8 ms·

The Tech Beach – Revamp your app design in 31 days

79 points by polimorfico 12y ago

lewro 12y ago
Great idea!
- polimorfico 12y ago
  Thank you, Roman! Glad you like it :)
niico 12y ago
As a designer, sounds not only like a great deal to me but a hell of a fun month. (Im not related to the company)
Rulero 12y ago
This is amazing, I was brought up in Las Palmas!
- polimorfico 12y ago
  So you know how incredible the city is in October :) 23º C. and a lot of sun!!
  - Rulero 12y ago
    It's always incredible :)
shekhar101 12y ago
Awesome! Love such ideas. There is one internship here in Goa, India(a well known beach town) where a tech startup(forgot the name) teaches you everything from fornt end design to back end and if you're lucky, you land a job there as well.
- polimorfico 12y ago
  Sounds cool! Nowadays you just need a laptop and an Internet connection to work on your project. And the world is so big and amazing...
6cxs2hd6 12y ago
Warning: If you spend any time looking at the The Surf Office site[^1], you're likely to be ruined for normal coworking spaces. The quality of life and affordability... wow. [^1]: http://www.thesurfoffice.com/ http://www.thesurfoffice.com/
- infinitone 12y ago
  I can't imagine the productivity levels would be as high as a normal workspace. Seems like there are a tad too many things that will break your focus- which is what you need most when building a startup.
  - jrvarela56 12y ago
    Ironically, I have found a similar experience to be the exact opposite. Every few months my team rents a beach house to spend 2-3 days working offsite. We end up exhausted: you are so relaxed its easy to put in more (productive) hours. 30-45min daily 'beach break' (its a beach front property), taking turns to cook simple meals, nightly fireside vision/brainstorming chats. Been thinking of setting up something like the coworking mentioned in the article in Panama (5hr flight from NYC). Anyone interested?
- leorocky 12y ago
  It seems to be more oriented toward very young adults.
xerophtye 12y ago
Ironically for me the site has some design bugs on FF 29.0.1 The "meet the team" page seems like a constant bg and all the other pages kinda slide over it with some transparency. so there are times when both of them are visible and overlap. http://imgur.com/NVCDTFN http://imgur.com/NVCDTFN
- polimorfico 12y ago
  Thanks for reporting! We're going to look for a fix asap.
mrlase 12y ago
You need some sort of indicator to keep scrolling down. I only saw your team the first time I clicked on it. I was surprised when I went back a second time that there was more content below that. I'm not a huge fan of the order that you display your content in either. I think you should get to the message quicker than scrolling. The "Refresh your app design in 31 days" bit is better for a headline, not the first thing that your user sees. Chances are they already saw that bit when they clicked on your site. Show them immediately what you do and why they should choose you. Just my $0.02
- polimorfico 12y ago
  Thanks for your comments. You're right. There are some issues we must fix to improve the UX.
  - mrlase 12y ago
    No problem :) Also, are there any links to your teams portfolio of work or anything? Can't seem to find any.
    - polimorfico 12y ago
      Sure! Some samples: - https://dribbble.com/Dusko https://dribbble.com/Dusko - https://dribbble.com/Stefooo https://dribbble.com/Stefooo - https://www.postheads.com https://www.postheads.com - http://getquaderno.com http://getquaderno.com - https://medium.com/ux-ui-readings/washing-machine-for-men-b6f927bbb538 https://medium.com/ux-ui-readings/washing-machine-for-men-b6...
  - deleted 12y ago
    [deleted]
- davidw 12y ago
  > You need some sort of indicator to keep scrolling down. Hiding the content in the hopes that the user will notice that they can scroll down seems like some kind of trendy design thing that I'm seeing a lot of lately.
philippotto 12y ago
Nice site! Just two notes: - The third FAQ should probably read: "So I’ve signed up… what’s next?" since all the other questions are formulated from the visitor's POV. - When scrolling to the very bottom, there is a yellow 1-px-line between the FAQ and "Stay in touch" (FF 29.0.1, Win8)
melling 12y ago
This sounds great and extremely fun. Unfortunately that amount of time isn't going to work for many people. Do people have other recommendations for app redesigns? Any "night school" versions of this in Brooklyn? Maybe it's just best to find a great designer? I probably can't learn enough to compete with even a good designer.
- monkey_slap 12y ago
  Agreed. I'd be really happy to see more of these sort of workshops pop up.
ingend88 12y ago
Are there any night school versions of this in bay area where someone without a design background can pick up design skills ?
ulisesrmzroche 12y ago
Remember that video has a lot of contrast and that's why your home page is so busy and the headline is getting lost. Nothing worse than a headless ad.
startupfounder 12y ago
I am looking at this in the larger context of starting a startup. SurfOffice to me is an indicator that sometimes the most productive thing to do is to get away and focus on your startup. You don't have to be in SF or NYC. FiberHouse - Feld's KC Fiber House and Homes for Hackers are other examples of this and there are many more. One big aspect of starting a startup is runway and with the prices of rent in SF and NYC through the roof getting away to a place that is relatively inexpensive, where other people are also working on projects is a great way to focus and extend runway. I believe it's important to have that out of the office time, to get your subconscious problem solving with a hike, surf, bike and sunshine. This is a step in the right direction when it comes to the startup lifestyle.
stefek99 12y ago
For the record - another hacker venue at Canary Islands - http://ch.totalism.org http://ch.totalism.org #coliving #coworking but at a much better rate. I would say it's very 'back to the roots' and all the expenses ever incurred (2.5+ years now) are in the spreadsheet and the daily rate is the reflection of the actual cost. You can read on their wiki: "Non-for-profit, open budget = 100€ a week contribution." (and that 100€ - 135$ - includes food and stay) Been there November 2013, highly recommended. Wish I was able (timewise, employmentwise, familywise) to visit / reside there more often.
- danohuiginn 12y ago
  That is the most excellent thing I have seen in weeks.
noname123 12y ago
Pretty cool opportunity and effective advertising too. Went thetechbeach.com and then went to Facebook and saw thesurfoffice.com as a sponsored ad. Wonder how big an ad budget you have to have to have targeted advertising like that.
joshmlewis 12y ago
The site is unique but I find it ironic everyone is complaining about the UX when they are advertising a big UX and design package. For real feedback, what in terms of work does this get me? Does it get me well thought out wireframes, PSDs, or fully implemented solution? I feel like the latter is half the battle itself.
- polimorfico 12y ago
  We've had some problems with the HTML+CSS in some browsers. We're already working on it. The idea is taking a current project you're working on and help you with its redesign. You'll get wirefames, PSDs, and we'll help you with implementation. Please apply if you're interested and we'll give you more information.
deleted 12y ago
[deleted]

79 points by polimorfico 12y ago

lewro 12y ago

Great idea!

polimorfico 12y ago
Thank you, Roman! Glad you like it :)

niico 12y ago

As a designer, sounds not only like a great deal to me but a hell of a fun month. (Im not related to the company)

Rulero 12y ago

This is amazing, I was brought up in Las Palmas!

polimorfico 12y ago
So you know how incredible the city is in October :) 23º C. and a lot of sun!!
- Rulero 12y ago
  It's always incredible :)

shekhar101 12y ago

Awesome! Love such ideas. There is one internship here in Goa, India(a well known beach town) where a tech startup(forgot the name) teaches you everything from fornt end design to back end and if you're lucky, you land a job there as well.

polimorfico 12y ago
Sounds cool! Nowadays you just need a laptop and an Internet connection to work on your project. And the world is so big and amazing...

6cxs2hd6 12y ago

Warning: If you spend any time looking at the The Surf Office site[^1], you're likely to be ruined for normal coworking spaces. The quality of life and affordability... wow. [^1]: http://www.thesurfoffice.com/ http://www.thesurfoffice.com/

infinitone 12y ago
I can't imagine the productivity levels would be as high as a normal workspace. Seems like there are a tad too many things that will break your focus- which is what you need most when building a startup.
- jrvarela56 12y ago
  Ironically, I have found a similar experience to be the exact opposite. Every few months my team rents a beach house to spend 2-3 days working offsite. We end up exhausted: you are so relaxed its easy to put in more (productive) hours. 30-45min daily 'beach break' (its a beach front property), taking turns to cook simple meals, nightly fireside vision/brainstorming chats. Been thinking of setting up something like the coworking mentioned in the article in Panama (5hr flight from NYC). Anyone interested?
leorocky 12y ago
It seems to be more oriented toward very young adults.

xerophtye 12y ago

Ironically for me the site has some design bugs on FF 29.0.1 The "meet the team" page seems like a constant bg and all the other pages kinda slide over it with some transparency. so there are times when both of them are visible and overlap. http://imgur.com/NVCDTFN http://imgur.com/NVCDTFN

polimorfico 12y ago
Thanks for reporting! We're going to look for a fix asap.

mrlase 12y ago

You need some sort of indicator to keep scrolling down. I only saw your team the first time I clicked on it. I was surprised when I went back a second time that there was more content below that. I'm not a huge fan of the order that you display your content in either. I think you should get to the message quicker than scrolling. The "Refresh your app design in 31 days" bit is better for a headline, not the first thing that your user sees. Chances are they already saw that bit when they clicked on your site. Show them immediately what you do and why they should choose you. Just my $0.02

polimorfico 12y ago
Thanks for your comments. You're right. There are some issues we must fix to improve the UX.
- mrlase 12y ago
  No problem :) Also, are there any links to your teams portfolio of work or anything? Can't seem to find any.
  - polimorfico 12y ago
    Sure! Some samples: - https://dribbble.com/Dusko https://dribbble.com/Dusko - https://dribbble.com/Stefooo https://dribbble.com/Stefooo - https://www.postheads.com https://www.postheads.com - http://getquaderno.com http://getquaderno.com - https://medium.com/ux-ui-readings/washing-machine-for-men-b6f927bbb538 https://medium.com/ux-ui-readings/washing-machine-for-men-b6...
- deleted 12y ago
  [deleted]
davidw 12y ago
> You need some sort of indicator to keep scrolling down. Hiding the content in the hopes that the user will notice that they can scroll down seems like some kind of trendy design thing that I'm seeing a lot of lately.

philippotto 12y ago

Nice site! Just two notes: - The third FAQ should probably read: "So I’ve signed up… what’s next?" since all the other questions are formulated from the visitor's POV. - When scrolling to the very bottom, there is a yellow 1-px-line between the FAQ and "Stay in touch" (FF 29.0.1, Win8)

melling 12y ago

This sounds great and extremely fun. Unfortunately that amount of time isn't going to work for many people. Do people have other recommendations for app redesigns? Any "night school" versions of this in Brooklyn? Maybe it's just best to find a great designer? I probably can't learn enough to compete with even a good designer.

monkey_slap 12y ago
Agreed. I'd be really happy to see more of these sort of workshops pop up.

ingend88 12y ago

Are there any night school versions of this in bay area where someone without a design background can pick up design skills ?

ulisesrmzroche 12y ago

Remember that video has a lot of contrast and that's why your home page is so busy and the headline is getting lost. Nothing worse than a headless ad.

startupfounder 12y ago

I am looking at this in the larger context of starting a startup. SurfOffice to me is an indicator that sometimes the most productive thing to do is to get away and focus on your startup. You don't have to be in SF or NYC. FiberHouse - Feld's KC Fiber House and Homes for Hackers are other examples of this and there are many more. One big aspect of starting a startup is runway and with the prices of rent in SF and NYC through the roof getting away to a place that is relatively inexpensive, where other people are also working on projects is a great way to focus and extend runway. I believe it's important to have that out of the office time, to get your subconscious problem solving with a hike, surf, bike and sunshine. This is a step in the right direction when it comes to the startup lifestyle.

stefek99 12y ago

For the record - another hacker venue at Canary Islands - http://ch.totalism.org http://ch.totalism.org #coliving #coworking but at a much better rate. I would say it's very 'back to the roots' and all the expenses ever incurred (2.5+ years now) are in the spreadsheet and the daily rate is the reflection of the actual cost. You can read on their wiki: "Non-for-profit, open budget = 100€ a week contribution." (and that 100€ - 135$ - includes food and stay) Been there November 2013, highly recommended. Wish I was able (timewise, employmentwise, familywise) to visit / reside there more often.

danohuiginn 12y ago
That is the most excellent thing I have seen in weeks.

noname123 12y ago

Pretty cool opportunity and effective advertising too. Went thetechbeach.com and then went to Facebook and saw thesurfoffice.com as a sponsored ad. Wonder how big an ad budget you have to have to have targeted advertising like that.

joshmlewis 12y ago

The site is unique but I find it ironic everyone is complaining about the UX when they are advertising a big UX and design package. For real feedback, what in terms of work does this get me? Does it get me well thought out wireframes, PSDs, or fully implemented solution? I feel like the latter is half the battle itself.

polimorfico 12y ago
We've had some problems with the HTML+CSS in some browsers. We're already working on it. The idea is taking a current project you're working on and help you with its redesign. You'll get wirefames, PSDs, and we'll help you with implementation. Please apply if you're interested and we'll give you more information.

deleted 12y ago

[deleted]