HN Explorer

Show HN: Registry Notebook - universal gift registry app built on App Engine

4 points by engblaze ↗ HN
I'm a long time reader, first time submitter. I've been teaching myself about web development and have been using a gift registry app (for weddings, baby showers, etc.) as my tutorial of sorts. Long story short, I'm thinking about releasing it into the wild, and would love some feedback before I do:

www.registrynotebook.com

It's still very much beta with more features to come, but any comments on UI, UX, or general app/site practices are most welcome. I've also gotten pretty deep into the intricacies of App Engine, so I may be able to share some useful knowledge if anyone is interested.

Right now, it relies on Google accounts for authentication. Not ideal, but GAE makes it difficult to do auth and sessions if you go any other route. On the todo list to change that.

I'm also debating various business models. Gift registries are a crowded market. Most registry sites are free to use and rely on affiliate links for revenue. However, a lot of services are implemented pretty poorly, so there may be opportunity to compete independently of price. What do you think?

Thanks!

4 comments

[ 3.7 ms ] story [ 17.6 ms ] thread
trb
Whom are you targeting? I have never heard of a gift registry, so unless you are targeting only people that already know the term, try to describe the general purpose of your app. Copyblogger is a nice resource on how to write marketing texts and headlines:

http://www.copyblogger.com

For example, your headline (Welcome to..) is basically meaningless. Instead, try to describe your service in it. AirBnBs headline says "Find a place to stay". Maybe yours could say something like "Manage your gift-getting"? (Wikipedias description of a gift registry).

Also, read up on typography, a few small changes can have a great effect:

http://www.smashingmagazine.com/tag/typography/ http://www.alistapart.com/topics/topic/typography/

For example, your headline (Welcome to..) doesn't differentiate itself from the text and therefore doesn't grab the viewers attention. Try to squint your eyes and move back from the screen, you can't see if it's a headline or a part of the text. Try making the font larger and bolder.

I wish you good luck on your endeavor.

engblaze
Thanks for the thoughtful feedback trb. The site is targeting a fairly specific market... basically, people who are planning events that normally have gift-giving associated with them. Weddings, baby showers, engagement parties, and the like. It's common practice to make a gift list somewhere so that people know what you want. I could probably do a better job of immediately communicating that on the site.

I'm most definitely not a designer by trade, so the typography tips are much appreciated.

trb
Ah, that was what my assumption. In that case, you are likely targeting everyone, so you should make it very clear what the benefit of your service is. Be very blunt, maybe something like "Manage your gift-getting for any occasion".