

From Miserable Launch to Decent Success in 3 Months, Thanks to Hacker News - stangeek
http://www.stangeek.com/from-miserable-launch-to-decent-success-in-3

======
csomar
I might be the only one, but design quality is a signal of development quality
for me (even though, as a developer I know well that it's not). But when I see
badly designed software or application, I say "If the developer didn't care,
why should I?".

Another thing, these are things that I won't die without. I enjoy well crafted
products (and will pay few $$ instead of using an ugly product that does the
same thing).

Mobile Applications is not my expertise, so I'll give you a few suggestions on
the landing page

\- A contrast. For the moment, the logo is lost in the white. The iPhone video
(and the iPhone device itself) is filled with white.

\- A better font. You already know about font-face. Now try to pick a nicer
one. TypeKit is free to start.

\- A logo. Costs $25 to buy from Graphic River. Stock Templates/Scripts are a
good quality/cost solution when you are bootstrapping with empty pockets.

\- The social icons are buried. Also why is the Facebook button in French?

In your source code

\- Don't put your scripts tag at the header, make it loads fast. Also don't
use in-line JavaScript. Your CSS and JS condensed in one file

\- It seems like non HTML5 users will not watch your video.

In your video, instead of the mouse cursor, use a 0.7 opacity rounded circle.
It looks nicer and feel like your fingertip is moving there.

Nice work.

~~~
stangeek
Thank you very much, we still have a lot to learn on web design. We'll rework
the website based on your very constructive feedback.

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kranner
Congratulations!

You only seem to have 9 ratings in the App Store globally (7 in the French
Store, 2 in US) so far for 57523 downloads as you say. I used the iTunes
Search API to obtain this info for your app id (I'm contemplating a move from
iOS programmer-for-hire to full-time indie and this Python script is part of
my market research).

That suggests only about 1 in 6391 users bother to give you a rating on the
App Store, which is very low from what I hear: the usual figure quoted is 1 in
100 to 1 in 1500 for free apps. If this is right, it might be worthwhile to
ask users in-app to give you a rating on the App Store if they like the app.

~~~
stangeek
Yes, on the next update we will add a rating widget to encourage feedback.
What is the usual approach to this? Shall we wait for the user to have used
our app 5 times, 10 times, 20 times...? Any ideas are welcome.

~~~
DanHulton
Make sure to time your widget popup carefully. You don't want it to trigger
after - say, a failed connection. Instead, perhaps try to figure out when the
"end" of a conversation is maybe, and trigger it after 3-5 of those? You're
far more likely to get better votes if you don't ask people immediately after
they experience internet latency or the like.

~~~
stangeek
Ok. Rating widgets usually annoy me, which is why we didn't put one. But the
downside is that we didn't get a lot of feedback, so we'll follow your advice
and try to time it as best as we can.

------
mootothemax
Awesome, very well done! I'd consider reworking a couple of your comparison
table headings, maybe something like this:

"iPhone only" -> "Supports all smartphones"

"Participants need the app?" -> "Participate without [installing / the app]"

"Max participants" -> "Unlimited Participants"

This purely subjective on my part, simple because I think it's easier to read
a list of "YES" answers, and compare against the competitors's "NO" answers
:-)

~~~
stangeek
Many thanks. You are the second commenter to provide this feedback, I'm going
to change the table right now :)

~~~
AndrewHampton
Looks like you forgot the t in without for "Participate withou the app?"

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redguava
This is what your website looks like to me <http://cl.ly/3B0V2u0x3g3M3d0l242N>

(It's down)

Might need to get that fixed to take advantage of current Hacker News traffic.

------
tbassetto
Congrats! Some feedback concerning the UI: * The speech bubble contrast should
be higher. * The "tick" and "close" rounded buttons are aliased?! The icons
are too sharp. * The button to start a chat and the title "illico" do not seem
to be aligned. * Somehow, the title "illico" alone is not strictly centered :/

PS: how to write a decent-looking list on Hacker News comments? :/

~~~
stangeek
Thank you, this will go into our next iteration :)

------
robryan
Just a nitpick on you comparison table, iMessage can do group chat and shows
when someone is typing.

~~~
stangeek
With iMessage, you can't do group chat with non-iPhone users, can you?

~~~
tg3
You can, but you lose the ability to see when the other person is typing when
they don't have an iPhone.

~~~
bhaile
If the non iPhone person has MMS disabled on their account, then they won't
see the message at all.

------
mseebach
You reference good feedback from HN last time around, but there's no link to
the discussion.

~~~
zyfo
<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3517863> probably.

------
o1iver
`iPhone only?': `No'

What else is there? You only have an App Store link on the site.

~~~
stangeek
What we mean by this is that recipients do not need to have an iPhone (or even
the app) to be able to participate.

~~~
guptaneil
How is that different than iMessage, which also seamlessly falls back to SMS
for anybody that doesn't have iMessage support?

~~~
stangeek
With iMessage, those on SMS (who don't have an iPhone) won't see everyone
else's replies. You can't do group chat over SMS.

------
revorad
Congrats! Is there a premium version you can charge for?

~~~
stangeek
Thanks! No premium version is planned. We have another little idea to
monetize, but need a bit more traction first... ;)

~~~
revorad
"Draw Something" is one of the highest grossing apps on the UK appstore right
now. They have a free and paid version. You could take some clues from them.

The great thing about getting money is that you can buy traction with it.

~~~
ja27
Draw Something (like Pictionary) is in a sweet spot. To begin with it's a game
and people play with their friends. They leverage Facebook to find your
friends that have the app already. You can still invite people that don't have
it yet, but knowing someone already has the app makes it a lot easier to start
a game.

They limited some features so they can charge for them. You only get a few
colors but can buy more. You get "bombs" that act as hints and can buy more.

One thing they don't do yet is have a way to share your drawing (or animated
replay) on Facebook. That would be a big help. I read about a "paint for cats"
iPad app (I think the one below) that added a "Share this painting on
Facebook" button and it blew up his traffic. Not sure it really applies to
illico but it could to a more visual app.
[http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/paint-for-
cats/id427702410?mt...](http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/paint-for-
cats/id427702410?mt=8)

~~~
stangeek
So you're thinking of a button to share the chat transcript on Facebook?
That's interesting...

~~~
ja27
Not sure it would work well for this app, but I'm always looking for anything
visual or easily shared, especially if your audience are likely heavy Facebook
users.

