

Readr -- my latest site.  Feedback is appreciated. - dzohrob
http://readr.com/?ver=3

======
staunch
Those front page and screenshot JPEGs are horrendous. Either up the quality a
lot (and increase file size) or move to a more suitable format like GIF/PNG
(better idea).

~~~
dzohrob
i appreciate the feedback. the reason i opted for smaller filesize is because
i'm not sure if anyone but web folks would notice the difference, but i'd be
curious to find out if they do.

~~~
runningskull
Non-web people may not be able to point out exactly what makes those images so
terrible (though they probably will), but they will know that the site looks
un-professional. I would suggest moving to PNG's.

Other than that, the site looks very good. I'll be interested to see where
this goes...

~~~
r7000
I agree - it is completely the aesthetics. Non-web people may not know why..
but they will know something looks off.

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DocSavage
I compulsively changed the ver parameter to look at your other front page
versions, and I think ver=1 is better. When I tried your link (ver=3), I
didn't immediately get what you were trying to do. The tag line "See
everything your friends do online" was more informative than seeing the Photos
+ Blog + Videos equation. The equation image is too cluttered and made my mind
wander off into other directions.

~~~
dzohrob
thanks. we're testing different versions o fthe front page, and this is the
one that's done the best from CPC ads... though i found it less informative. i
thought #1 would do better, but it doesn't perform as well.

for those who are curious, try <http://readr.com/?ver=1> .

~~~
dzohrob
and to save the rest of the curious folks time:

<http://readr.com/?ver=0> <http://readr.com/?ver=1> <http://readr.com/?ver=2>
<http://readr.com/?ver=3>

just trying out different things to see how they perform.

~~~
greendestiny
Fascinating, version 2 looks like it should be the best... Maybe if you did
version 2 but with the large images of version 3, because the sample stuff
down the bottom _really_ shows off what you're about.

Either way, love it, signing up now, stick with this because I think you have
a shot at going big or being bought out early by someone like yahoo (I figure
with google's recent announcement they'll stick with makamaka for a while).

~~~
dzohrob
Thanks for the comments. Much appreciated.

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far33d
I've been using for a few weeks now and I think it rocks... Great way to
aggregate friend related feeds from around the web.

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tx
I did get it. How exactly are you different from 100+ other RSS
readers/aggregators? It is so incredibly easy to aggregate anything form the
web today that I simply miss your value proposition.

~~~
dzohrob
to you and the others who have asked: how many regular, non-geek people do you
know who know what RSS is? my count: 0. they might use My Yahoo!, but they
don't know what RSS is. there was a study by yahoo from awhile ago [1] that
stated that 12% of internet users are _aware_ of RSS, and 4% have _knowingly
used it_. my bet is that those numbers have hardly shifted; have you seen a
marketing campaign for RSS recently?

my goal is not to win over geeks, but to make RSS easy and useful for regular
people, who have no idea what it is or why they should care about it.

[1]
([http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&ct=res&cd=2&url=h...](http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&ct=res&cd=2&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpublisher.yahoo.com%2Frss%2FRSS_whitePaper1004.pdf&ei=eiboRr_4BpGggAP3m_m1Bg&usg=AFQjCNGwGhyII_1alIcvQHRmBsQJAuSf8w&sig2=o4K0C05hyp9a5KS0gAHdAw))

~~~
tx
Valid point. However, NewsGator, FeedBurner and FeedReader are all well aware
of that fact. I've been part of a consumer-grade RSS startup myself. We were
trying really hard to educate users (we made a big deal about it) we've been
trying to avoid using RSS word, we had web-version (like yours), we had IE
plugin and FireFox plugin (!), but ultimately came short of inventing a
working business model. Too much competition, too few customers. My startup
survived (switched to business customers) and I believe you're coming to the
market too late.

------
Leon
Well, it looks nice to me. While the service sounds good, I'm not sure I'd use
it. I still use a lot of the surrounding features of the social sites when
checking updates - it's usually done such that I can quickly respond to
something and not have to log in during the switch from finding out and
responding.

What about customization? Can I change the look of the site to mirror maybe
one of those services or something I would prefer? I say this mostly because a
lot of those services listed offer that ability and it is well used by many
users with accounts on those other sites.

Still, I like it, kind of like a google feadburner for social sites. Actually,
what different are you doing other than an rss/atom aggregator?

If I could use those accounts from your site I would probably use it more
often than all the others. Even with minimal functionality of use imported
from those other sites.

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geofharries
Designer nitpicking...

There's weak contrast between elements. Your logo, three images, sub-headings
and call to action are all nearly the same size (freakin' HUGE). Instead,
decide which element is the most important and create a visual funnel down or
across the page to and from it. Guide the user, don't yell at them.

The general alignment is off. Using centered text throughout the page makes
your eye jump abruptly from one line to the next. I suggest instead left-
aligning everything except the images and their sub-headings (Photos, Blogs,
Videos). This will make them easier to scan and comprehend.

Finally, use some proximity. The current layout is stating that every element
is related when, really, they aren't. Each serves different purposes so
separate your content into their own unique spaces.

Hope this helps.

------
tojileon
"Makers of fine websites since 2007?" Write it only in 2057. Soy Division >>
About "This is an example of a WordPress page, you could edit this ..."

I would recommend to get all these right before launching a product. It's all
about user's trust.

~~~
dzohrob
it's a joke.

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gersteni
The images are a bit fuzzy looking. Also, the tagline is a bit of a mouthful.
How about: "All of your friend's updates all in one place" instead of "Readr
delivers your friends' latest updates from around the Web.

~~~
dzohrob
thanks for the feedback.

~~~
gersteni
All in all it seems like a pretty reasonable idea. It makes a lot of sense to
aggregate all this info into one place.

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german
I agree in that version 1 looks much better, maybe because of the picture. I
think it would look better using version 1 image and tag line with the learn
more and join now! links.

About design, you should change the headers hover background color (I just
can't read the text when it's hovered). One last thing, don't use the stile
tag in HTML elements, that kind of code is very difficult to maintain, use
your stylesheet instead.

Congratulations about your site!

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fad
Have you heard of rss? ;) But your right: normal people propably don't use
stuff like rss. But now you have to make these people discover your site and
the need for it.

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mikesabat
I like the idea and think that the design is clear. Your goal is to facebook-
ize the Internet. This seems similar to facebook notifiers in their ecosystem.

What do you think your is your biggest challenge? I think it will be very hard
to get a critical mass without FB jumping on the idea and opening up their
ecosystem to the entire Internet. That is always where I thought they are
headed.

Good Luck.

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asdflkj
Great idea, but the site is ugly. This is probably the worst non-animated
thing I have ever seen on the web:
<http://readr.com/images/verify_email.png?1189560575>

~~~
dzohrob
Is it the boldness?

[http://images.apple.com/home/2007/images/ipod_title_20070905...](http://images.apple.com/home/2007/images/ipod_title_20070905.gif)

~~~
asdflkj
Even if we ignore for a second the fact that the Apple slogan takes 4.25" on
my screen while your thing takes 10.5", there is this: you are not introducing
the best iPods ever. You are asking the user to perform a very trivial stage
in the registration procedure. If the font boldness, and not that, was the
first thing that came to mind, I suggest hiring someone else to do the design.

If I sound spiteful, it's because I'm envious. The thought of making a meta-
social-network crossed my mind, but it never occurred to me why anyone would
want to use it, especially at the start. Feeds! Duh.

~~~
dzohrob
okay, you got me -- i'll admit it: i spent 30 seconds making the graphic, and
.5 seconds looking at it. maybe i'll change it. i'm not a designer, and i
didn't think it was worth my time.

but i would guess from our verification rates that it's not turning too many
folks (besides you and the 3 who upmodded you?) away. who knows... maybe i'll
do some a/b testing and see if it makes a difference.

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aaroneous
I totally agree with the other two posters. This could make a useful blog
widget, or a clever facebook app, but as a stand-alone site I wouldn't use it.

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samwise
better off as a widget than a full site. best of luck

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myoung8
Does it integrate with Facebook? If it doesn't I have no reason to use
it...and I imagine a lot of people outside the TC50K won't either...

~~~
dzohrob
It integrates with facebook status updates. nothing else yet, though we're
definitely considering a lot of options.

~~~
jraines
That's pretty cool -- I like to check those outside facebook, but right now
they are junking up my RSS reader

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8en
I'm just impressed that you managed to snag the url Readr. I think that alone
might be worth a few thousand users. :)

~~~
mattm
Can you make the text bigger?! Just kidding.

I think it's a great idea. My first impression was "What is this?" in a
curiousity way that I wanted to learn more. Then the Learn More link explained
things very clearly.

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rokhayakebe
One question. How did you get the domain name?

~~~
dzohrob
a combination of boredom at a job, and snapnames.

~~~
rms
Congratulations. Have you had this name for a while or was it a recent
expiration?

~~~
dzohrob
i've had it for about a year. the idea for this site has been kicking around
for a long time, but it's taken me this long to actually use the domain. :)

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sharpshoot
its plaxo pulse minus plaxo

