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The homepage here would be much improved by explaining what the heck this project does in simple terms without making me scroll a ton and wait for fade-in anima

by jitl 6y ago

The homepage here would be much improved by explaining what the heck this project does in simple terms without making me scroll a ton and wait for fade-in animations. I'm not going to use a project that cares more about "hype" than about delivering value. Even the title tagline sounds like buzzword noise. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

skidding 6y ago
> I'm not going to use a project that cares more about "hype" than about delivering value I can assure you I care a lot more about delivering value than hype. I spent countless hours (from my personal time) over the last 6 years on making React Cosmos easy to use and compatible with as many codebase configurations as possible, and maybe two weeks on the website. The project README explains what the project does and what it doesn't: https://github.com/react-cosmos/react-cosmos/blob/main/README.md https://github.com/react-cosmos/react-cosmos/blob/main/READM... There is an open thread about website feedback, and I agree I could've done a better job and there is still room for improvement: https://github.com/react-cosmos/react-cosmos/issues/1111 https://github.com/react-cosmos/react-cosmos/issues/1111
- uxcolumbo 6y ago
  Hey - thanks for putting your sweat and tears into this over so many years... OSS work is vital. Us HN folks can appear a bit grumpy at times ;) I've got some ideas how your website could be improved... I'll have a look at the open thread.
- jitl 6y ago
  Sorry for the excessive negativity. These kinds of product page for software a big pet peeve of many - light on details, heavy on marketing does not endear anyone to the grumpy HN crowd. I think the biggest single improvement you should make is adding a paragraph above the fold that describes in as plain terms as possible what your project does, and the problems it solves. Most of your bullet points on the website describe your project as being different or better than something - but the reader has no reference for what that baseline something is. For example, “Don’t settle for localhost:3000” - this doesn’t give me any information about what the project does, or why it’s better. Your README is much better than the website! Here’s how I’d summarize the bullet points at the top of the README into a paragraph you can put above the fold on your site: React Cosmos is a component development, test, and preview environment separate from your application. Iterate on individual components in isolation. Build a library of test component props & states that you can run visual regression tests against. Cosmos is flexible enough for use with different bundlers and build systems.
  - steve_adams_86 6y ago
    Conversely, cosmos is targeted at me and the lander made good sense. I understand the frustration with “inside” comments like “Don’t settle for localhost:3000”, but I appreciated it and it implied fairly heavily that this tool disrupts a very slow and tedious workflow. I do agree that some things are buried. The docs didn’t lead me to the information I needed as quickly as I think they could have for example. Overall I’m excited to give this a shot. It seems like a great tool.
    - jitl 6y ago
      I think I’m also in the target area - I work on localhost:3000 every day building Notion, which is a big React app. But why does changing the port change my workflow? What is the “default” state of the service on port :3000? How am I settling? What workflow are you referring to when you say “this tools disrupts a [...] workflow”
      - steve_adams_86 6y ago
        This is my take on it, but I realize now that it’s going to vary a lot from person to person. The workflow is all the jank that comes with HMR, or worse, reloading entire pages to see changes. The port number isn’t a specific thing so much as an allusion to the workflow most people use. You’re focused on a single component quite often, but working with it in an entire page served through your entire app server. It’s overkill and slower than necessary, and sometimes comes with all kinds of state frustrations outside of the scope of your component. Changing the port doesn’t inherently change the workflow, it’s just calling out which port most of us use for that workflow and suggesting to investigate what could be better than that workflow. They’ve made some changes to the page now, so hopefully this isn’t a source of confusion anymore.
        skidding 6y ago
        Couldn't have said it better myself, thank you!
goodells 6y ago
In agreement, several aspects of this website immediately made me brush off the project and whoever created it. - GitHub star count in huge text at the top, seeking validation? - Doesn't explain what the heck the project does, but "React Cosmos 5 in 21 tweets" ... I have to read a thread of tweets to understand what this is for? - "Don't settle for localhost:3000" okay, demean the way that tons of us develop web based applications currently
- Xevi 6y ago
  > "Don't settle for localhost:3000" okay, demean the way that tons of us develop web based applications currently The docs tell you to open it on port 5000, which is a higher number, so it's obviously better. Jokes aside, it did take me a long time to figure out what the product was, and I'm still not sure I fully understand. At the moment I just feel a bit overwhelmed by buzzwords, and I don't see how this would benefit my development experience. No offense to the product creator though, I'm sure it's a great tool.
- steve_adams_86 6y ago
  I don’t find it demeaning at all. It’s just offering something better.
the_resistence 6y ago
i thought i was the only one ;-)
deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
fc373745 6y ago
I'm curious why you consider animations to be nuisance. Game UIs are completely riddled with animations that you have to "wait for" and yet I feel like UI design should aim towards that direction.

by jitl 6y ago

skidding 6y ago

> I'm not going to use a project that cares more about "hype" than about delivering value I can assure you I care a lot more about delivering value than hype. I spent countless hours (from my personal time) over the last 6 years on making React Cosmos easy to use and compatible with as many codebase configurations as possible, and maybe two weeks on the website. The project README explains what the project does and what it doesn't: https://github.com/react-cosmos/react-cosmos/blob/main/README.md https://github.com/react-cosmos/react-cosmos/blob/main/READM... There is an open thread about website feedback, and I agree I could've done a better job and there is still room for improvement: https://github.com/react-cosmos/react-cosmos/issues/1111 https://github.com/react-cosmos/react-cosmos/issues/1111

uxcolumbo 6y ago
Hey - thanks for putting your sweat and tears into this over so many years... OSS work is vital. Us HN folks can appear a bit grumpy at times ;) I've got some ideas how your website could be improved... I'll have a look at the open thread.
jitl 6y ago
Sorry for the excessive negativity. These kinds of product page for software a big pet peeve of many - light on details, heavy on marketing does not endear anyone to the grumpy HN crowd. I think the biggest single improvement you should make is adding a paragraph above the fold that describes in as plain terms as possible what your project does, and the problems it solves. Most of your bullet points on the website describe your project as being different or better than something - but the reader has no reference for what that baseline something is. For example, “Don’t settle for localhost:3000” - this doesn’t give me any information about what the project does, or why it’s better. Your README is much better than the website! Here’s how I’d summarize the bullet points at the top of the README into a paragraph you can put above the fold on your site: React Cosmos is a component development, test, and preview environment separate from your application. Iterate on individual components in isolation. Build a library of test component props & states that you can run visual regression tests against. Cosmos is flexible enough for use with different bundlers and build systems.
- steve_adams_86 6y ago
  Conversely, cosmos is targeted at me and the lander made good sense. I understand the frustration with “inside” comments like “Don’t settle for localhost:3000”, but I appreciated it and it implied fairly heavily that this tool disrupts a very slow and tedious workflow. I do agree that some things are buried. The docs didn’t lead me to the information I needed as quickly as I think they could have for example. Overall I’m excited to give this a shot. It seems like a great tool.
  - jitl 6y ago
    I think I’m also in the target area - I work on localhost:3000 every day building Notion, which is a big React app. But why does changing the port change my workflow? What is the “default” state of the service on port :3000? How am I settling? What workflow are you referring to when you say “this tools disrupts a [...] workflow”
    - steve_adams_86 6y ago
      This is my take on it, but I realize now that it’s going to vary a lot from person to person. The workflow is all the jank that comes with HMR, or worse, reloading entire pages to see changes. The port number isn’t a specific thing so much as an allusion to the workflow most people use. You’re focused on a single component quite often, but working with it in an entire page served through your entire app server. It’s overkill and slower than necessary, and sometimes comes with all kinds of state frustrations outside of the scope of your component. Changing the port doesn’t inherently change the workflow, it’s just calling out which port most of us use for that workflow and suggesting to investigate what could be better than that workflow. They’ve made some changes to the page now, so hopefully this isn’t a source of confusion anymore.
      - skidding 6y ago
        Couldn't have said it better myself, thank you!

goodells 6y ago

In agreement, several aspects of this website immediately made me brush off the project and whoever created it. - GitHub star count in huge text at the top, seeking validation? - Doesn't explain what the heck the project does, but "React Cosmos 5 in 21 tweets" ... I have to read a thread of tweets to understand what this is for? - "Don't settle for localhost:3000" okay, demean the way that tons of us develop web based applications currently

Xevi 6y ago
> "Don't settle for localhost:3000" okay, demean the way that tons of us develop web based applications currently The docs tell you to open it on port 5000, which is a higher number, so it's obviously better. Jokes aside, it did take me a long time to figure out what the product was, and I'm still not sure I fully understand. At the moment I just feel a bit overwhelmed by buzzwords, and I don't see how this would benefit my development experience. No offense to the product creator though, I'm sure it's a great tool.
steve_adams_86 6y ago
I don’t find it demeaning at all. It’s just offering something better.

the_resistence 6y ago

i thought i was the only one ;-)

deleted 6y ago

[deleted]

fc373745 6y ago

I'm curious why you consider animations to be nuisance. Game UIs are completely riddled with animations that you have to "wait for" and yet I feel like UI design should aim towards that direction.