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HN: review my (non-profit) startup: Buy It Like You Mean It

24 points by diN0bot 18y ago

wheels 18y ago
Like the idea, but I find the site cluttered. A graphic a la this one might help: http://barcoo.de/ http://barcoo.de/ I'd cut out all the cruft at the top, de-focus the sidebars, all that jazz -- and just have people land on the page and see what it is you do and how it works.
- samueladam 18y ago
  It seems that perfection is reached not when there is nothing left to add, but when there is nothing left to take away. -- Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
- moe 18y ago
  Same impression here, you really need to work on the design. This is what it looks like here: http://www.uploadpad.com/files/bilumi.png http://www.uploadpad.com/files/bilumi.png Major problems: * Clutter! No clue what you are offering, no clue where to start. * What's up with the messed up (scaled?) button graphics? And how about making them look a bit less like cracked eggs and a bit more like buttons? * What's up with the 3 (three) navigation strips? Get rid of at least two! * Sorry, flashblock ate your introduction animation. No chance for me to understand what your site is about. How a about a static image? Well, to put it bluntly: Hire a designer.
rksprst 18y ago
I've been browsing for a couple of minutes and it took a while to understand what the site does. You should have a couple of sentences explaining it. I also don't like the UI, you have 3 areas for navigation (left, right, top)... do you need that? You need to think about the site from your users perspective, a lot of the links are obvious to you because you made the site but won't be obvious to the user. You need to work through some use cases. Also, those register and login buttons make your site look unprofessional. There's nothing wrong with just having text links.
- herval 18y ago
  I actually kinda understood what the product does by looking at the animation right in the middle of it (although that crow carrying 'data' around is kinda weird)... Agree on the design part, though - really generic/cheap/spammy looking...
- vaksel 18y ago
  its actually more than that: he has 2 on top, 2 for the left/right, and 2 for the middle. Pretty much the ENTIRE front page is nothing but a huge navigation menu.
  - diN0bot 18y ago
    thanks for the feedback. as the backend side of the team, i share these concerns. i think there's a balance between overwhelm-sion and confusion versus 'getting to places fast'. we're still working on this, so thanks for the feedback.
aagnihot 18y ago
"Research Guide" and "Develop" links are broken.
seshagiric 18y ago
Please improve the CONTRAST between different sections on the web page. Right now it looks like a confused blob of pics/text in light color. It looks like a shabby academic site and not even remotely suggest that something can be brought there.
woadwarrior01 18y ago
I got an Unhandled Exception on http://bilumi.org/Main/node/221/ http://bilumi.org/Main/node/221/ I guess you build this using Django.
Fuca 18y ago
I think is a great idea if you can manage the cellphone-scanner thing, then the possibilities are endless.
deleted 18y ago
[deleted]
Empact 18y ago
I happen to be working on a site in this realm as well. We should talk: ben.woosley@gmail.com
tapostrophemo 18y ago
I don't know about that domain name - too much like bulimia.

24 points by diN0bot 18y ago

Like the idea, but I find the site cluttered. A graphic a la this one might help: http://barcoo.de/ http://barcoo.de/ I'd cut out all the cruft at the top, de-focus the sidebars, all that jazz -- and just have people land on the page and see what it is you do and how it works.

samueladam 18y ago
It seems that perfection is reached not when there is nothing left to add, but when there is nothing left to take away. -- Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
moe 18y ago
Same impression here, you really need to work on the design. This is what it looks like here: http://www.uploadpad.com/files/bilumi.png http://www.uploadpad.com/files/bilumi.png Major problems: * Clutter! No clue what you are offering, no clue where to start. * What's up with the messed up (scaled?) button graphics? And how about making them look a bit less like cracked eggs and a bit more like buttons? * What's up with the 3 (three) navigation strips? Get rid of at least two! * Sorry, flashblock ate your introduction animation. No chance for me to understand what your site is about. How a about a static image? Well, to put it bluntly: Hire a designer.

rksprst 18y ago

I've been browsing for a couple of minutes and it took a while to understand what the site does. You should have a couple of sentences explaining it. I also don't like the UI, you have 3 areas for navigation (left, right, top)... do you need that? You need to think about the site from your users perspective, a lot of the links are obvious to you because you made the site but won't be obvious to the user. You need to work through some use cases. Also, those register and login buttons make your site look unprofessional. There's nothing wrong with just having text links.

herval 18y ago
I actually kinda understood what the product does by looking at the animation right in the middle of it (although that crow carrying 'data' around is kinda weird)... Agree on the design part, though - really generic/cheap/spammy looking...
vaksel 18y ago
its actually more than that: he has 2 on top, 2 for the left/right, and 2 for the middle. Pretty much the ENTIRE front page is nothing but a huge navigation menu.
- diN0bot 18y ago
  thanks for the feedback. as the backend side of the team, i share these concerns. i think there's a balance between overwhelm-sion and confusion versus 'getting to places fast'. we're still working on this, so thanks for the feedback.

aagnihot 18y ago

"Research Guide" and "Develop" links are broken.

seshagiric 18y ago

Please improve the CONTRAST between different sections on the web page. Right now it looks like a confused blob of pics/text in light color. It looks like a shabby academic site and not even remotely suggest that something can be brought there.

woadwarrior01 18y ago

I got an Unhandled Exception on http://bilumi.org/Main/node/221/ http://bilumi.org/Main/node/221/ I guess you build this using Django.

Fuca 18y ago

I think is a great idea if you can manage the cellphone-scanner thing, then the possibilities are endless.

deleted 18y ago

[deleted]

Empact 18y ago

I happen to be working on a site in this realm as well. We should talk: ben.woosley@gmail.com

tapostrophemo 18y ago

I don't know about that domain name - too much like bulimia.