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To be clear, I don't advocate outright deception in most cases. Unless you're testing out something people will be buying (paid SaaS, book, etc) I do not recom

To be clear, I don't advocate outright deception in most cases. Unless you're testing out something people will be buying (paid SaaS, book, etc) I do not recommend the button to nowhere. When asking people to "sign up", my advice would be to make it perfectly clear that the product isn't ready yet, and what they're signing up for is a notification when it is. "Get your exclusive beta invite" or some such copy will work fine here. As for losing your business because you thought this was something that already existed... well, you're certainly entitled to your opinions. To "actively take steps never to use your service" doesn't make much sense to me: I definitely understand the frustration that comes from having a pain point, then finding what appears to be a solution, only to be disappointed. If you have a real pain though, surely you'd want to know when the solution was ready, since it sounded like a good enough solution when you clicked on the ad?

ColinWright 12y ago
> To be clear, I don't advocate outright deception > in most cases. "Most cases" ?? Usually the deception has already been perpetrated to get people to go to the page in the first place. Some shiny new thing is announced, it looks good, it looks interesting, I go to the site ... "Not ready yet - sign here to get an invitation to join the beta test when it's ready." I'm already there under false pretenses. It's incredibly frustrating, and happening more and more. To "actively take steps never to use your service" doesn't make much sense to me: I definitely understand the frustration that comes from having a pain point, then finding what appears to be a solution, only to be disappointed. If you have a real pain though, surely you'd want to know when the solution was ready, since it sounded like a good enough solution when you clicked on the ad? a) Usually these things lie on the margins - I don't remember the last time anyone addressed any real pain points - everything is slightly more convenient. b) When I feel like I've been deceived, when something appears to have been promised and then it turns out not to exist, I ask myself: Why should I trust these people at all, ever? c) I know it's a ploy, and I'm getting tired of it. If something's genuinely good, really worth my time, so excellent that I immediately see that I will save time, money, effort, and frustration, then of course I'll use it. What's the last service you saw that genuinely delivers on such a promise?

ColinWright 12y ago

> To be clear, I don't advocate outright deception > in most cases. "Most cases" ?? Usually the deception has already been perpetrated to get people to go to the page in the first place. Some shiny new thing is announced, it looks good, it looks interesting, I go to the site ... "Not ready yet - sign here to get an invitation to join the beta test when it's ready." I'm already there under false pretenses. It's incredibly frustrating, and happening more and more. To "actively take steps never to use your service" doesn't make much sense to me: I definitely understand the frustration that comes from having a pain point, then finding what appears to be a solution, only to be disappointed. If you have a real pain though, surely you'd want to know when the solution was ready, since it sounded like a good enough solution when you clicked on the ad? a) Usually these things lie on the margins - I don't remember the last time anyone addressed any real pain points - everything is slightly more convenient. b) When I feel like I've been deceived, when something appears to have been promised and then it turns out not to exist, I ask myself: Why should I trust these people at all, ever? c) I know it's a ploy, and I'm getting tired of it. If something's genuinely good, really worth my time, so excellent that I immediately see that I will save time, money, effort, and frustration, then of course I'll use it. What's the last service you saw that genuinely delivers on such a promise?