Our team formed at Startup Weekend in Atlanta three months ago, and its been an amazing ride thus far. We're proud to have just launched TripLingo, which creates a customized language-learning solution for travelers. We also teach you how talk like people actually talk, including slang, idioms, etc.
Assuming you want feedback, even if simply to decide it's wrong, for what it's worth I offer the following observations.
I stared at the screen for some time trying to work out what to click to find out what it looks like, how it works, and how it feels to use. I still don't know any of these, but eventually found the huge "BUY NOW AND DOWNLOAD" bits after the fold. That seems sub-optimal.
There's a lot telling me how good it is, but nothing letting me try a few phrases for myself. The adage is "Show, don't tell" and I think you need more of that. And I don't mean a video, I mean a representative experience, even if it's tiny. One phrase, two phrases, and there's every chance I'd say yes. With nothing telling me what it's like, no chance.
I even need to click through to a specific language to get a sense of what it's like. That seems wrong. There's nothing to click, nothing to see, nothing to interact with, and despite trying, I very quickly felt like giving up.
So I suggest you think more carefully about the limited, first page of real estate. Give me something, anything, to see what it's like to use. Maybe the product is great, but I have no way of knowing.
I really hate videos. Really hate videos. They are slow, clumsy, and never show what I'm interested in. My advice is never to create a video until you have nothing else to spend your time on.
Showing is what matters. Let me play. Put your time into a limited version that lets me know how it feels.
Ha! Well, we'll still have a video, but point taken. We've got an interesting part of the app that we're going to integrate into the core of the website, which will also help.
11 comments
[ 127 ms ] story [ 144 ms ] thread[EDIT: All promo codes now redeemed...]
Would love to hear your feedback! Since we're all HN regulars, here are 20 promo codes: http://www.triplingo.com/promos/blog?name=HackerNews
P.S. FYI I posted a longer version of this yesterday- perhaps too long. http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2519035
I stared at the screen for some time trying to work out what to click to find out what it looks like, how it works, and how it feels to use. I still don't know any of these, but eventually found the huge "BUY NOW AND DOWNLOAD" bits after the fold. That seems sub-optimal.
There's a lot telling me how good it is, but nothing letting me try a few phrases for myself. The adage is "Show, don't tell" and I think you need more of that. And I don't mean a video, I mean a representative experience, even if it's tiny. One phrase, two phrases, and there's every chance I'd say yes. With nothing telling me what it's like, no chance.
I even need to click through to a specific language to get a sense of what it's like. That seems wrong. There's nothing to click, nothing to see, nothing to interact with, and despite trying, I very quickly felt like giving up.
So I suggest you think more carefully about the limited, first page of real estate. Give me something, anything, to see what it's like to use. Maybe the product is great, but I have no way of knowing.
Specific responses:
- We're in the process of creating that video. Definitely agree that's important.
- Good point regarding "showing"- the video should help with that, but I think putting a little quick demo up would be helpful.
Thanks again for the feedback!
Showing is what matters. Let me play. Put your time into a limited version that lets me know how it feels.
Limited version coming as well...
However, everyone is different, and I appreciate hearing that not everyone feels that way!
Would love to see a web based application I could use from my computer. Maybe even subscription based?
What about Russian language? It is the largest native language in Europe.