Ask HN: Please review my MVP - Instant Drop Box

by travism • 17 years ago

25 27 17 years ago

noodle• 17 years ago

innovative.

i'd brush up the design usability. you're on the right track, but i'd avoid the float right/left on the form labels/inputs respectively on a flexible layout, because it makes it harder on the eyes.

also, perhaps set a cookie or something to allow someone to possibly go back to their last created dropbox from the main page. would be more convenient for the people who lose their urls. and/or an option to enter their email address and have the urls emailed to them, and maybe new comments.

Xichekolas• 17 years ago

I'd second all these suggestions, but especially the one about floating left/right. On a widescreen monitor they are so far apart as to be hard to line up.

tricky• 17 years ago

I second the idea of being able to find the boxes you created. I immediately lost the link to the admin page. It needs to be idiot proof...

Would it be bad PR to make people create a premium account if they want to find their admin page back?

travism5• 17 years ago

Thanks for these suggestions. The design still isn't perfect, but I did get rid of the floats. I'm still thinking about what to do about the lost url problem. There should be a way to see all the drop boxes you created, but I also don't want users to have to create an account. Hmm.

tsally• 17 years ago

Decrease the size of everything. Or if you're set on the size, at least increase the contrast.

marc28443• 17 years ago

I like the concept.. suggestions:

- the URL of the dropbox and the admin page should be human-readable

- some way to find my dropbox if I have lost the URL (see suggestions by noodle)

- some way to integrate it as a widget in my own site

nir• 17 years ago

I like it a lot, quick and simple. I've been looking for something like this for gathering quick feedback on small sites, instead of forcing users to go through the whole getsatisfaction & co process.

If you'd add some JS snippet for including it on a web page (popup etc), it would be very helpful. Also, email integration (both for mailing the admin URL so the user won't lose it and for sending user feedback) would be great.

endtwist• 17 years ago

I like the simplicity of the concept, however, it would be very helpful to provide a Javascript widget (a la UserVoice). As well, having the ability for the user to choose (or change) the given URL to be more readable would be a plus.

staunch• 17 years ago

Show me the user agent and IP address of the user.

thorax• 17 years ago

+ Timestamp and referrer, please.

calambrac• 17 years ago

Um, isn't it supposed to be anonymous? I'm pretty sure it says, right on the front page, kind of big letters: "Collect anonymous comments".

tvon• 17 years ago

UserAgent and IP don't tell you who the person is.

hellweaver666• 17 years ago

I like the idea, it's like uservoice, getsatisfaction etc only really really simple.

My only complaint is the fact you've called it 'dropbox' most people associate that word with a file storage/sharing device (such as getdropbox.com or the OSX dropbox).

Perhaps 'comment box' would be more appropriate?

Also, you may want to add some flood control - I was able to bombard my test account with all manner of crap ;)

riobard• 17 years ago

I have the same problem with the naming -- just clicked to figure out what this "dropbox" would offer, only to find out it's a comment system :|

thehickmans• 17 years ago

I have the same issue with the naming - it needs to be related to suggestions, comments, feedback.

I had to chuckle when the 'create a premium dropbox now!' button took me to... a dropbox! You're taking the MVP approach pretty seriously, aren't you?

I can also see the benefit of providing some embed code to allow users to integrate it on their own site.

Good job on the design, BTW.

travism5• 17 years ago

Done! I agree, so the site is now http://instantcommentbox.com

dan_sim• 17 years ago

I really like the design and the logo. Are you a designer? Did you find someone else to work on that? (I'm interested because I'm looking for a way to have a good looking design)

travism5• 17 years ago

Thanks! That encouragement means a lot. Some of my other designs (http://mushpot.net/) weren't so well-received by HN..

It was just dumb luck (plus aesthetic help from my wife) that the box graphic came out as well as it did. I made it in OmniGraffle (mac drawing program), and I just kept playing around with the splines until I liked the shape. I'm just a programmer, so I tend to go with the simplest, bare-bones designs I can get away with.

vorador2• 17 years ago

Could you replace your image buttons by text buttons (or at least better image buttons). The buttons I see on my 15-inch monitor running ff3/ubuntu are really ugly)

travism5• 17 years ago

I tried to make the image buttons as simple as possible..they're just text surrounded by a drop shadow. I'm surprised to hear objections. Could you describe what you don't like about them in more detail?

vorador2• 17 years ago

Sure,

On my screen the buttons look crenelated.

Here is what I see : http://img260.imageshack.us/img260/3030/capture3.png

zackattack• 17 years ago

What does MVP stand for?

coglethorpe• 17 years ago

Minimum Viable Product: The least you can do and let the user actually do something. Features can be added later.

Edit: I did this comment in the MVP way. I just put the term, then added the definition later.

wooster• 17 years ago

Good idea. It would be nice to have a JS widget ala Get Satisfaction that could be used to provide feedback without leaving a site.

utsmokingaces• 17 years ago

You did a good job communicating what this app does. Add to the front page, "Why do people need this?"

mdonahoe• 17 years ago

How are you protecting against spam? How do any of these no-signup services protect against spam without resorting to captchas?

travism5• 17 years ago

Each dropbox url has a random code appended to the end, so spammers can't step step through all the drop boxes in order and pass in garbage. But otherwise nothing keeps spammers out. I'll cross that bridge when I get to it.

Ask HN: Please review my MVP - Instant Drop Box

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