Visually, the middle content looks too bold and over the top compared with header and footer. But the UI looks intuitive. Can you share what technology stack you used (backend and frontend) to build it?
Ask HN: How to Hire a Designer from Dribble?
21–30 of 31 posts
Re: Ask HN: How to Hire a Designer from Dribble?
#22I agree with the others, the usability is fine the way it is, I like that it's not cluttered, and it's easy to browse around. What you really need is a good copywriter. Someone who will ask you the right questions to find out who your users are, what their pain-points and needs are, and then create copy that will pique their interest and guide them on what they should do on your site. That will be much better money s…
Thank you. I'm planning to do blog posts and maybe youtube "explainer" videos on how to apply for and get various work visas.
That would be amazing! I'm personally trying to figure out the EU visa process and keep getting lost trying to understand the most viable way to get a job/visa. I'm definitely going to keep your site bookmarked!
Re: Ask HN: How to Hire a Designer from Dribble?
#23Congratulations on shipping! I rather like the UI.
Few quick thoughts
1. I don't like navigating back to the main page to search
* Example: http://imgur.com/XuZSrSR (no search bar here)
2. If a field is not populated, consider not displaying it
* Example: http://imgur.com/9b6UIUv
3. Some pages don't go anywhere meaningful
* Sign in / register
* http://visaok.in/not_a_real_page (=> http://imgur.com/Qhue840)
4. Search doesn't handle some input; I get an error page
* Example: http://visaok.in/jobs/search?q=%3Ch1%3Etest%3C%2Fh1%3E
Re: Ask HN: How to Hire a Designer from Dribble?
#24Have you looked on UpWork?
I don't have any experience hiring there but it may be worth a shot.
Re: Ask HN: How to Hire a Designer from Dribble?
#25you mean dribbble :)
Yes. Just noticed the extra b. "Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteers be at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a toatl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe."
Hmmm
Re: Ask HN: How to Hire a Designer from Dribble?
#26The UI of your project does NOT need work IMO. It looks great, functional, and you should be able to bring lot's of revenue in with the current design (assuming the site solves a problem). Your time will probably be better spent doing marketing, user testing and customer interviews.
I agree it is pretty good. I wouldn't spend too much on a designer. What you may be able to do is find students who are trying to get some stuff in their portfolio and contract to them.
You don't need a lot of work, and if I were you, I'd approach it as a learning experience for both of you. You get to learn what it is like to work with a designer, what they need for future projects, what works, and what doesn't. They get some money and a working app in their portfolio.
Your site is nice and clean, easy to understand. But you'd be amazed at what a few tweaks to spacing, font, etc can do to the experience.
I'm not saying it needs to be done. I'm not saying it doesn't. If you decide you want to spruce it up, I think you'll see some benefit, but it may be quite small.
I had the ugliest site on the web back in the day, the comments from people were that the app was amazing, but the UX was aweful. I found a designer on 99 designs (or something like that). He had just started designing. We got on quite well. In a day he had improved my site by a huge margin, and within a few weeks it was on TechCrunch. I put that down to the design changes. It made the whole thing seem more real.
This was just my experience, your mileage may vary.
Re: Ask HN: How to Hire a Designer from Dribble?
#27I don't know how to hire designers from Dribbble, but I would like to suggest you few things. But first, your UI is not okay, you need to fix them.
1. On copywriting: I don't understand your copywriting, for example: "Top Visa Sponsor Countries", "74 Jobs United States". Hmmm, what? Also, I don't understand some words, like: "sought-after" without dictionary (this is my third language). Remember, when you're writing, any words that you have to see from dictionary is the wrong words.
2. On typography: grey text on white background is pretty, but hard to read. Why do you write them? Right, for people to read. Imagine how painful it is for people with color blind or low vision. And pay attention to hierarchy.
3. On elements: we like to see something that looks neat. Remember: 1) Order and balance. If you use padding top 1em, it's better if you also use padding bottom 1em. 2) Space and group. Orange and apple should be in the same group. Dog and cat. Then, add space to tell people that they're not the same group: fruit and animal. Visit learndesignprinciples.com for quick read.
4. On icons: why Facebook, Twitter, G+, and YouTube at the top? But why LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube at the bottom? Why without text and with text? Remember consistency. Oh, and why hamburger menu? It's not like the cart icon that people already understand without copy.
5. On color: looks like you use three colors for link. Hmmm? Blue, black, and grey. Why? I suggest just blue. Remember, consistency. Why blue and red buttons? Lastly, don't rely on colors, remember color blind and low vision.
Well, I can write more if you want, but I think you understand. And yes, don't spend too much money for designers. Even Buffett doesn't like to spend money to hire designer (berkshirehathaway.com). Here's my suggestions:
1. Learn design, for fun. Because why not. I am self-taught designer. It's easier to learn design than programming. I am currently learning JavaScript, and it's hard. Design is not that hard.
2. If you want a quick solutions: visit some wonderful websites. Then, you take the most wonderful elements (header, button, footer, etc.), combine them to your project.
For more: where to read? NNGroup, UIE, Usability Post, etc. People? Jakob Nielsen, Jared Spool, Don Norman, etc.
Re: Ask HN: How to Hire a Designer from Dribble?
#28Congratulations on shipping! I rather like the UI. Few quick thoughts 1. I don't like navigating back to the main page to search * Example: http://imgur.com/XuZSrSR (no search bar here) 2. If a field is not populated, consider not displaying it * Example: http://imgur.com/9b6UIUv 3. Some pages don't go anywhere meaningful * http://visaok.in/press * Sign in / register * http://visaok.in/not_a_real_page (=> http://imgu…
Thank you so much for testing this and providing screenshots. I was going to reply after fixing everything, but it's taking longer than I thought.
I've fixed 2 of the above. Doing a deploy tomorrow morning...
Re: Ask HN: How to Hire a Designer from Dribble?
#29Finally, I get to be an "expert" on Hacker News :). I have hired a number of great designers from dribbble some of which went on to work in places like Apple. First step: Get Dribbble pro for $25. It'd worth it. Step 2: first search for designers based on a similar project. In my 1st case I used keywords like "music" "Spotify" "player" etc. In yours, you can use "classifieds", "Craigslist" "Job Board" etc. People wou…
Wow, thanks for the details steps. I learnt a lot from your reply.
I got a lot of response in my inbox from designers, all with stellar portfolios! I'm making the fixes and tweaks some have suggested in this thread, and will likely hire a designer in a few weeks after I do some marketing and sales...
Here's the site: http://visaok.in/
Re: Ask HN: How to Hire a Designer from Dribble?
#30Design looks fine to me.
Got an error after clicking on 'C#' on the homepage, might want to look into that? :)