If I was making something targeting unusual people, I would make my landing page look at least a little unconventional, some crazy art or pictures of people doing unusual things, something, to attract people who are unusual or different.
This landing page looks to me as if it's trying to attract the most mainstream audience possible, like trying to be Facebook or ChristianMingle or something. It doesn't have to look too crazy, but it should look different from the norm, at least in colors or themes or something. Try looking at some unconventional sites and see how they sell themselves.
Try not to take all advice... I think gp's suggestion was aimed at a target audience of "weird people", whereas your audience–as I understand it–is neurodiverse. They don't need "weird" or "crazy" things on the site to feel at home.
Besides that, something _original_ or eye catching might be worth it. But that's something that requires excellent execution.
Yes, you're correct, that's what I was thinking. I do think the page looks overly generic anyway though, but my suggestion is not as valid now that I know what the intended audience is.
Thanks, asdfman123, for your question! All people are normal and natural but those with mental dificulties are sometime strugling very much and they need some place where they could talk freely with each other and may be it could do to them much good
I missed that this was a social site for common mental illnesses specifically. I thought it was more like "Freaks and Geeks" or people who consider themselves or their lifestyles to be alternative to the norm (insert whatever you like here, goths, punks, the modern day equivalent, etc). I don't think those people would necessarily be drawn to something like this. I personally have been considered a bit weird and quiet for a good chunk of my life and what the visuals said to me when I first approached it is like an executive saying "You know them social networks are popular, right? I want you to make a social network site that appeals to everyone, so make it look like every other startup website ever."
It doesn't look targeted at anyone in particular. Doesn't help that the text on the page doesn't make it clear either. The hacker news headline says "unusual people", the landing page headers says "atypical people", the first bullet point says "you can chat about whatever you want" (so does every other social network ever). I admit if I read more closely further down, it would be clearer it was more social anxiety and mental illness targeted, but I had made a judgement about as fast as 95%+ of other random users would when reaching the website.
> We have chat rooms-groups for each of the most common mental illness subject-matters.
I’m not sure that is the best marketing line for a site for “unusual people.” The only thing unusual about mental illness is how common it actually is.
Just out of curiosity, who are your target users? What does it mean to be an unusual person?
I'd suggest that you get someone to edit some of the content on your front page. There are a lot of language/grammar cleanup opportunities, for example:
>> How to date someone if you so insecure and nervous when trying to approach a person? Probably you have never even tried it yet. Here, at Holynetr you can easily ask someone for a walk with you knowing that your partner having the same social anxiety disorder just as you are or doesn’t mind to be with you anyway.
That’s everybody. Every person lives their lives as individuals and “is living the hardest life they’ll ever live” (paraphrased from a forgotten source).
Not to diminish the sentiment, but to hopefully bridge the estrangement to some commonality.
False dichotomy. "Struggling with meeting people" is not synomyous with "unusual". There may be unusual people that struggle with things that seem completely natural to you.
I am a steaming social animal; I make (and lose) new real (best) friends every decade (talking with random people everywhere I go which is a lost art) and I am in my 40s which is apparently weird already. If that's unusual and I have many unusual traits, I still do not believe I am in the target audience for this site. But I cannot be sure as it is unclear what is the target audience?
Edit: seems this was meant for people with mental illnesses; that seems noble but very difficult. What severity? How to keep that from going off the rails really fast?
Scrolling down on the front page, it mentions people with mental illness. What I understand from this copy is that the site is for people with presumable diagnosed mental illnesses to talk to others with mental illness, and boards organized according to what mental illness you have.
Interesting and obviously no ad tracking or any third party access could be allowed, restrictions on disclosing identity should be in place. This could be a legal minefield.
Now if the board isn't meant for only this then they should maybe update their front page to explain in greater detail what the site is about.
I sincerely hope there are some measures taken for the safety of your users. Inviting individuals with social and mental difficulties can, at times, can turn into a dangerous situation. Please do your best to inform your users of the dangers of "meeting" people online, and the risks associated.
Love the idea, agree the messaging could benefit from some tweaking.
ADHD, anxiety, and part of the big deal has been for me that I'm not unusual. There are lots of me. Safe space is very alluring - also agree that internet safety is KEY.
Good on you for taking a concept and and making it real. Most projects don't make it to reality, so kudos for making this one happen.
That said, I think the verbiage on the page could use some help. "Unusual" people isn't descriptive enough. If the site is for people with anxiety or some other mental issue, specify that. I also have to wonder what purpose the site will serve that an anxiety or ADHD subreddit doesn't already. I'd also recommend dropping the "doctor communication" part until you've got the site really rolling. There's a whole mess of legal issues that come with sharing medical information online.
Thanks, Ranking Member for your input! Yes unusual probably is not a right word, and maybe yes make accent on anxiety issue, legal issues is a problem too but it needs just a proper thought
Just want to add, you might want to have your blurbs checked for spelling and grammar. They read like they have been written by someone who's first language is not English.
Thanks for your interest in my project. There is a functionality when people are not behave then other users can flag them and if it happens five times they will be banned
Presumably this could be abused by the sort of people you’re trying to ban—most people wouldn’t do this sort of thing but bad faith reports are a problem on lots of social media sites.
I like the idea, but the verbiage that you are using is not great, also there are some grammatical errors that should be corrected (msg me if you want the feedback)
Thanks, the_seraphim, for your comment! What lines of text and verbiage would you have corrected and how? If you could specify it here it would be a great help for me!
Is this a religious (Christian) site? Some of the thumbnails and the name "holy..." seem to indicate it is. That's ok but if it is you have to be upfront - lots of people with mental health problems are atheist (like me), Muslim, Jewish, Buddhist, Hindu, etc, etc, etc. I'm always interested in attempts to get us together but this looks like there's a hidden addenda. Maybe I'm overly suspicious but, you know, that's part of the way "we" are.
Thanks, GeorgeRichard! I don't mind if somebody would think that there is a religion input and maybe it really is in general but otherwise I'm not making accent on it
What exactly do you mean? You seem to be the developer here so "maybe" is not really an answer. What is the religious angle of the site? I'd be concerned that the site is an aggregator for vulnerable people who will then be pitched a cure. Scientology?
Thanks, injidup, for your interest! The site is about making the life of people with such type of illness less stressful as far as I could make it. Some people here agree that the place is very welcome and can be very supportive for people with such desorders. And the pitch is not the primary thing here. I mean the doctors interest is not the main thing here. And I don't know what Scientology exactly is.
For sure it can be very welcoming if done correctly but you are dealing with vulnerable people and you seem to be deflecting on what the religious angle is. What people certainly don't need is to be data mined and then pitched, subtley or otherwise an e-meter test. Can you promise that this site is not a data mining operation for a religious organisation?
I'm just using Scientology as a stand in. But if you are interested, they are a (pseudo) religious organisation with a habit of pitching psychological tests to vulnerable people.
* The front-page copy "you can easily ask someone for a walk with you knowing that your partner having the same social anxiety disorder just as you" might be difficult to realize in practice with no particular geographic focus. There's not even any way to specify a location in your profile. If this is supposed to have a dating/hookup site kind of side to it, then location should be surfaced everywhere including to the left of every forum post.
* Having a field in your profile for LinkedIn seems a bit much given the target subject matter of the site.
* The homepage should be your profile page or the groups page if you're already signed in
This seems poorly thought out in a lot of respects, but I think specifying "unusual people" is emblematic.
The kinds of people who describe them selves as 'unusual' brings to mind very conventional folks trying to project an image of 'wackiness', or otherwise people who have adopted a genuinely rare or controversial lifestyle... like freegans, nomads, cultists, furries or people with other strange kinks, etc etc. Not exactly communities with much in common!
On the other hand, those with mental health issues often don't want to be considered 'unusual'. People take great comfort in knowing, for example, that depression and anxiety are actually incredibly common.
After talking about the mental health features you're planning, you say "maybe you're a real geek", which again is conflating to wildly different types of 'unusual'. (Besides, in these days of superhero blockbusters is being a geek even unusual anymore?)
If you want to be a site for people with mental health issues, then you need to understand that:
1) Though there's an overlap between this and niche interest subjects; the two things are VERY different, and,
2) Language is INCREDIBLY important if you want to be accepting of everyone and project that you truly understand these diverse conditions and are properly committed to supporting them.
For more context, "we know" seems to imply that there is something that you know about the person that you aren't going to spell out right now, but may use in the future.
Thanks, Foomandoonian. A lot of things to be considered. I agree with you on every mentioned aspects. And yes the English language is still my problem ))
Yeah. I think beyond the basic grammatical errors, this topic requires a particularly high level of cultural awareness and nuance in vocabulary, which the OP may not have been prepared for.
Hey Gik, congrats on this. IT's definitely something that you'll understand how valuable it is as people come along and use it more and more.
I'm a product designer and If I can help you in some way, please reach me out. In the meantime, I'll share here some of my thoughts on what's done so far.
Yes. But they were pointing out that mentally ill people have "psychological" problems, not "psychic" ones (which implies some kind of magical mental ability).
I think you have a fundamental lack of understanding of what sort of struggles people with mental health issues go through. Most have jobs. They're all around you. You probably have never even noticed them.
"Sometimes when I close my eyes, I can see into the warp where the creatures from beyond our dimension offer me power in exchange for overthrowing mankind. Should I see a doctor?"
Unusual people != mental illnesses. I'm a blind person, and I would definitely use a site like that, as some/most people are used to thinking of blind people as aliens that are better avoided. People who don't mind talking to unusual people is exactly what I'm looking for.
Hey, do you consider to add a "Visitor" button beside the "Register" button on the landing page? It maybe useful for people who want to look around before deciding whether or not to continue to use the service.
Thanks, nirui. Yes, I must do that I think. Though there are two links already for browsing the groups - in the footer and under hero image where is "Choose your room" line
Thanks, peternicky for your comment. Yes, I'm not very proficient in English language. I must surely get some help with it. And the "unusual" word is very doubtful too I agree.
161 comments
[ 3.4 ms ] story [ 207 ms ] threadThis landing page looks to me as if it's trying to attract the most mainstream audience possible, like trying to be Facebook or ChristianMingle or something. It doesn't have to look too crazy, but it should look different from the norm, at least in colors or themes or something. Try looking at some unconventional sites and see how they sell themselves.
Besides that, something _original_ or eye catching might be worth it. But that's something that requires excellent execution.
You know people with common mental illnesses are just normal people, right?
It doesn't look targeted at anyone in particular. Doesn't help that the text on the page doesn't make it clear either. The hacker news headline says "unusual people", the landing page headers says "atypical people", the first bullet point says "you can chat about whatever you want" (so does every other social network ever). I admit if I read more closely further down, it would be clearer it was more social anxiety and mental illness targeted, but I had made a judgement about as fast as 95%+ of other random users would when reaching the website.
I’m not sure that is the best marketing line for a site for “unusual people.” The only thing unusual about mental illness is how common it actually is.
Still, A for effort. Love the idea overall.
I'd suggest that you get someone to edit some of the content on your front page. There are a lot of language/grammar cleanup opportunities, for example:
>> How to date someone if you so insecure and nervous when trying to approach a person? Probably you have never even tried it yet. Here, at Holynetr you can easily ask someone for a walk with you knowing that your partner having the same social anxiety disorder just as you are or doesn’t mind to be with you anyway.
Not to diminish the sentiment, but to hopefully bridge the estrangement to some commonality.
Edit: seems this was meant for people with mental illnesses; that seems noble but very difficult. What severity? How to keep that from going off the rails really fast?
Scrolling down on the front page, it mentions people with mental illness. What I understand from this copy is that the site is for people with presumable diagnosed mental illnesses to talk to others with mental illness, and boards organized according to what mental illness you have.
Interesting and obviously no ad tracking or any third party access could be allowed, restrictions on disclosing identity should be in place. This could be a legal minefield.
Now if the board isn't meant for only this then they should maybe update their front page to explain in greater detail what the site is about.
ADHD, anxiety, and part of the big deal has been for me that I'm not unusual. There are lots of me. Safe space is very alluring - also agree that internet safety is KEY.
That said, I think the verbiage on the page could use some help. "Unusual" people isn't descriptive enough. If the site is for people with anxiety or some other mental issue, specify that. I also have to wonder what purpose the site will serve that an anxiety or ADHD subreddit doesn't already. I'd also recommend dropping the "doctor communication" part until you've got the site really rolling. There's a whole mess of legal issues that come with sharing medical information online.
How do you judge that? Isn't better an ignore or block feature than banning people get offended?
I wouldn’t disclose the heuristics of these policies.
[1] https://holynetr.com/groups/penis/
I'm just using Scientology as a stand in. But if you are interested, they are a (pseudo) religious organisation with a habit of pitching psychological tests to vulnerable people.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientology
* The front-page copy "you can easily ask someone for a walk with you knowing that your partner having the same social anxiety disorder just as you" might be difficult to realize in practice with no particular geographic focus. There's not even any way to specify a location in your profile. If this is supposed to have a dating/hookup site kind of side to it, then location should be surfaced everywhere including to the left of every forum post.
* Having a field in your profile for LinkedIn seems a bit much given the target subject matter of the site.
* The homepage should be your profile page or the groups page if you're already signed in
The kinds of people who describe them selves as 'unusual' brings to mind very conventional folks trying to project an image of 'wackiness', or otherwise people who have adopted a genuinely rare or controversial lifestyle... like freegans, nomads, cultists, furries or people with other strange kinks, etc etc. Not exactly communities with much in common!
On the other hand, those with mental health issues often don't want to be considered 'unusual'. People take great comfort in knowing, for example, that depression and anxiety are actually incredibly common.
After talking about the mental health features you're planning, you say "maybe you're a real geek", which again is conflating to wildly different types of 'unusual'. (Besides, in these days of superhero blockbusters is being a geek even unusual anymore?)
If you want to be a site for people with mental health issues, then you need to understand that:
1) Though there's an overlap between this and niche interest subjects; the two things are VERY different, and, 2) Language is INCREDIBLY important if you want to be accepting of everyone and project that you truly understand these diverse conditions and are properly committed to supporting them.
The latter implies more empathy and is less formal and patronising.
Also "unusual" hints more at "eccentric". Bjork is unusual. Brian Wilson had a mental illness...
You could go out and spell it out: people with mental issues, or disabled, or whoever you like to include.
I'm a product designer and If I can help you in some way, please reach me out. In the meantime, I'll share here some of my thoughts on what's done so far.
Keep up
I think this has a different meaning to that intended! Did you mean "psychological" problems?
Just my 0.2 cents.