Ask HN: Is it clear what we do? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: Is it clear what we do?

4 pointslgmspb32 comments

Hello HN,

We've recently allowed a public access to our product https://staply.co/

Is it clear what Staply is from our landing page?

Visually the blue buttons on the teal gradient doesn't go well, and your top menu links blend into the background image too much, also the gradient on your image "All those files" makes it unreadable.

Concept wise, I like the idea I just don't myself using it as a stand alone app. Would be more interesting if you could hook it into existing chat software to create interactive archives.

Thank you for the feedback.

We personally use Staply together with other instant messengers/chats and use it more like a shared folder. So like i share files(and discuss them a bit) in Staply but discuss daily routine in IM.

I agree. I get what it does but i don't like the overall color scheme.

On first glance I wasn't entirely sure if it was an integration (into gmail, for example) or a standalone product.

As I scrolled down the page I started to think it was a standalone product, but then there seemed to be this chat-centric layout which just confused me (as I'm used to dropbox where most of the real-estate is occupied by the files and their meta data). And then my mind went back to "wait...why am I logging with a google account?... maybe it is just a plugin for Gchat or something...thus the unbranded chat-centric layout...

Then I kept scrolling and the next section clarified things. But then I left the page thinking "My team shares gigabyes of files, thousands of them...how could I possibly store all that stuff this way, with a chat log that goes on for miles?" So I lost interest.

Hope that helps.

Thank you very much. That is a very insightful way of providing feedback.

Staply is not made for teams, it is a much simpler tool made for regular people who just want to share and discuss files in a group.

Now they have to use FB chat, shared folders, email or even tools for teams and we want to make the whole process easier and more enjoyable for them. Especially when it comes to finding and understanding files/links that were sent previously.

When I landed on staply.co, I did not know what the site about so was not immediately able to understand the description on first page. "A better way to share files and links ....", I personally liked the sentence on the second page, "Instead of email and shared folders use Staply when you want to share files and find them later. ".

Thank you for the feedback, I now understand that we should make the tagline more specific.

It looks like a chat/im web client with robust file and link support. It reminds me of Slack at first glance (http://slack.com)

Also, you have a typo on your page:

> Attach it. Send it. Never loose it.

change "loose" to lose.

Stupid mistake... Thanks!

Slack is a complex tool made for teams of developers and we are a more lightweight solution, made for regular people, with a focus on file sharing and file organization.

Suggest a quick demo/prom video. Problems solved, how it works, etc... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OFb0NaeRmdg

Thanks, that is a great example.

Instead of the picture in the first slide, could you put the screenshot from the second slide? Maybe it will be more clear than just "A better way to share files and links".

I am planning to put a video there :)

I don't usually bother watching videos, I don't have the time to waste especially when it's something that isn't a pressing need / major paint point for me.

I just want to figure out what the service is about and whether it's worth my time as soon as possible so I can bounce / explore further.

So IMO the screenshot would be much better and less expensive / difficult for you to produce!

Just thought may be an autoplay video/gif screenshot would fit there well. Thank you for pointing that out.

There is one thing I don't get with your product actually, why would a team need it instead of keeping using whatever chat or messaging system they are currently using and putting links to google docs or shared drive on it?

Maybe I am not getting what your app is about after all...

Staply is not made for teams :) It is more for freelancers/student/speakers/... for all kinds of their use cases when they need to share several files and links with a group of people and have a context of who shared what when and why.

Nowadays they get a link in some cloud storage send it via email that you loose it and if you want to add one more person into the discussion it becomes messy. Or they use FB chat that doesn't work in many cases. etc.

Clickable link: https://staply.co/

So, it's like chatrooms where you can upload files?

Thanks for a clickable link ;) We see Staply as something like a shared folder with annotations. It is made specifically for file-sharing and it gives you a possibility to add context to the files you share.

Later it is possible to filter out just files and in one click get to the place where they was discussed.

No. My first thought was "Will you misuse my personal details if I sign in with google?"

Thank you for your comment, we are requiring minimum info from you Google account (we have this option for the sake of convenience) and you can always sign up with just an email.

It's not immediately obvious, but I've seen much worse landing pages.

Thank you, what do you think can be obviously improved?

Is it just me? or I see this website over and over and oooover again? :/

We try to collect as much feedback as possible ;)

BTW what so you think about the landing page/product itself?

no, not really. file sharing and group chat, i suppose, but it's not clear what makes it special.

Thanks, I guess we'll have add something like "features" page.

Basically other solutions are made for teams, they are complex and have a lot to setup. Staply is simple and made for all kind of groups.

Moreover we focus not only on real time sharing. We've made it super easy to find and understand content that was shared even few months ago.

clickable link: https://staply.co/

Evernote with chat?

Hm, interesting. We prefer to put it as Dropbox shared folder+messenger.

I don't think of Dropbox as handling both bookmarks and files. (it may..) the URLS in the chat made me think of Evernote.

Interesting, thanks for the idea. I'll test it :)

Reply on news.ycombinator.com