Review my app: GroupDocs.com – Share, View, Sign, Compare and Convert Documents | Hacker News Reader

Review my app: GroupDocs.com – Share, View, Sign, Compare and Convert Documents

groupdocs.com

19 pointscodeporting15 comments

Why did you choose to copy http://simple.com/ ?

I don't think the design really fits your service.

Hi Zach, Thanks for taking the time to comment, This is the first version of our website, which was put together under a very tight deadline. We're in the process of completely redesigning the look and feel of the site (and also the underlying apps), the new look should be live in the next 4-6 weeks. The new design is fully responsive and optimised for the majority of screen sizes, when we put it live I'll be sure to post up here to get some more feedback :) Cheers, Derek

The landing page for your app is visually appealing, but it focuses on features instead of value. The closest thing to a value statement that appears above the fold on your site is this: "Our easy to use collaboration platform has been built to allow you to work with your documents how you want and need them." But even this statement is quite vague.

If you can answer the following question in the first screen of your landing page, you'll make it easier for potential customers to become actual customers: "How will this app make my life better?"

I'd be happy to help you answer that question for your customers: http://www.hnofficehours.com/profile/philipmorg/

Hey, real nice landing page. There's a bit of confusion in that your example doc is a tax form (which isn't typically a document you would collaborate on). Some users may be confused into thinking this is a rightsignature/echosign alternative.

Also - I'd probably add an about us page. Might just be me, but websites without an identity make me skeptical why the site was created. I see you guys have posted a blog post but adding something about yourselves can't hurt - especially when you're planning on dealing with people's sensitive info (again - going off the tax form example).

When did you launch this? There's a ton of functionality here - seems pretty well built out.

I'm confused by the sign-up form. "Just in-case I ever forget my password, my email address is..."

yet an e-mail address is required for logging in. Seems like it's more than "just in-case...".

Hi There, Thanks for taking the time to comment, the new design has a more standard registration form as part of the overall design. Cheers, Derek

I don't have time to test the actual app right now (it seems like a great service). So my only review could be about the front page, which is pretty, but the features animation (images fading & sliding in) is not implemented well. the previous image fades very slowly and for no apparent reason, every time a new image slides in, my browser lags (it could be my browser though; Safari 5.2 beta).

Also, I think your sample documents are not good examples of what your app can do, and a couple of them (1st, 2nd) are kinda low resolution.

I agree... cut out the animation, its too distracting and just as you start to read one page it changes to the next, I would recommend a clean, concise tab that explains what features the app has and why I would want to start using it

Hi There, Thank you both for your comments, this was something that we also flagged to be removed in the new design. GroupDocs marketing website v2.0 definitely wont have any distracting auto-scrolling moments. Cheers, Derek

Cool, yeah I actually tried clicking on one of the screens without realizing it was just an image, would be cool to have a screen where you can start interacting with right away.. good luck with your endeavor

That's actually something that I was thinking about doing, allowing users to play with the interface without actually creating an account, similar to what stripe do on their dashboard

Looks cool... technically, do you mind telling us how you handle parsing/processing the documents w/ your web viewer? Google docs, etc?

Can I use this to sign any document? (ie. in the same way that Preview allows you to sign documents now in Lion).

Hi there, thanks for you comment, currently the signature app operates by providing a platform for handling the full e-signature process, in a similar fashion to echosign and rightsignature.

Why do i need to specifically use groupdocs.com? Atleast 3 answers please.

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