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Show HN: Designing Web Applications

nathanbarry.com

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Re: Show HN: Designing Web Applications

#61

Post by taude »

nathanbarry wrote: post #44
Irregardless wrote: post #35

My questions as someone learning web development and always searching for new (quality) resources: Who are you? And why should I pay you $200? > Previously I led the software design team at a local startup, but in the last year I have been working independently designing and developing my own apps. After seeing the $200 price tag, I expected to read something along the lines of "My web apps have been used by over X m…

The worst thing is to have people not buy, but have no idea what kept them from making the purchase. So thank you for the feedback! I'm not someone super famous, but I have designed a lot of software applications used by companies ranging from Johnson & Johnson to Hobby Lobby. But they were clients of the company I used to work for (have since left), since I now work on my own I can't call them my clients.

You don't have to say those clients were yours, but you could say that you worked on "projects for" or some other creative verbiage around that.

Re: Show HN: Designing Web Applications

#62

Post by brentm »

brentm wrote: post #60

I think you should take another look at your package overview images. The package for $79 and the package for $199 look about the same from a glance. I see that the packages lists different contents below but I think it should be more obvious from the large images. Nice work though, seems nicely done.

I think it partially has to do with the scrolling. You can't really compare the 2 packages without trying to scroll back & forth and keeping the other one in memory. You should probably add a grid at the bottom listing all contents on the Y axis & your packages on the X axis. The price is too high to not really think about the purchase for most people and that would make it much easier.

Re: Show HN: Designing Web Applications

#63

Post by bdunn »

rob41 wrote: post #4

Another thought: That's a really long sales page. Have you found people respond well to that? It's well designed, but wow is it long...

Long sales pages are able to present the pain the reader feels, detail the solution they need, provide an offer, establish their authority, highlight customer success stories, counter objections, and reverse risk. (This is all yanked from Sean D'Souza's book, the Brain Audit: http://www.psychotactics.com/the-brain-audit-marketing-strat...)

It would be hard to do all of this with a short sales page.

Re: Show HN: Designing Web Applications

#64

Post by Jacob4u2 »

Vivtek wrote: post #10

Different from , not different than . This is a grammar tic I got from Robert Heinlein, and I'm not even sure why it bugs me so much. That said, your selling page layout is brilliant. By putting the high-ticket options on top, you not only make the prices below them seem trivial, you evoke a sense of loss as the potential buyer travels down the page. Oh, and the content looks good, too, ha. Seriously - I've needed a…

I've been helping as a technical editor (programming perspective) to another book you might be interested in as well, http://www.design4software.com/. It's a good introduction to design for programmers of applications, whether they be websites or native.

Re: Show HN: Designing Web Applications

#65

Post by flyosity »

nathanbarry wrote: post #37
t4nkd wrote: post #29

The "complete package" gave me sticker shock, so much that I almost closed the page then and there. It was only out of curiosity as to why the $200 price tag was worthwhile that I even kept reading to find more purchase options. It put a bad taste in my mouth, honestly, and I'm left feeling pretty confused by why you won't let me cherry pick my own interview+book package. I'm just having trouble seeing the dollar val…

Thanks for the feedback. I am always trying to improve my content, sites, and marketing. My target market is people who are serious about web applications. In an industry where it isn't hard to charge $100-250 an hour for design or development work, $200 for everything included doesn't seem like a lot. But I understand that for some people (students) that can be a ton of money, so I am also selling the book by itself…

Hey Nathan, I sell e-books on iOS design, and my 2 cents re: price is to show all the prices in the same visual area so people can see immediately that they have a choice other than the $200. I had to scroll down pretty far past the $200 to see that just the individual book was available (and I'd guess that a ton of people are going to just buy the book, since it's a lot of great content at a really great price!) so rather than lose a lot of buyers at the $200 price point, why not gain them at a lower price point by visually positioning all the bundles together so people can choose?

Re: Show HN: Designing Web Applications

#67

Post by chris_p »

tomasien wrote: post #53
Irregardless wrote: post #35

My questions as someone learning web development and always searching for new (quality) resources: Who are you? And why should I pay you $200? > Previously I led the software design team at a local startup, but in the last year I have been working independently designing and developing my own apps. After seeing the $200 price tag, I expected to read something along the lines of "My web apps have been used by over X m…

He's not going to be able to change who he is, so if he's not well known then he's not well known. If you think being famous is what makes someone qualified to create a product you want to buy, then you're not going to buy his product. That's just the beginning and end of that question, and he shouldn't worry about that one bit. He's not going to sell as many books as DHH would, but hopefully the product stands on it…

> If you think being famous is what makes someone qualified to create a product you want to buy, then you're not going to buy his product.

That's not what he said. He only asked for some evidence that the writer is really good at "Designing Web Applications", and knows what he's talking about.

Re: Show HN: Designing Web Applications

#68

Post by nathanbarry »

flyosity wrote: post #65
nathanbarry wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thanks for the feedback. I am always trying to improve my content, sites, and marketing. My target market is people who are serious about web applications. In an industry where it isn't hard to charge $100-250 an hour for design or development work, $200 for everything included doesn't seem like a lot. But I understand that for some people (students) that can be a ton of money, so I am also selling the book by itself…

Hey Nathan, I sell e-books on iOS design, and my 2 cents re: price is to show all the prices in the same visual area so people can see immediately that they have a choice other than the $200. I had to scroll down pretty far past the $200 to see that just the individual book was available (and I'd guess that a ton of people are going to just buy the book, since it's a lot of great content at a really great price!) so…

Mike, Thanks for the feedback (I've read nearly every article on your site). I'll definitely try out some different layouts for the packages. I wanted to see what affect flipping the package order would have.

Re: Show HN: Designing Web Applications

#69

Post by cnicolaou »

I got the newsletter via email and headed to buy the book where I reacted same as the majority of commenters on HN. After checking the options/prices, I am going to put that on hold for now. Good luck though, I am sure you've put a lot of effort into this.

For HN users who are wondering about the author, I came across this: http://sachagreif.com/how-nathan-barry-and-i-sold-39k-worth-...

Re: Show HN: Designing Web Applications

#70

Post by nathanbarry »

Jacob4u2 wrote: post #64
Vivtek wrote: post #10

Different from , not different than . This is a grammar tic I got from Robert Heinlein, and I'm not even sure why it bugs me so much. That said, your selling page layout is brilliant. By putting the high-ticket options on top, you not only make the prices below them seem trivial, you evoke a sense of loss as the potential buyer travels down the page. Oh, and the content looks good, too, ha. Seriously - I've needed a…

I've been helping as a technical editor (programming perspective) to another book you might be interested in as well, http://www.design4software.com/ . It's a good introduction to design for programmers of applications, whether they be websites or native.

Looks great!
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