

Ask HN: Please review my Twitter dating app ;) - loquace
http://plentyoftweeps.com/

======
daok
It should have a section that explain how it works because I do not understand
how does it works. I have not joined because I simply do not understand.
Screenshots, video and some explication text would be a good start to have
people sign-up.

~~~
loquace
By the way daok, did you notice the "Learn more" link? Did you click and read
that and find that page not useful enough? Or did you not notice that link at
all?

Just trying to get an idea of if that link is visible but the info inadequate,
or if the link is not even noticeable at all.

~~~
FreeRadical
I think it needs to be visible like buttons are

~~~
loquace
Noted, thanks.

~~~
Vindexus
I'd suggest changing it from a text link to a colorful call to action button.
Try testing "Learn More", "How it Works" and "Take a Tour". You get the idea.

~~~
loquace
I just put a new button up now. Better or worse?

~~~
thamer
I hadn’t seen it before you put that button, but it’s the first thing I’ve
clicked on, very visible.

At first I didn’t get the link to twitter, why you would use it to identify
users... but it is actually a good idea. As opposed to a made-up page on a
dating website that is just full of random claims, your users have a chance to
show what they are about and what their recent life has been about. I think
this is very valuable.

Just a few things. Your home page is now full of men. You might want to tweak
your display to get 50% of each sex. Also, the central and right column
display the same thing. You could have the most recent events in the middle
and the newcomers on the right only, for example.

One last thing: Customize you link colors. I’m also not a big fan of your
color scheme, but that might be just me. “How it works” and “FEATURED” are a
bit hard to read because of low contrast. Look at the color schemes of
match.com and plentyoffish.com: light blue, light green, and pink. It’s a good
thing that you’re different, but there might be a common reason behind their
similar choices.

Your “get started” and “how it works” buttons have text-decoration: underline
on hover, you might want to remove that to match the top tabs that don’t.

~~~
loquace
Great feedback. And glad that the button is more visible now. Thanks thamer.

------
tyweir
A little love from al3x: <http://twitter.com/al3x/status/6093589335> "Fun
fact: I was thinking about building a dating site before I joined Twitter.
Neat to see projects like <http://plentyoftweeps.com/>

------
steveeq1
Use AB testing, try a bunch of minor, but easy-to-do changes and evolve the
product over time. This works, trust me.

~~~
loquace
Doing that as we speak. :)

------
csytan
I'm impressed with the design =). I like how the right column is used as a per
page FAQ.

A few minor suggestions:

\- Consider merging or ditching one of the two taglines. The site becomes
easier to read if the eye doesn't have to jump around.

\- When a user is not signed in, there are 3 buttons in the nav bar which lead
to twitter login. It may be a good idea to remove them or add example content
for guests.

\- The "Get Started" link is really a "Log in" link. This could be confusing.

All in all, great work! Especially for a little over two months development
time. I'm curious, how are you marketing the site?

~~~
loquace
Wow, great feedback, thanks csytan! And I think you just gave me an idea for
what to do about those 3 navbar buttons before the user has logged.

Marketing it organically right now. Talking to bloggers, gradually spreading
our PageRank wings, etc. Have experimented with some paid advertising, but
it's pretty expensive for a dating site.

------
chaosmachine
The newest members list is 100% male :\

------
loquace
Been scratching this itch of mine for about 2.5 months now. Aiming for the
easiest-to-use dating site UI on Planet Earth. Constructive criticism welcome.

------
bootload
_"Newest Members"_

Is there anything stopping the location having a hyperlink linking to a page
with people by location? I like the authorisation using oauth - the simplest
way for existing twitter users to sign-up. Do you think it's worth adding your
own authorise system or are you sticking with using Twitter authorisation?

~~~
loquace
Good point in linkifying city names. (There and other places, probably.)

Sticking exclusively with Twitter for now, though may consider making it easy
for non-Twitter users to jump right in too (like Zoosk makes it easy to join
without using FB.)

~~~
bootload
_"... Sticking exclusively with Twitter for now ..."_

Great strategy. I noticed @joshu and <http://a.tinythread.com> use this idea
making authentication simple without the login hurdle.

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crad
For what it's worth, the first thing I thought of, from a naming perspective
is "Tweeps" is very close to "Creeps." It was a very quick jump from reading
"Plenty of Tweeps" to hearing "Plenty of Creeps" in my head.

~~~
loquace
Heh, funny, you're actually that second person that has told me that.

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prabodh
The thing i liked most in the site

"Conceived Aug '09. Launched Oct '09. "

Great Start Guyz..Now Start Iterating..

~~~
loquace
Oh yeah. Iterating my brains out to the tune of about 2-3 releases a day right
now. :)

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dnsworks
Have you spoken to a trademark/copyright lawyer about any potential
infringement and/or brand confusion claims that PlentyOfFish.com will
inevitably bring up against you?

~~~
loquace
Thought about it, and have no reason to feel concern. In the worst case, the
expression "plenty of fish [in the sea]" was around long before the
Intertubes, let alone the PoF website.

~~~
bhousel
Repeat after me: Trademark != Patent

It doesn't matter at all that the phrase was in use before. What matters is
that you are offering a service that is similar enough to cause confusion.
People could reasonably think that you are associated with Plenty Of Fish,
because the name is similar and both your services involve internet dating.

I'd seriously consider changing names. They make several million dollars a
year and trademark law pretty much requires that they vigorously defend the
mark.

