HN: review my (non-profit) startup: Buy It Like You Mean It

by diN0bot • 17 years ago

24 13 17 years ago

rksprst• 17 years ago

I've been browsing for a couple of minutes and it took a while to understand what the site does. You should have a couple of sentences explaining it.

I also don't like the UI, you have 3 areas for navigation (left, right, top)... do you need that? You need to think about the site from your users perspective, a lot of the links are obvious to you because you made the site but won't be obvious to the user. You need to work through some use cases.

Also, those register and login buttons make your site look unprofessional. There's nothing wrong with just having text links.

herval• 17 years ago

I actually kinda understood what the product does by looking at the animation right in the middle of it (although that crow carrying 'data' around is kinda weird)... Agree on the design part, though - really generic/cheap/spammy looking...

vaksel• 17 years ago

its actually more than that:

he has 2 on top, 2 for the left/right, and 2 for the middle. Pretty much the ENTIRE front page is nothing but a huge navigation menu.

diN0bot• 17 years ago

thanks for the feedback.

as the backend side of the team, i share these concerns. i think there's a balance between overwhelm-sion and confusion versus 'getting to places fast'. we're still working on this, so thanks for the feedback.

wheels• 17 years ago

Like the idea, but I find the site cluttered. A graphic a la this one might help:

http://barcoo.de/

I'd cut out all the cruft at the top, de-focus the sidebars, all that jazz -- and just have people land on the page and see what it is you do and how it works.

samueladam• 17 years ago

It seems that perfection is reached not when there is nothing left to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.

-- Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

moe• 17 years ago

Same impression here, you really need to work on the design.

This is what it looks like here: http://www.uploadpad.com/files/bilumi.png

Major problems:

* Clutter! No clue what you are offering, no clue where to start.

* What's up with the messed up (scaled?) button graphics? And how about making them look a bit less like cracked eggs and a bit more like buttons?

* What's up with the 3 (three) navigation strips? Get rid of at least two!

* Sorry, flashblock ate your introduction animation. No chance for me to understand what your site is about. How a about a static image?

Well, to put it bluntly: Hire a designer.

aagnihot• 17 years ago

"Research Guide" and "Develop" links are broken.

seshagiric• 17 years ago

Please improve the CONTRAST between different sections on the web page. Right now it looks like a confused blob of pics/text in light color.

It looks like a shabby academic site and not even remotely suggest that something can be brought there.

woadwarrior01• 17 years ago

I got an Unhandled Exception on http://bilumi.org/Main/node/221/

I guess you build this using Django.

Fuca• 17 years ago

I think is a great idea if you can manage the cellphone-scanner thing, then the possibilities are endless.

Empact• 17 years ago

I happen to be working on a site in this realm as well. We should talk: ben.woosley@gmail.com

tapostrophemo• 17 years ago

I don't know about that domain name - too much like bulimia.

HN: review my (non-profit) startup: Buy It Like You Mean It

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