Ask HN: Review my startup, symbyoz.com

I like the overall look and feel of it - kudos for getting it going. I think the little graphics (Killer Startups and Best of the Web) kill any credibility that the site was trying to build - at least to me - so I would suggest dumping those. The comic doesn't size well. I couldn't easily read it even though it was a PNG (so I didn't bother).

typo: "Thanks for registering! Please ake the time"

Landing page:

make the logo bigger upper left. make the logo subtitle a phrase that is formatted as a direct answer to the question "Why are you here?" make the logo aligned with the body text to make the left axis of alignment on your page stronger. Consider changing the background gradient to something radial rather than linear and more stylized. Maybe a darker luminosity to emphasize that the notebook page is the foreground. Do not use centered alignment in your content page. Always use left or right alignment unless you have a really good reason for making it centered. There isnt much repeated style between elements Uh... I'm going to stop mentioning design stuff and just say you should either hire a designer before a programmer\hacker or get this book for some really easy to act on practical advice: http://www.amazon.com/Non-Designers-Design-Book-Robin-Willia...

App: On notes under an idea I like how it hides unnecessary interface features unless you mouseover..... I think you need to incorporate this design methodology in more places with cruft on the site. I am allergic to cruft, squint until your eyes go blurry and see how many different "chunks" make up the page and try to limit it to 5-7. Tags is plural but only seems to accept one thing. You need to show "state" better. For example you know how some sites use breadcrumbs? Like it will say "Metamemetic's Ideas > A First Idea > Notes" or something and they are all links to navigate back and forth, and they are all the same style in the same location and instantly convey where I am in the site. You don't have to use breadcrumbs just make it super obvious for the user to tell where they are and what they are doing at all times with no clutter around whatever the "state" indicator is. and don't have multiple "state" indicators, just one all informative one.

overall it's a good idea though with a good code foundation! Props for getting something out there

I would try and leverage the fact that you are creating tree data structures with ideas and notes to do some interesting things in the future, but just improve the UI and UX first.

[I don't know if I would use the site personally because I use Git to version control my local repository of random ideas, but there could be a good target market. Not sure who your target market is... you should pick one and post on whatever forums they are currently sharing ideas on and see what features they would need\want to use your site. Or if your site ends up functioning better as a personal planner\to do list than a collaborative editor, maybe market it as increasing ones organization and productivity]

I know a lot of "Web 2.0" sites are all look a bit the same, and I appreciate you going for a different look, but for me this doesn't work. If you look at other sites they tell you exactly what they are trying to sell in big letters, with clear screen shots on the front page.

Your video tells me little (well done though, that must have taken some time), three different sign-up options on the home page is messy, the link to screenshots down the bottom is just hyperlink, "Product Tour" needs to be at the top somewhere.

Do you really need a Captcha? I find them a pain in the arse, why not wait until you have a spam account problem.

As another commentator says, depending on your audience the Killer Startups and Best of the Web logos may actually devalue your product. If you are aiming for HNers etc definitely, however the general public seem to like these sorts of things sometimes.

http://www.symbyoz.com Clickable.

For what it's worth, my eyes went directly to the web comic, and I was on panel 2 when the image refreshed. It got to the third strip before it occurred to me that a mouseover might pause the rotation.

The site is painfully slow. When I clicked on "See A Sample Page" it took around 20 s to load with over 200 requests. It loads 61 external javascripts and 16 stylesheets (combine and minify). When I tested the page in YSlow it got 54 / 100 performance score.

You seem to have at least four slogans:

1) Share ideas and advices

2) Organize and share ideas with your friends

3) The best place to organize and share your ideas.

4) It's who you know

You should choose one, and show it only once. I would go with the first, but change advices to advice.

I think the "See a sample page" link should be more prominent. maybe it's just me, but I have very little patience for new web apps that don't let me see what they look like without signing up, so I was about to leave yours until I noticed that link down in the corner.

the intro video you have doesn't really tell you anything either, I'd replace that with a screencast of someone using the site.

Why should I use this web app instead of updating my Facebook status or posting a tweet?

I misread your URL as simboyz. What? A gay simulator?

1. You need a better design, the logo seems kind of stupid for me. The whole design take me back to 2000/2002.

2. Why load all these scripts. I mean, I'm in the home page, you shouldn't load validate.js, form.js... Also lot of commented HTML, this only add unnecessary loads to your page. Also avoid inline CSS.

3. You need a good copywriter or may be some copy writing lessons since you just started. Someone already mentioned it.

I may be completely wrong on this, but didn't Google try something almost identical and eventually realised it just didn't work, or the user base wasn't ready for it and Wave-ed goodbye to it only recently?

I don't want to bring down your site, but if they couldn't make it profitable that says something to me.

However, I liked Wave, and wanted it to stay, so if you system is good I'd use it, but I wonder if enough people would?

(oh and the rotating comic, totally agree very annoying)

I am primarily a Java developer too, but I have very rarely seen any hobby projects being done in Java/Jsp. I wonder if there is a reason why you did it in Java? What framework do you use? Does Java needing a lot of memory have to do with the slowness of the site?

I didn't like the design too much, but the video is really great! I think it should be on the main page. I would remove the cartoon, and some other content, and put the video inline. Did you create it your self, or did you get an agency to do it?

hi! when the site loads, the facebook buttons need some time more to load (of course). but they don´t seem to be in a container, so some elements jump when the buttons are rendered.

the signup button is very hard to find. you could make it much bigger "web 2.0" style and with green background (which is good for conversion rates).

i´d replace "watch the video" with a big play button in the middle of the image. this way, more people will watch it.

the signup form: i´d mask the rest of the site when it´s showed, to make clear that the user can´t do anything else right now.

the captcha is centered now, but the text fields not. i´d right align the captcha.

when first opening the signup form, the error message for the full name is shown in pure red. for me the error should only be shown when the user tries to submit the form. and you could use a more decent color for the error messages.

add a * to all required labels (and "fields with * are required), so the users knows which are required. right now he has to wait for error messages.

the checkbox and notice texts (at the bottom) would look better if they were all aligned with the text fields.

i´m not quite sure, whether purple is the right color for the notice text.

for the checkbox: it´s a lot clearer if there is first the checkbox and then the label for it. (i personally try to always use wordings with I instead of you. feels better somehow)

i like the js validation when the user inputs the needed information. - well done!

hopefully i was not too hard to you :) martin

Just some words to thank you all so far for the feedback. You guys sure are no brittle matter, but that's also why you rock. I mean it. I've at least "pack-minified" most resources to make things a bit faster. It's still slow (YSlow ~ 70) but hopefully more bearable for demanding hackers :). I also wanted to renew my call for help. I'm still looking for people (koders or designers) who would be interested in making this a great (and cool) journey.