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Show HN: Designing Web Applications

nathanbarry.com

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Re: Show HN: Designing Web Applications

#81

Post by polyfractal »

justjimmy wrote: post #72

Please remove the Facebook, Mailchimp etc logos. It really leaves a bad taste - it's a practice to show those on a landing when either the companies whose logo are featured, are using this product/service or have said something positive about it. But after reading the line below it, it's just a mis-direction, felt almost cheated. I'd highly recommend removing it.

Yeah, this is very misleading. The icons seem to imply "Facebook used my service/book/advice", when in reality you just mean "Facebook is a web service".

Either make it abundantly clear with a big headline, or scrap the icons. They look waaay too much like social proof logos.

Edit: Looking at it again, you do have an abundantly clear headline that describes what they are. Which I didn't even see because I assumed they are social proof logos. I'd just scrap them entirely.

Re: Show HN: Designing Web Applications

#83

Post by jongold »

Couple of things:

- Get rid of the MailChimp, Facebook logos etc. On scanning it's shady.

- The whole site comes across as a bit of a skeezy sales letter. You're a designer, you're better than that. I realise this is the favoured approach from Kalzumeus etc but I find it really cringey.

- Make the bundles more easily comparable. I was about to buy but got bored scrolling up & down & up & down comparing the packages.

- I'm a designer; will this be something I can still get value from? Are you pitching this as 'design for hackers' (ala http://designforhackers.com/ ) or is it just 'stuff I've picked up from designing apps that you might like' (which I might get value from as a designer)?

Re: Show HN: Designing Web Applications

#84

Post by tucson »

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.

> "The worst thing is to have people not buy, but have no idea what kept them from making the purchase"

That is very true.

My feedback: I visited your page and did not buy because I have zero revenue on my sites, and I have bought already so many things before (books, hosting, web templates, logo, etc) that I am in a "puzzled mood". I also did not feel the offer was for me. Right now my problem is figuring out how to make money out of my sites' visitors. To clarify I am one step behind where you are: I look at many options and wonder which way to go. Building a web app is one option, but it takes lots of time, and I would like to first get some confirmation that it is the right option to go for. Other option I consider is creating content (tutorials, forum).

Re: Show HN: Designing Web Applications

#85

Post by MightyKlong »

bdunn wrote: post #57
Draiken wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree, $200 is way too much to pay for content from a person I've never heard of, and couldn't find any easy reference in the page. With that kind of money you can get a lot of good content in a lot of places. I just don't see the differential that would make me spend that much money on this. No known clients, no big companies in the past. It makes me hesitant to even consider buying this.

Disclaimer: I was interviewed for the book and just finished skimming through my copy. First off, Nathan generously offers a full money back guarantee. If you don't find the book's value outweighs the cost, ask for a refund. Second, yes, you can wade through hundreds of blog posts or whatever else to find a lot of what Nathan presents in the book. But I value my time, and the overhead of doing that filtration vs. hav…

No, a money back guarantee is standard business practice (esp. with a high sticker price) and a way of increasing conversion rates. It's CRO 101.

Re: Show HN: Designing Web Applications

#86

Post by polyfractal »

Agustus wrote: post #41

I edited your site to solve the issues and uploaded to imgur. (The matrix is from CrazyEgg, but take the idea). http://imgur.com/slYOb Here is my walkthrough of the site: 1. Great, exactly what I am looking for: book on designing web applications. 2. Oooh look, Facebook, Freshbooks, and MailChimp use this, wait, no they do not. This is graphically implied by their logos and using an established user experience locati…

Piggybacking on this comment (because I agree with everything he said):

- After scrolling all the way to the bottom, I realized I had no idea how to buy the book. Scroll back up, back down. Where are the buying buttons? Oh, they are hidden as cutesy circles that display the price, that I only noticed when mousing over. Not easy to find. Slap a big "BUY NOW" button under the price.

- Not enough visual separation between packages. Content listings flow into the next package without a clean, obvious break. While quickly skimming it is easy to lose track of what attaches to what.

- Your "Buy a team license" is like a baby footnote and I didn't see it until I had skimmed up/down three times (aka more than someone will do before exiting).

-No big buy button at the bottom. Don't make me scroll back up to the package listing and hunt for the button. Give me an easy way to purchase when I hit the bottom

- IMO, too much text above the fold. I read the headline, one sub-headline then started skimming. The giant "Generic eBook" image doesn't do much for you either.

Not criticizing your book, I'm sure it has wonderful content. And landing page design is a unique beast, which is different from designing general UIs. I meant this criticism only to help :)

Goodluck with your book! I may try the eBook to see how it is.

Re: Show HN: Designing Web Applications

#87

Post by nathanbarry »

pc86 wrote: post #79
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…

On the issue of price, is there avenue where someone can purchase the book and "upgrade" to the higher packages later?

Sure. Just send me an email by replying to your purchase receipt.

Re: Show HN: Designing Web Applications

#88

Post by jongold »

jongold wrote: post #83

Couple of things: - Get rid of the MailChimp, Facebook logos etc. On scanning it's shady. - The whole site comes across as a bit of a skeezy sales letter. You're a designer, you're better than that. I realise this is the favoured approach from Kalzumeus etc but I find it really cringey. - Make the bundles more easily comparable. I was about to buy but got bored scrolling up & down & up & down comparing the packages.…

Actually, while I'm on your site, let's go back to your App Design Handbook.

- Better layout; good that it's all on one page. Long scrolly site (Lost World's Fairs etc etc) are great but this is better shorter.

- Similar to the Facebook/MailChimp logo issue with your new book, why do you have a quote that has nothing to do with your product? Makes me think you're making up for a lack of testimonials.

- Highlighted differences between packages are better than your new book. But still would prefer side-side comparison.

- Difficult for you to give a sample of premium code included (the '10 Objective-C Snippets' and 'Xcode App Design Project') — I've got no idea what the quality or scope of this stuff is. Not sure what the answer is but that would be why I don't buy the $169 package.

Re: Show HN: Designing Web Applications

#90

Post by brown9-2 »

tomasien wrote: post #36
kaolinite wrote: post #16

I like how you put the Facebook, FreshBooks and Mailchimp logos on there in the same style other websites use when saying who uses their product.

I don't know if you actually liked this or not, but I did. It displayed a deep knowledge of how to manipulate design elements to implant an idea in a user's head. There's nothing dishonest about it, it's just a design element.

I'm not sure if "this guy seems good at manipulation" is a quality I want to see in someone trying to sell me a book/video/instructional package.

It makes me feel like I'm about to be manipulated.

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