7 ms·
Ask HN: Feedback on my startup
The landing page is here: http://productmap.co
Is the landing page too simple? The concept is to consolidate the way different companies share their product updates (release notes, emails, changelog, etc.)
- exolymph 11y agoMy first reaction: Is this something that companies actually want/need? Have you validated the market? That's ultimately more important than the v0 landing page design.
- fananta 11y agoYou're right. I have talked to a handful (<10) of potential customers already. They're willing to try it out and going to share with them over the course of the next week.
- isaiahg 11y agoI wish there was a bit more information to be honest. Is this a patching system? Or is it just like an alert system for updates? I'm not really sure what it is.
- fananta 11y agoSorry, the site is a bit broad at the moment (will fix). It's to post new features and product updates in one place. The idea is to replace changelogs, product update emails/blog posts, and release notes.
- isaiahg 11y agoIt's interesting but I don't know if its such a jump forward that I might pay for it. But if you included an API for binary patching to distribute updates I would pay for it.
- specifictso 11y agoChangelogs as a Service, eh? The idea definitely has potential! Somehow I've signed myself up for a bunch of newsletters from various companies whose services I don't even use that update me on new features they've implemented in addition to blogs from their employees. It's an interesting read from time to time so I haven't unsubscribed. If you can provide a service which can guide other people through publishing the same type of useful/interesting/insightful information regardless of the size/scope/nature of their project/research/work/business/hobby... This idea is actually really exciting the more I think about it. Keep at it! But the landing page needs more information, yes.
- bichiliad 11y agoOut of curiosity, how would this be different from a blog?
- fananta 11y agoThere's much less overhead (simple setup, easy posting, chronological display). I'll also be building out a set of features that help customers provide feedback.
- isaiahg 11y agoThere needs to be more information about how it's better and why. Because there's nothing about it now. Even just a paragraph explaining how it's different would be nice.
- mumino 11y agowhere is your productmap? I liked idea personally but I would like to see your own productmap first.
- CyrilBoh 11y agoDon't know if I'm missing a link somewhere but I really can't find anything that explains what your product/service is.
- ErikVandeWater 11y agoPros: It's pretty and it's simple. Excellent selection of color. Very likeable. Cons: Yes it is unclear what you are trying to offer. I'd suggest replacing the blue rectangles with text of what you imagine the product update timeline would look like for an example company. Signup page takes a while to load.
- fananta 11y agoAppreciate the feedback. I'll be adding a demo to see our live productmap from there.
- rekoros 11y agoThis would be awesome. Heads up though: people will want to embed this on day one.
- fananta 11y agoAppreciate the kind comment. Considering going making it free for basic users and have premium features for $ (like embedding/custom subdomain)
- hunvreus 11y ago- I'd recommend you look into Amy Hoy's writings, especially about her "Pain/Dream/Fix" approach to pitching products [1]. Sign up to her newsletter as well. - Colors and logo seem to be inspired from ProductHunt. It's fine to steal (really), but at least be a tad more creative with the logo. - If you're going for a simple page, I wouldn't hesitate to use larger font sizes. - "Designing Web Applications" from Nathan Barry may be a good investment of money [2]. He actually also took advices from Amy Hoy for his own products [3]. - I'd put a human face on this page, maybe of yourself. There are tons of studies showing that this helps building trust and rapport [4] (especially useful as it is a product in the making with no users yet). [1] https://unicornfree.com/2013/how-i-increased-conversion-2-4x-with-better-copywriting https://unicornfree.com/2013/how-i-increased-conversion-2-4x... [2] http://nathanbarry.com/webapps/ http://nathanbarry.com/webapps/ [3] http://nathanbarry.com/step-by-step-landing-page-copywriting/ http://nathanbarry.com/step-by-step-landing-page-copywriting... [4] https://vwo.com/blog/human-landing-page-increase-conversion-rate/ https://vwo.com/blog/human-landing-page-increase-conversion-...
- fananta 11y agoExcellent suggestions, thank you! Just to note, really didn't use producthunt as an inspiration. Simply tried to make a "blob" with the letter P in it. Not sure how the colors are similar?
- andrewtian 11y ago> Not sure how the colors are similar? The fact that it does look similar to someone is feedback. Take it how it is, but at the end of the day someone is going to think it's inspired by ProductHunt. :)
- fananta 11y agoThat's fair :) Was just curious where OP saw red, navy blue, and teal on producthunt.
- dopamean 11y agoThis tells me nothing about the product... It looks very clean but I have no idea if this is something I need and I feel like that information should be easily attainable from the landing page.
- ecesena 11y agoClickable link http://productmap.co http://productmap.co
- anthony_franco 11y agoReminds me of Marc's Changelog. Here's a live example: http://changelog.nomadlist.com/ http://changelog.nomadlist.com/
- vecter 11y agoAre you targeting B2B or B2C companies? Of those two, B2B sounds like the obvious choice, but even then, I'm not sure there's enough value for companies to adopt this. What makes you think companies actually want this and are willing to pay money for it?
- fananta 11y agoI spoke with an admittedly small set of potential companies, both B2B and B2C. There's enough value in replacing the current way of communicating updates with customers which involves: newsletters, notifications, emails, blog posts, release notes, PDFs (B2B mainly), etc.
- eps 11y agoIf I understand correctly, this is a beautified Changelog, probably with an opt-in (email and/or social media) notifications. Does this also provide means for in-app update checks and downloading updates/binary patches? If it's a Yes for all of the above, then it'll be what most software development shops already have in place (and it's trvially simple to set up compared to all other stuff that they need to do). I mean - it looks nice, but it doesn't seem to solve any pertinent problems for its target audience.
- jaisonjustus 11y agoI like your page, good minimalism. Also, I like the why you handled branding. I got a good feel of the talent behind the scene. But there are couple of things you need to take care. Some are critical too. The main thing as everyone spotted you required a good short description. It's better to put a short description just below the message about the problem that you are trying to solve. for example, if you take basecamp landing page, they give more focus to the heading - “Work together the easy way”. Just after that, they had a short description about the problem they solve - “Basecamp’s unique blend of tools is everything any team needs to stay on the same page about whatever they’re working on. There’s nothing else like it!”. From this, I got a gist of what basecamp do. Once you add the short description, bring the early access button to upfront. Then it makes sense. It will be like in an order message, short description and call to action. check this http://i.imgur.com/vUxKt5B.png http://i.imgur.com/vUxKt5B.png I made small modification on your web page. Another thing I like to say is about the timeline. For me, When I saw it in first glance, I felt it as a screenshot of actual product. But I later got confused. it seems more like a design that you added for aesthetic because inside the timeline slice there is no text saying like for example “Release 1.0.5” instead a green rectangle. If it's an actual screenshot make it a bit more intuitive. It's just a suggestion. If possible, try to add a bit more drilled down information on page scrolling. Because sometimes people require a bit more details. for example, you can refer basecamp website. On the website as you scroll more details information starts coming and make more sense to the app. Even you are in early access stage but still you require some more supporting descriptions. Which helps you to get more clicks from your target audience. Also, I suggest putting your address/country. Becuase I like to know where are you from? :). Nice to see a lot of energy. All the best to your team. Peace
- fananta 11y agoThank you! Super helpful feedback. I'll add a second like explaining the problem this solves (replacing release notes, changelogs, etc.) I'm from Toronto :)
- jaisonjustus 11y agoAwesome!
- ItsMeVlad 11y agoI love the design and the "Get early access" button, especially the minimalism involved in the side bar. However, I do have a question on the site's functionality, if it's meant to provide a singular place for product updates, changelogs and emails, how does it differ from Atlassian's JIRA?
- fananta 11y agoThanks :) I think Jira is more for managing the sdlc and an internal tool. The focus here would be to have an intuitive interface for product updates and getting feedback on new product decisions.
- MattBearman 11y agoIt's a good, clean design, but the page doesn't make it clear what your product does. To be honest, I'm guessing it's road map / change log as a service based on the name more than anything. So assuming I'm right in what productmap does, you've definitely got a good name :)
- fananta 11y agoThank you. That seems to be the feedback here (page isn't clear enough). Considering you run a service, how do you convey tell your users about new features in an engaging way?
- MattBearman 11y agoAt the moment I don't have a defined way of updating users of new features. As I'm aiming to run BugMuncher as openly and transparently as possible, a public road map has been on my todo list for quite a while. I'm very interested in your product, which brings me to my next bit of feedback: I clicked the 'Get Early Access' button, and it opened what looked like it was going to be a survey, which put me off. I decided to give you the benefit of the doubt and clicked the 'Start' button, but my initial instincts where correct, and there where 8 survey questions to answer. I'll be honest, at that point I closed the tab and went about my day. I'm BugMuncher's solo-founder and only employee, so all tasks fall to me, this makes me really value my time, to the point where those survey questions where enough to make me move on. When someone clicks the early access button you should do nothing but capture their email address, so you can keep them updated and notify when beta access is granted. Once I've started using your product I'll be much more receptive to the survey.
- fananta 11y agoAppreciate the honesty here! I'll make sure to shorten that down to 1-2 Qs.
- gigamick 11y agoI have requested an invitation for both my personal and work email addresses. I seem to have an account for my personal address but I can't for the life of me think how this happened. I don't have any emails from you... Really odd? Anyway, regards the work account - how long till my invitation is actioned. And no - Homepage isn't too simple. It's great.
- beiyuame 11y agoThe landing page should be enough if there were not so many bugs. I don't know where to contact you directly about bugs!
- beiyuame 11y agoIs productmap not open to everyone now?