Show HN: FlyByChat, the site I'm working on. Looking for feedback.

#1

Post by bdr » Sun, Jun 20, 2010, 9:01 PM UTC

Show HN: FlyByChat, the site I'm working on. Looking for feedback.
beta.flybychat.com

Re: Show HN: FlyByChat, the site I'm working on. Looking for feedback.

#2

Post by arram » Sun, Jun 20, 2010, 9:04 PM UTC

Nice - the location features are something I definitely wanted while messing around on Chatroulette and Omegle.

Re: Show HN: FlyByChat, the site I'm working on. Looking for feedback.

#3

Post by petervandijck » Sun, Jun 20, 2010, 9:22 PM UTC

Nice idea, but it hangs on "finding partner", which kind of sucks (I closed the window after about 30 secs)

Re: Show HN: FlyByChat, the site I'm working on. Looking for feedback.

#4

Post by bdr » Sun, Jun 20, 2010, 9:24 PM UTC

Submitter here. Thanks for checking out my site. I'm looking for feedback on all levels: the UI and implementation, the product idea, and the market.

Particular questions: do you "know what to do" when you get to the site? Is it ugly? What would make you use a site like this?

The idea here is to iterate in the same space as ChatRoulette, towards the goal of becoming the best place to meet new people online. There are some obvious directions to go in, like adding video, dating features (FB' Interested In/Looking For), and locale support, and maybe some not so obvious ones, but I'd like to hear what you think.

Re: Show HN: FlyByChat, the site I'm working on. Looking for feedback.

#5

Post by bdr » Sun, Jun 20, 2010, 9:28 PM UTC

petervandijck wrote: post #3

Nice idea, but it hangs on "finding partner", which kind of sucks (I closed the window after about 30 secs)

I think the hanging is probably that there was no one else looking. You don't have cookies disabled, do you?

Re: Show HN: FlyByChat, the site I'm working on. Looking for feedback.

#6

Post by mechanical_fish » Sun, Jun 20, 2010, 9:36 PM UTC

To me (Safari 5/Mac) this site is a big blue screen with no content except an "About" link that doesn't work. I waited five to ten seconds before giving up.

I'm using a 3G connection which may be flaky, so maybe I'm just suffering from extreme latency. Nevertheless, you should probably try to show at least a sentence on initial page load to keep me curious enough to suffer through another few seconds...

Re: Show HN: FlyByChat, the site I'm working on. Looking for feedback.

#7

Post by spking » Sun, Jun 20, 2010, 9:40 PM UTC

I'd suggest making a single, clear call to action. Perhaps "Chat anonymously with a random partner" would be the best option to drive attention to first, since it requires the least effort and commitment from the user. I'd make the button say something like "Start a Chat Now!", with smaller subtext to the effect of "100% Anonymous and Fun".

Re: Show HN: FlyByChat, the site I'm working on. Looking for feedback.

#8

Post by ent » Sun, Jun 20, 2010, 9:53 PM UTC

The ui is very nice, I really like the ability to add more chat windows side by side. The obvious problem is that there don't seem to be very many people online.

Re: Show HN: FlyByChat, the site I'm working on. Looking for feedback.

#9

Post by jrnkntl » Sun, Jun 20, 2010, 9:58 PM UTC

I'd like to see when my chat partner is actually active (like in typing) and stuff or update the title bar of the window.

also an option to enlarge the chat window would be nice.

Re: Show HN: FlyByChat, the site I'm working on. Looking for feedback.

#10

Post by sev » Sun, Jun 20, 2010, 10:00 PM UTC

bdr wrote: post #5

petervandijck wrote: post #3

Nice idea, but it hangs on "finding partner", which kind of sucks (I closed the window after about 30 secs)

I think the hanging is probably that there was no one else looking. You don't have cookies disabled, do you?

Might be a good idea to let the user know that's the case so that they don't mistake it with hanging.