Review my startup

#1

Post by soneill » Mon, Dec 10, 2012, 2:43 PM UTC

My startup is closing in on its launch, and we've decided to do a front end redesign while certain issues on the back end get wrapped up (let's just say our original designer was admittedly not a front-end expert by any stretch). We have a designer lined up, and we're leaning towards adopting a responsive web design as part of the redesign process. This is probably our best opportunity to make any major changes before things really ramp up, so getting a fresh perspective on what we should consider changing, adding, subtracting, etc at this point would be immensely beneficial. So what say you HN, what glaring issues are we missing because we look at this site everyday?

Review my startup
couchster.com

Re: Review my startup

#2

Post by soneill » Mon, Dec 10, 2012, 2:44 PM UTC

By way of explanation, my startup is closing in on its launch, and we've decided to do a front end redesign while certain issues on the back end get wrapped up (let's just say our original designer was admittedly not a front-end expert by any stretch). We have a designer lined up, and we're leaning towards adopting a responsive web design as part of the redesign process. This is probably our best opportunity to make any major changes before things really ramp up, so getting a fresh perspective on what we should consider changing, adding, subtracting, etc at this point would be immensely beneficial. So what say you HN, what glaring issues are we missing because we look at this site everyday?

Re: Review my startup

#3

Post by facorreia » Mon, Dec 10, 2012, 3:14 PM UTC

I'll give you a quick feedback about my first impression. When I clicked on the link, I was presented with a modal lightbox dialog: "Please enter your location", with the options "OK" and "Never!".

Not knowing what the service was about (maybe I could have read the washed away background, but we're trained to focus on the dialog), I would not enter any information, especially something private such as location or ZIP code.

I would click on the "Never!" button but does that mean that I would never again be able to enter that information? I could change my mind later. Since there was also an "X" button, I clicked on it to close the window.

Next thing I read: "Please. Don't Get Up." Err.. ok, I'll stay put.

Only THEN there is something telling me what the service is about.

Overall, it was not a pleasant or intuitive experience.

Edit: You'll probably also want to avoid having your code and variables show on error messages such as "Notice: Undefined variable: openTime in /home/couchadmin/public_html/couchster.com/www/business.php on line 826"; something bad may happen such as one of your connection strings or passwords being shown as part of an error message.