

Ask HN: Review my startup, NewsQast - local news, weather, traffic, and more - daneuman

NewsQast is a local news, weather, traffic, and more aggregation service meant to provide a broader news experience across all media markets sourced to the consumer via multiple channels.<p>Some Background:
NewsQast started as just a mobile app concept that would replace the need to have 4 or 5 different news apps on my phone by aggregating the news into one app. Then based on initial feedback from a few people, it was recommended that this could be valuable across multiple channels, thus I am expanding to provide news information via the web, mobile apps, and Twitter feeds.<p>I have completed a beta version of the website to give the public a glimpse of the NewsQast concept. I am working on the mobile app and Twitter integration as we speak.<p>Request:
I would like to ask the Hacker News community to provide me feedback on the concept and usefulness of the service.  I am not a designer so I know the web design could use more graphical work, but I would like more validation and feedback on the concept and approach before getting too far down the line.<p>URL: http://www.newsqast.net/<p>Thanks for the feedback.
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japhyr
When I visit a landing page, I want to know quickly what it's about. There is
some excess wording - How about changing "Are you like me and..." to "Do
you..."

I don't know that I'd use this, but I could see the usefulness if I looked at
a few more news sources on a regular basis. If I used this, I would want the
source links on the left to do something different. When I click on "WCBS-TV",
I want the results on the right to filter so that I only see the news items on
WCBS. I don't want to see a whole list of items from the sources you have
selected.

To clarify, replace the source links on the left with a checklist. I can check
three sources, and the feed only contains items from those sources. Now this
becomes my news feed for NY instead of me looking at your news feed for NY.

~~~
japhyr
Landing page - shorter "Do you" lead ins will let you increase font size,
making it easier to see what the site does instantly.

Replace the text links with buttons - if you have made the newsqast concept
clear in the lead ins, you don't need to say what the locale links do. Just
make a grid of buttons with large text - Austin Chicago New York. As a
visitor, I can see what clicking on the NY button will do. The last button
could be "request a market near you". That would let you build a potential
user list as well. Right now, the biggest link is the google chrome link. Your
locales should be that big, and that appealing to click on.

Last, I like the sketch idea. Just simplify it a little. Just keep the (news
weather traffic)->(newsqast)->(web mobile twitter)->(happy user) parts, and
give them more breathing room.

Good luck!

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daneuman
Thanks for the feedback, I knew the landing page wasn't great. I like the
recommendation by japhyr to use the sources as filter items so a user can
tailor the view to their interest.

In terms of landing page, would you rather see a list of buttons with the
available locations or I was thinking of having a map that highlights the
areas covered and allow a user to click on a pin or popup link over an area
when they hover over it. Then it would be 'Get news, weather...etc' and a map
with locations or a list of buttons with locations.

I also like the idea of submitting personal zipcodes to weigh the demand for
locations not already setup.

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ryankals
I really like the idea that you want to consolidate all these categories into
a central hub. Like others said earlier, the landing page info is a bit too
much. Perhaps you could try using shorter sentences and keep it to 1-2
paragraphs (1 being preferable).

An upvote system would be incredibly useful also. I don't really care about
some of the news generated at the top and I'd like to look at what others
found useful. Just my thoughts - good luck to ya!

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hatfieej
My two cents...There's a lot to read. I'd expect the home page to say that you
can "Get local news, weather, traffic and deals" and a place to enter your zip
to see if it's in your area. Your option are then to either signup or be
notified when their city is available. I won't think to "check back often", so
you should immediately want to capture interested users on their initial
visit.

