Comments on: Communicating Value through Cause & Effect on Fanfeedr http://bokardo.com/archives/communicating-value-through-cause-effect-on-fanfeedr/ Interface Design & UX by Joshua Porter Wed, 28 Sep 2011 20:28:57 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 By: christina http://bokardo.com/archives/communicating-value-through-cause-effect-on-fanfeedr/#comment-291451 christina Tue, 29 Sep 2009 13:54:55 +0000 http://bokardo.com/?p=1524#comment-291451 it is way to text-ty still, though. there are many services that have to prove their value that hae a hard time doing so until the user signs up; blogger, remember the milk, netflix-- fanfeedr should survey these services for best practices in clarity. Netflix in particular is known to AB test the holy heck out of their site, and is probably worth emulating. If I saw that wall of test, I'd be gone in 30 seconds. It's not just what you say (though that's critical) but how you say it. it is way to text-ty still, though. there are many services that have to prove their value that hae a hard time doing so until the user signs up; blogger, remember the milk, netflix– fanfeedr should survey these services for best practices in clarity. Netflix in particular is known to AB test the holy heck out of their site, and is probably worth emulating. If I saw that wall of test, I’d be gone in 30 seconds. It’s not just what you say (though that’s critical) but how you say it.

]]> By: Christina Sponias http://bokardo.com/archives/communicating-value-through-cause-effect-on-fanfeedr/#comment-291392 Christina Sponias Fri, 25 Sep 2009 02:18:00 +0000 http://bokardo.com/?p=1524#comment-291392 Your articles are always fascinating! Social design is really basic online, and the startup fundamental, especially because nobody really reads anything on the internet. The first impression holds the visitors’ attention, or sends them somewhere else in a second. Your articles are always fascinating! Social design is really basic online, and the startup fundamental, especially because nobody really reads anything on the internet.

The first impression holds the visitors’ attention, or sends them somewhere else in a second.

]]> By: Adrian Chan http://bokardo.com/archives/communicating-value-through-cause-effect-on-fanfeedr/#comment-291351 Adrian Chan Tue, 22 Sep 2009 12:28:11 +0000 http://bokardo.com/?p=1524#comment-291351 Good tips Josh, I've often wished that in addition to describing what the product does, by means of features, some companies would also describe the problem they're solving, why it matters, and how they're solving it. This is especially the case for me at demos, where presentations are feature rich but often scarce on what the product is for. It might just be me, but I like to know what I'm going to get out of a new site as much as I want to know what the technology does. cheers, a Good tips Josh,

I’ve often wished that in addition to describing what the product does, by means of features, some companies would also describe the problem they’re solving, why it matters, and how they’re solving it. This is especially the case for me at demos, where presentations are feature rich but often scarce on what the product is for.

It might just be me, but I like to know what I’m going to get out of a new site as much as I want to know what the technology does.

cheers,
a

]]> By: Wendy Sharp http://bokardo.com/archives/communicating-value-through-cause-effect-on-fanfeedr/#comment-291300 Wendy Sharp Sat, 19 Sep 2009 00:48:59 +0000 http://bokardo.com/?p=1524#comment-291300 The repetition of the headline in the first line of the first paragraph kills me. It's the kind of thing that would make me stop reading at once, because if they have to say the same thing twice, immediately, it's usually a safe bet that whatever else they have to say is going to be content-free. And yet, you're right--they've done a nice job with the rest of it. But the first paragraph should start with "Pick your...", rather than a repeat of the headline. The repetition of the headline in the first line of the first paragraph kills me. It’s the kind of thing that would make me stop reading at once, because if they have to say the same thing twice, immediately, it’s usually a safe bet that whatever else they have to say is going to be content-free. And yet, you’re right–they’ve done a nice job with the rest of it. But the first paragraph should start with “Pick your…”, rather than a repeat of the headline.

]]> By: User experience articles September 18 « User Experience News http://bokardo.com/archives/communicating-value-through-cause-effect-on-fanfeedr/#comment-291294 User experience articles September 18 « User Experience News Fri, 18 Sep 2009 07:48:15 +0000 http://bokardo.com/?p=1524#comment-291294 [...] At Bokardo, Josh Porter presents an article about using explicit cause and effect to improve the usability of a registration form. [...] [...] At Bokardo, Josh Porter presents an article about using explicit cause and effect to improve the usability of a registration form. [...]

]]> By: Elad Kehat http://bokardo.com/archives/communicating-value-through-cause-effect-on-fanfeedr/#comment-291291 Elad Kehat Fri, 18 Sep 2009 06:47:37 +0000 http://bokardo.com/?p=1524#comment-291291 Thanks for this great post on an extremely important issue for new startups. We faced a similar issue with DemandSpot.com but chose a different path, that proved to be very successful. Our own homepage has a very similar "firehose of information" look, but instead of putting up a screen that explains what we do, we make an educated guess on what the visitor might like to see, and show that in the firehose. In our case we show tweets from people who are interested in buying real estate. Since location is everything in this market, we use visitors' IP addresses to pre-filter the information and show just people in their area. A few live tests proved that hilighting the relevant part of the tweets, and keeping the website generally clear of any clutter (just one column) make people understand what it's all about within seconds. Further testing has led us to put the call-to-action (what you can do with this information) on a simple button next to every tweet that says "Connect with...". Results so far: 12% of new visitors sign-up. You didn't expand on how well the welcome screen is working for FanFeedr, but my biggest concern with such screens is that visitors don't really feel like reading. They may want to see the product right away, or if they do read, they may get "tired" from it and go away. I personally prefer products that explain themselves. If I were in FanFeedr's place, I'd ditch the text on the welcome screen in favor of a visual selection between some local team logos in various sports (sports fans usually go for their home teams, right?). Use visitors' IPs to figure out the locality. The user could click/check some team logos, and get right to a custumized feed. That's both self-explanatory <b>and</b> makes good use of your time on the welcome screen to start customizing the product for you right away. Thanks for this great post on an extremely important issue for new startups.
We faced a similar issue with DemandSpot.com but chose a different path, that proved to be very successful.
Our own homepage has a very similar “firehose of information” look, but instead of putting up a screen that explains what we do, we make an educated guess on what the visitor might like to see, and show that in the firehose.
In our case we show tweets from people who are interested in buying real estate. Since location is everything in this market, we use visitors’ IP addresses to pre-filter the information and show just people in their area. A few live tests proved that hilighting the relevant part of the tweets, and keeping the website generally clear of any clutter (just one column) make people understand what it’s all about within seconds. Further testing has led us to put the call-to-action (what you can do with this information) on a simple button next to every tweet that says “Connect with…”.
Results so far: 12% of new visitors sign-up.
You didn’t expand on how well the welcome screen is working for FanFeedr, but my biggest concern with such screens is that visitors don’t really feel like reading. They may want to see the product right away, or if they do read, they may get “tired” from it and go away. I personally prefer products that explain themselves. If I were in FanFeedr’s place, I’d ditch the text on the welcome screen in favor of a visual selection between some local team logos in various sports (sports fans usually go for their home teams, right?). Use visitors’ IPs to figure out the locality. The user could click/check some team logos, and get right to a custumized feed. That’s both self-explanatory and makes good use of your time on the welcome screen to start customizing the product for you right away.

]]> By: Bets 911 - ‘Murph’ In Town For Boys & Girls Club Dinner http://bokardo.com/archives/communicating-value-through-cause-effect-on-fanfeedr/#comment-291286 Bets 911 - ‘Murph’ In Town For Boys & Girls Club Dinner Thu, 17 Sep 2009 19:15:14 +0000 http://bokardo.com/?p=1524#comment-291286 [...] Communicating Value through Cause & Effect on Fanfeedr A few months ago we held an event called Testcase at Betahouse in Cambridge, MA where we asked four startups to come and user test their web sites with local folks who showed up. [...] [...] Communicating Value through Cause & Effect on Fanfeedr A few months ago we held an event called Testcase at Betahouse in Cambridge, MA where we asked four startups to come and user test their web sites with local folks who showed up. [...]

]]>