We released a new visual design and want feedback from our startup peers. • Hacker News Board

Re: We released a new visual design and want feedback from our startup peers.

#11

Post by dannomatic » Thu, Jul 21, 2011, 9:25 PM UTC

programminggeek wrote: post #8

I know that this is terrible feedback, but I have to say it. Your site looks like a blog. As a blog, it looks nice, but as a travel site I don't know if blog is the vibe you want. Also, I don't think there is a very strong call to action button on individual villas. Request a reservation is below the fold at the bottom of the right sidebar. Overall, right now it seems like your site is designed for window shopping, n…

Hrm - interesting feedback given you were discussing the below the fold reservation call to action. I'll let BBB answer that although we've gone through numerous tests and iterations of the property page layouts and calls to action.

Re: We released a new visual design and want feedback from our startup peers.

#12

Post by [deleted] » Thu, Jul 21, 2011, 9:25 PM UTC

programminggeek wrote: post #8

I know that this is terrible feedback, but I have to say it. Your site looks like a blog. As a blog, it looks nice, but as a travel site I don't know if blog is the vibe you want. Also, I don't think there is a very strong call to action button on individual villas. Request a reservation is below the fold at the bottom of the right sidebar. Overall, right now it seems like your site is designed for window shopping, n…

[deleted]

Re: We released a new visual design and want feedback from our startup peers.

#13

Post by [deleted] » Thu, Jul 21, 2011, 9:25 PM UTC

programminggeek wrote: post #8

I know that this is terrible feedback, but I have to say it. Your site looks like a blog. As a blog, it looks nice, but as a travel site I don't know if blog is the vibe you want. Also, I don't think there is a very strong call to action button on individual villas. Request a reservation is below the fold at the bottom of the right sidebar. Overall, right now it seems like your site is designed for window shopping, n…

[deleted]

Re: We released a new visual design and want feedback from our startup peers.

#14

Post by [deleted] » Thu, Jul 21, 2011, 9:26 PM UTC

programminggeek wrote: post #8

I know that this is terrible feedback, but I have to say it. Your site looks like a blog. As a blog, it looks nice, but as a travel site I don't know if blog is the vibe you want. Also, I don't think there is a very strong call to action button on individual villas. Request a reservation is below the fold at the bottom of the right sidebar. Overall, right now it seems like your site is designed for window shopping, n…

[deleted]

Re: We released a new visual design and want feedback from our startup peers.

#15

Post by pallinder » Thu, Jul 21, 2011, 9:27 PM UTC

Getting some weird artifacts in the drop shadow at the top on Lion and Chrome 13.0.782.99 beta attached a screenshot.

http://i.minus.com/ibV6ug.png

Re: We released a new visual design and want feedback from our startup peers.

#16

Post by Nat0 » Thu, Jul 21, 2011, 9:53 PM UTC

The site had a nice look overall. The pattern in the header drop-shadow is kind of cool, but more distracting because it looks like it is being accidentally covered up and a bit busy.

I agree with what others have said regarding the color scheme being a bit too tan overall.

I also keep looking at the logo and thinking that is a bit too busy, and I don't really understand why it has the floral shapes emerging from it.

The beveling on the image frames also feels a bit heavy, especially with the dark drop shadow.

In general the imagery and the copy take a bit of analysis before getting a handle on what the company is about, and even then I am not sure why I should choose you for my vacation planning.

Re: We released a new visual design and want feedback from our startup peers.

#17

Post by alexkearns » Thu, Jul 21, 2011, 10:03 PM UTC

To be honest, I think it is very poor. There is no consistency. It looks like the designer has tried to use every tool in the designer toolbox, from the flowery logo and drop shadowed text to the bevelled buttons and decorative borders.

Superficially it looks okay as there are some quite nice individual elements but they don't fit together. A case of a design being less than the sum of its parts.

I also counted no less than 14 different treatments of text (font size, font type, color, etc). That is way too much and perhaps explains why the design looks overly cluttered.

The dark borders around the main photos are too heavy for the lightness of the rest of the design. The drop shadows make this worse. Get rid of them both.

Sorry to be harsh but you did ask.

Re: We released a new visual design and want feedback from our startup peers.

#18

Post by becubed » Thu, Jul 21, 2011, 10:10 PM UTC

programminggeek wrote: post #8

I know that this is terrible feedback, but I have to say it. Your site looks like a blog. As a blog, it looks nice, but as a travel site I don't know if blog is the vibe you want. Also, I don't think there is a very strong call to action button on individual villas. Request a reservation is below the fold at the bottom of the right sidebar. Overall, right now it seems like your site is designed for window shopping, n…

Terrible feedback? No way, it's all good. Thanks for taking the time. It does have a bloggy vibe, which is somewhat what we were going for -- at least, our sales approach is to become a trusted source of content about villa travel, as opposed to a more in-your-face hard-sell. But perhaps the pendulum has swung too far that direction.

Regarding the call to action: agreed. Those property pages haven't yet been updated, and they're on our hit list. We've really only rolled out the home page and benefits page at this point.

Re: We released a new visual design and want feedback from our startup peers.

#19

Post by becubed » Thu, Jul 21, 2011, 10:17 PM UTC

alexkearns wrote: post #17

To be honest, I think it is very poor. There is no consistency. It looks like the designer has tried to use every tool in the designer toolbox, from the flowery logo and drop shadowed text to the bevelled buttons and decorative borders. Superficially it looks okay as there are some quite nice individual elements but they don't fit together. A case of a design being less than the sum of its parts. I also counted no le…

Thanks for the honest feedback -- definitely appreciated. Text treatments can indeed be reined in, as might several of the extraneous elements for the reasons you've pointed out. Always good to get fresh eyes and concrete criticism. Thanks again.

Re: We released a new visual design and want feedback from our startup peers.

#20

Post by becubed » Thu, Jul 21, 2011, 10:23 PM UTC

Nat0 wrote: post #16

The site had a nice look overall. The pattern in the header drop-shadow is kind of cool, but more distracting because it looks like it is being accidentally covered up and a bit busy. I agree with what others have said regarding the color scheme being a bit too tan overall. I also keep looking at the logo and thinking that is a bit too busy, and I don't really understand why it has the floral shapes emerging from it.…

Thanks Nat0, you're reinforcing some themes emerging from this discussion. Awesome.

The logo's a challenge to work with, though we're trying not to change it -- at least, not right now -- due to some brand recognition in the villa rental industry.