

Please review my startup (again) - TimothyBurgess

A while back I asked for a site review and I got some very constructive feedback.  I honestly was not happy about it all at first but I'm glad I pushed my ego aside and listened... because my new landing page is a thousand times better than the first.<p>It took me a while to come up with something [relatively] concise... I probably spent a week just trying to come up with a way to explain all of the things my app does in as little time/words as possible (went through 5+ revisions)... while matching the current look/feel... and not being too cheesy.<p>As for a little background info on myself... I'm 23 and this is my first startup with no funding or guidance.  I've basically spent the past 7 months by myself glued to my computer with only my dog by my side and occasional contact with family.  I make a little money here and there doing some freelance odd jobs.  I'm just taking it as it goes and quite frankly I'm ready to move forwards because my current situation has grown incredibly stale and depressing.  I'd bet I'm far from alone in this kind of situation here on HN.  But I think it's time for me to really move forwards... live life and have fun again.<p>I came up with the idea behind this startup when I was a professional touring musician.  It takes care of all the boring, tedious number-crunching aspects to being a professional in the industry.  (In advance, the term "soundscans" is widely known among all serious touring bands in case anyone asks.)<p>With that said, please check out my startup and I would be so very grateful for any advice and guidance in moving forwards with this.  My main concerns are whether or not there are any security holes and/or crippling bugs.  (Edit: Small question... how many of you have to download a plugin to hear the music when clicking play? I'm trying to minimize the number of required plugins while supporting older browsers.)<p>I'm also wondering about a "terms of service" agreement.  Does anyone have any advice as to how to properly approach this?<p>And one last thing if anyone would be so kind... My laptop resolution only goes up to 1280x800 so if anyone with higher resolutions could let me know if it does okay I would very much appreciate it. I've also only tested the mobile version on my phone (Samsung Instinct) and my father's phone (first gen Droid)... so any input there is also greatly appreciated.<p>I'll include working links in a comment. (Side question: Why are working links not allowed in text submissions?)<p>Fullscreen:
http://www.rela.cc<p>Mobile:
http://m.rela.cc
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mmcdan
I really like the bottom toolbar as a design element. It drives home the point
that this is a full-featured web application. I also like that you have a
narrated video.

Suggestions: -Decrease(or remove) the outer blur/glow on the Rela Logo. It's
very distracting in my peripheral vision when trying to read the rest page.

-Instead of having each box title be "Rela...", make them more descriptive so that a band manager/artist would want to read.For example, instead of "Relay" put "Track Merchandise", instead of 'Relate" put "Manage Tours", instead of "Rely" put "Track Soundscans".

-Get rid of "Relational",and "Relax".

-The video is very complicated to me. Maybe have 1 overview video where you gloss over most of the features and focus only on the critical ones... maybe using a fictional band as an example? Then have your more detailed video as a tutorial.

-Consider a beta test group(with non-techie musicians/managers) to help refine the software workflow.

Overall, I think the front-page has information overload and over-relies on
the "Rela..." concept. You obviously know the market(serious musicians). If
you can make the landing page less cluttered and streamline the software
workflow a little, you have a good chance of having a winner.

~~~
TimothyBurgess
I added the glow to kind of simulate stage lights or whatever... something
bands can relate to. I may end up removing it or decreasing it as you've
suggested. Thanks! :)

As for the "REL-etc." stuff... in the first review, a couple of people asked
what "RELA" stands for... (I had nothing explaining it)... and I actually came
up with the name from all of those words so that's why I included them. I feel
they each explain all of the different aspects of the app pretty well. Does
that make sense or do you think I should still change it?

 _Maybe have 1 overview video where you gloss over most of the features and
focus only on the critical ones_

Those play buttons run through all of the critical features... did you click
one of those?

And as for the information overload, the app does a ton of stuff. How can I
properly explain what all it does concisely? I feel like I'd be leaving out a
ton of important features (that would reel in most people) in a super-concise
description.

------
us
Here's a 2560x1600 screenshot for you to review since you only see 1280x800:
<http://d.pr/WxxM>

There's a lot of things wrong with this landing page so take what I have to
say as best as you can without getting offended. Just want to be objective.

I can't stand the design. It's horrible. There are so many things wrong with
it that listing things that are okay would probably be a shorter list.

There is no strong objective on this page. I have to spend time scanning
around to try and figure out what it is you do and even then, the message
isn't concise. I hate that I have to click "more" to read the rest. Perhaps
this works well on a 1280x800 but it shouldn't be so on my screen. I also
don't like that all the info is so spread out.

I also dislike the fact that when I click on one of the play buttons, it
SLOWLY loads up what looks like powerpoint version web 0.5 and that I have to
wait for stuff to crawl across the screen to be able to read it. I read
extremely fast. Not having all the text there ready to go is annoying.

I'm sure I could continue to list a few more things but I hope this helps.

~~~
TimothyBurgess
OH WOW LOL thanks for the screenshot that looks hilarious! Nothing at all like
the lower resolutions. I wonder how many people browse at super high
resolutions though. Either way I'll definitely figure out a way to satisfy all
resolutions. I was just trying to go for something atypical... not a big fan
of the cookie cutter startup landing pages I see all over the place... but I
guess there's a good reason they all look similar.

As for the objective, this app does quite a bit and it's all fairly specific
so it's hard to narrow it down to a single concise tagline. I've tried to
highlight the main idea though in a number of places... which is basically to
make the lives of touring bands/management easier. How would you suggest I let
people know what all the app can do (it does a lot!!!) as concisely as
possible?

As for the presentation, it all goes by pretty fast on my resolution. I'd
guess the reason it seems like such a crawl is because your resolution is so
high. I'll figure out a fix for this as well.

This is how it looks on my resolution: <http://i.imgur.com/XmpRl.jpg>

------
TimothyBurgess
Fullscreen: <http://www.rela.cc>

Mobile: <http://m.rela.cc>

