, but intriguing enough for my tastes. I wish clicking on the little red boxes did something other than flip them to a different color, but it's really insignificant. The title bleeds off the black background on Chrome. Great idea for an app. I teach goal setting workshops now and again, this could be a useful tool to pass along.

dmotz3• 14 years ago

Thanks for the feedback, I'll take a look at the title text on other platforms.

I'm curious if you have any advice/suggestions for the app since it sounds like you have some expertise in the area.

Thanks again!

joakin• 14 years ago

Very nice entry effect, looks great on the ipad.

As a landing page looks great, and the app and page look desirable.

A couple of suggestions:

The boxes have maybe too much emphasis, the color distracts a bit.

I missed some visual indication of the steps on the carrousel, when cycling I felt a bit lost.

Good job on both the page and app

yurivictor• 14 years ago

I seriously had just spent like two hours looking for an app exactly like this and BAM I came across this post.

Thank you and oh, I like the new site.

mrose• 14 years ago

Inspired by Jerry Seinfeld's productivity secret? Looks good. http://lifehacker.com/281626/jerry-seinfelds-productivity-se...

Show HN: Redesigned site for my iPhone app. Looking for feedback.

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