Ask HN: 150+ new users in 2 hrs, the downside is they never came back

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4291837

by mdgrech23 • 14 years ago

6 8 14 years ago

news.ycombinator.com

I created a free bug tracking app. I submitted it to HN and it took off. I got some good feedback in the comments, and some users even emailed me personally. After the initial rush traffic slowly ground to a halt.

Am I missing something here? Did I do something wrong? Is the site just ugly and stupid or what? Any advice would be appreciated appreciated.

* URL * http://buggrapp.com/

motoford• 14 years ago

I spent 5 minutes looking, and here is my very rushed take.

What I see here is the same as I can get from a spreadsheet. IMO you need something to compel users to use your app instead of a spreadsheet. What features do you need? Well that's the hard part, because if you ask 10 users, you will probably get 30 answers.

Do you use the app yourself? If not, start using it, if you already do, start adding what you need.

I do like the simple immediate signup.

frankphilips• 14 years ago

There's nothing wrong with using bootstrap to develop a quick prototype of your web app. However, I do agree with motoford in that there is no compelling reason to use your app. As a solo developer myself, why should I switch from a kick-ass, free, awesome project management tool like Asana to use buggr? Asana is built by Dustin Moskowitz (one of the co-founders of Facebook). How is your product better then theirs? Also, I might be more inclined to use it if you offered a free demo or a video tour rather then images. And no offense, but buggr sounds a bit like booger, and you got the lime-green header to go with it! I do like your concept though..just give me a reason to switch! :)

Ugnius• 14 years ago

In browsers like IE 9, it is impossible to sign up or submit a question without looking at source. Input placeholders shouldn't be the only suggestion.

codegeek• 14 years ago

I agree with this comment. I am using IE7 (at work :) and i don't know the input boxes since placeholders do not show up.

dglassan• 14 years ago

You collected the user's email addresses during signup right? You should send each one of them a reminder email, and maybe list the outstanding bugs they haven't closed yet.

You were able to convince 150 people to sign up for your app, you should remind them about it. I remember seeing a chart somewhere recently which showed that on average a person needs to be reminded of something about 4 times before it sticks in their memory.

buraksarica• 14 years ago

In my opinion a quote of yours doesn't mean anything for yor potential users. It's like reading Yelp comments of a coffeshop written by owner. Of course this is not your only answer, but try to convince users by copywriting also.

prehnra• 14 years ago

People tried it and didn't find a reason to stay. It isn't that it is bad, but there are a lot of sites that solve this problem, with established communities. In that situation you really need something to make your solution stand out.

kt9• 14 years ago

I looked at your app and my first impression was - cool! But then I wanted to see what it does and how it works and what features it has - a video or a tour or something before I go through the trouble of signing up.

If you don't give me that I'm too lazy to sign up and will move onto the next thing!

So tell me right away what and how your app does what it does and I'll sign up.

Also bug tracking is a crowded space that is difficult to perfect so the key here is perseverance!

Lastly if you have 150 people's email addresses, email them and ask for feedback on your product and why they wouldn't use it!

Good luck!

Ask HN: 150+ new users in 2 hrs, the downside is they never came back

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