Those front page and screenshot JPEGs are horrendous. Either up the quality a lot (and increase file size) or move to a more suitable format like GIF/PNG (better idea).
i appreciate the feedback. the reason i opted for smaller filesize is because i'm not sure if anyone but web folks would notice the difference, but i'd be curious to find out if they do.
Non-web people may not be able to point out exactly what makes those images so terrible (though they probably will), but they will know that the site looks un-professional. I would suggest moving to PNG's.
Other than that, the site looks very good. I'll be interested to see where this goes...
I compulsively changed the ver parameter to look at your other front page versions, and I think ver=1 is better. When I tried your link (ver=3), I didn't immediately get what you were trying to do. The tag line "See everything your friends do online" was more informative than seeing the Photos + Blog + Videos equation. The equation image is too cluttered and made my mind wander off into other directions.
thanks. we're testing different versions o fthe front page, and this is the one that's done the best from CPC ads... though i found it less informative. i thought #1 would do better, but it doesn't perform as well.
Fascinating, version 2 looks like it should be the best... Maybe if you did version 2 but with the large images of version 3, because the sample stuff down the bottom _really_ shows off what you're about.
Either way, love it, signing up now, stick with this because I think you have a shot at going big or being bought out early by someone like yahoo (I figure with google's recent announcement they'll stick with makamaka for a while).
I did get it. How exactly are you different from 100+ other RSS readers/aggregators?
It is so incredibly easy to aggregate anything form the web today that I simply miss your value proposition.
to you and the others who have asked: how many regular, non-geek people do you know who know what RSS is? my count: 0. they might use My Yahoo!, but they don't know what RSS is. there was a study by yahoo from awhile ago [1] that stated that 12% of internet users are aware of RSS, and 4% have knowingly used it. my bet is that those numbers have hardly shifted; have you seen a marketing campaign for RSS recently?
my goal is not to win over geeks, but to make RSS easy and useful for regular people, who have no idea what it is or why they should care about it.
Valid point. However, NewsGator, FeedBurner and FeedReader are all well aware of that fact. I've been part of a consumer-grade RSS startup myself. We were trying really hard to educate users (we made a big deal about it) we've been trying to avoid using RSS word, we had web-version (like yours), we had IE plugin and FireFox plugin (!), but ultimately came short of inventing a working business model. Too much competition, too few customers. My startup survived (switched to business customers) and I believe you're coming to the market too late.
Well, it looks nice to me. While the service sounds good, I'm not sure I'd use it. I still use a lot of the surrounding features of the social sites when checking updates - it's usually done such that I can quickly respond to something and not have to log in during the switch from finding out and responding.
What about customization? Can I change the look of the site to mirror maybe one of those services or something I would prefer? I say this mostly because a lot of those services listed offer that ability and it is well used by many users with accounts on those other sites.
Still, I like it, kind of like a google feadburner for social sites. Actually, what different are you doing other than an rss/atom aggregator?
If I could use those accounts from your site I would probably use it more often than all the others. Even with minimal functionality of use imported from those other sites.
There's weak contrast between elements. Your logo, three images, sub-headings and call to action are all nearly the same size (freakin' HUGE). Instead, decide which element is the most important and create a visual funnel down or across the page to and from it. Guide the user, don't yell at them.
The general alignment is off. Using centered text throughout the page makes your eye jump abruptly from one line to the next. I suggest instead left-aligning everything except the images and their sub-headings (Photos, Blogs, Videos). This will make them easier to scan and comprehend.
Finally, use some proximity. The current layout is stating that every element is related when, really, they aren't. Each serves different purposes so separate your content into their own unique spaces.
The images are a bit fuzzy looking. Also, the tagline is a bit of a mouthful. How about: "All of your friend's updates all in one place" instead of "Readr delivers your friends' latest updates from around the Web.
Have you heard of rss? ;)
But your right: normal people propably don't use stuff like rss. But now you have to make these people discover your site and the need for it.
I agree in that version 1 looks much better, maybe because of the picture.
I think it would look better using version 1 image and tag line with the learn more and join now! links.
About design, you should change the headers hover background color (I just can't read the text when it's hovered).
One last thing, don't use the stile tag in HTML elements, that kind of code is very difficult to maintain, use your stylesheet instead.
I like the idea and think that the design is clear. Your goal is to facebook-ize the Internet. This seems similar to facebook notifiers in their ecosystem.
What do you think your is your biggest challenge? I think it will be very hard to get a critical mass without FB jumping on the idea and opening up their ecosystem to the entire Internet. That is always where I thought they are headed.
Even if we ignore for a second the fact that the Apple slogan takes 4.25" on my screen while your thing takes 10.5", there is this: you are not introducing the best iPods ever. You are asking the user to perform a very trivial stage in the registration procedure. If the font boldness, and not that, was the first thing that came to mind, I suggest hiring someone else to do the design.
If I sound spiteful, it's because I'm envious. The thought of making a meta-social-network crossed my mind, but it never occurred to me why anyone would want to use it, especially at the start. Feeds! Duh.
okay, you got me -- i'll admit it: i spent 30 seconds making the graphic, and .5 seconds looking at it. maybe i'll change it. i'm not a designer, and i didn't think it was worth my time.
but i would guess from our verification rates that it's not turning too many folks (besides you and the 3 who upmodded you?) away. who knows... maybe i'll do some a/b testing and see if it makes a difference.
I totally agree with the other two posters. This could make a useful blog widget, or a clever facebook app, but as a stand-alone site I wouldn't use it.
i'm not sure if i agree with you or if i think the exact opposite is true (i.e. if it integrates with facebook i'm not sure anyone outside of the TC50K would use it)...
cool idea though. the massive images on the first page are a little strange. and the second page would be better if it fit w/in one screen.
I think it's a great idea. My first impression was "What is this?" in a curiousity way that I wanted to learn more. Then the Learn More link explained things very clearly.
i've had it for about a year. the idea for this site has been kicking around for a long time, but it's taken me this long to actually use the domain. :)
