5 ms·

Ask HN: Review part of my startup

5 points by bgnm2000 17y ago

My startup (excycle.com) recently launched a new health food recipes section. It's for people who exercise and would like a place to find mostly healthy foods to help them reach their goals. You can see it here: http://www.excycle.com/recipes I'd love any comments/feedback also, the site has changed a lot since the last time I posted it - so any overall feedback would be awesome too! -Thanks

JeremyChase 17y ago
I am having serious problems with the big "find recipe" button. I entered a goal of "Energy" and clicked the button, and nothing happened. I tried selecting more options from the dropdown, and the button started moving around the screen. Then the CSS started looking strange for div id "recipe-header". This is in FF 3.0.11 I like the layout, and how the recipes are presented though. If the sorting worked for me I could give a better review.
- bgnm2000 17y ago
  hmm its using javascript and ajax - could something in your browser be disabling it? I'm having trouble duplicating the error on my end.
mschwar99 17y ago
Those categorizations are an interesting way to search through recipes - I like it. For what it's worth: I think the UI to the right and the UI at the top of the recipe pages is really busy and not all that intuitive. (things like print / save / search) The options seem crammed together, and I spent a good chunk of time trying to figure out what my options were rather than reading the content. If you have a busy page I think you might be better off using text than large icons.
- bgnm2000 17y ago
  Hmm, Thanks for the comments! I'll try to figure out a way to simplify it!
- bgnm2000 17y ago
  I've updated the right side - and will be updating those icons later this weekend:)
wmblaettler 17y ago
clickable link: http://www.excycle.com/recipes http://www.excycle.com/recipes
wmblaettler 17y ago
Just a small bug: multiple clicks on the "Find Recipes" button produces multiple "timer" graphics. I am not a designer but here are some of my suggestions: * I'd tweak the margins/padding for example in the "find recipe" box the left margin should be a bit larger to match the top margin. * Reduce some of the black text contrast where appropriate, emphasizing the important sections. * Seems kind of busy overall, try eliminating or minimizing aspects that are not the focus Just curious, what language is this written in? RoR?
- bgnm2000 17y ago
  Thanks for the comments - I'll definitely move it over its written in PHP :) Although my next project will surely be RoR
pedalpete 17y ago
from a quick usability standpoint, i'd make the entire recipe div clickable, and not just the title and image. Also, your text goes to a light grey on hover, which conventionally is 'unavailble'. I'd go with the blue you use for the headlines on hovers.
- bgnm2000 17y ago
  Thanks - I'll make those changes asap

5 points by bgnm2000 17y ago

JeremyChase 17y ago

I am having serious problems with the big "find recipe" button. I entered a goal of "Energy" and clicked the button, and nothing happened. I tried selecting more options from the dropdown, and the button started moving around the screen. Then the CSS started looking strange for div id "recipe-header". This is in FF 3.0.11 I like the layout, and how the recipes are presented though. If the sorting worked for me I could give a better review.

bgnm2000 17y ago
hmm its using javascript and ajax - could something in your browser be disabling it? I'm having trouble duplicating the error on my end.

mschwar99 17y ago

Those categorizations are an interesting way to search through recipes - I like it. For what it's worth: I think the UI to the right and the UI at the top of the recipe pages is really busy and not all that intuitive. (things like print / save / search) The options seem crammed together, and I spent a good chunk of time trying to figure out what my options were rather than reading the content. If you have a busy page I think you might be better off using text than large icons.

bgnm2000 17y ago
Hmm, Thanks for the comments! I'll try to figure out a way to simplify it!
bgnm2000 17y ago
I've updated the right side - and will be updating those icons later this weekend:)

wmblaettler 17y ago

clickable link: http://www.excycle.com/recipes http://www.excycle.com/recipes

wmblaettler 17y ago

Just a small bug: multiple clicks on the "Find Recipes" button produces multiple "timer" graphics. I am not a designer but here are some of my suggestions: * I'd tweak the margins/padding for example in the "find recipe" box the left margin should be a bit larger to match the top margin. * Reduce some of the black text contrast where appropriate, emphasizing the important sections. * Seems kind of busy overall, try eliminating or minimizing aspects that are not the focus Just curious, what language is this written in? RoR?

bgnm2000 17y ago
Thanks for the comments - I'll definitely move it over its written in PHP :) Although my next project will surely be RoR

pedalpete 17y ago

from a quick usability standpoint, i'd make the entire recipe div clickable, and not just the title and image. Also, your text goes to a light grey on hover, which conventionally is 'unavailble'. I'd go with the blue you use for the headlines on hovers.

bgnm2000 17y ago
Thanks - I'll make those changes asap