Ask HN: Please review my Twitter dating app ;) | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: Please review my Twitter dating app ;)

plentyoftweeps.com

26 pointsloquace28 comments

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.

That's an oft-repeated request I get. Sounds like it's about time that I took the hint. :) Thanks for the feedback.

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.

I think it needs to be visible like buttons are

Noted, thanks.

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.

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

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.

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

Agree. I didn't notice it the first time, and when I went back to look for it, it was the second-last thing I noticed before the main area (list of members who recently joined).

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/

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

Doing that as we speak. :)

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?

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.

The newest members list is 100% male :\

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.

"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?

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.)

"... 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.

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.

It also rhymes with peeps which is short for people :)

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

The thing i liked most in the site

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

Great Start Guyz..Now Start Iterating..

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

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?

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.

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.

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