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Ask HN: Tried something different for the home page, any thoughts?

3 points by dstpierre ↗ HN
I wanted to do something different for my new startup, the home page is a strip down version of what is possible with the full (paid) version.

https://proceed.io

I would appreciate any thoughts or feedback regarding this decision. It’s a project proposal management SaaS. The home page immediately allows a potential customer to try the proposal editor.

My goal / thinking: I wanted to let new visitors quickly try the app and see how it would fit (or not) in their current workflow. Instead of having the typical screenshots / video, hook text and call to action button page layout.

Until the end of last week it was in a private beta and for the tiny number of visits, the invitation request rate was good (~ 9%). It’s hard to draw any conclusion, and I don’t have enough traffic to perform A/B testing atm. That’s why I’m trying to get as much opinions as possible.

Thanks for your time.

11 comments

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h3sean
Landed on your homepage and it was quite a shock for me. Not what I expected for a homepage - and I don't mean that in a good way.

I think that what Groove and promoter.io is doing with their homepage is pretty much how a SaaS homepage should be done. A clear, crisp explanation of what your 'paid' account can solve for a lost user such as myself.

I run a SaaS startup myself BTW (https://qeryz.com) just so you know where I'm coming from :)

dstpierre
Nice product. Thanks for the comment, really appreciated.
h3sean
No worries man :) all the best for you. If you need me to check it out again, send me an email at sean (at) qeryz (dot) com
lovelearning
I actually liked both - the idea of a WYSIWYG proposal designer and the way you've implemented it.

I wish more SaaS apps gave such functional demos instead of putting up a video I don't have the patience to watch or forcing me to first sign up just to try it.

I also liked how every style change updates the page immediately.

Perhaps you can make the "Client preview" button more prominent in some way, because that's what leads to the "aha, so this is what it does!" moment.

dstpierre
Thank you very much. The client preview is indeed the "aha" moment, I will try to make it easier to view / reach.
toumhi
This is what's called gradual engagement. Google what patio11 has to say on the topic, but to summarize it it's not an obvious win and you should A/B test that (against just getting contact details + getting them into a free trial).

Now, I see you have just launched a beta version and have an aversion to copywriting (on the "try" page). In my opinion, you should focus on explaining the value proposition to users, getting a few of them onboard and working on the engagement. Avoid spending too much time on the product itself and listen to what the users have to say: is it solving a need? How are they using your product in their work? etc etc

dstpierre
I will search what Patrick said about gradual engagement for sure. I was not aware it had a name or something, thanks.

I completely agree with you on focusing on user feedback, I simply wanted a different, more quicker first impression homepage.

fwn
I feel pretty overwhelmed by the amount of information/tools I need to scan to realize what I can do there.

It might be worth considering some kind of instructive overlay which ends in the proposal editor you've created.

Edit: But I am really no UX expert; just what I've thought..

ASquare
Agree with this. Some sort of wizard or interactive product tour to hand hold me through the aha moment described by another commenter might be quite helpful for the onboarding experience.

You could use something like this to assist with that: http://github.hubspot.com/shepherd/docs/welcome/

actraub
I think you would really benefit from working with a designer. It seems like there is a lot of great features... but suffers from information overload.
jordsmi
Like the idea but it is not done so well. Too much information all over the place and the formatting isn't done so well. I would go with a different font. Also, If I click on schedule/TnC your footer blocks some of the buttons over on the left.