bgriggs1

We've got one cooking at http://www.appnowgo.com. We'll be in open-beta very soon.

I'd love to know the logic behind using the "ears" metaphor. Is the assumption that their users don't completely get why a web form is needed or useful? Seems like a stretch that made my brain stop trying to understand the metaphor.

Here's a useful comparative demo that makes this a little easier to differentiate: http://alexsexton.com/inheritance/demo/

The easiest way to get better is to keep asking the following question, over an over again:

"What can I remove from this interface to simplify it?"

Sure, but the flip side is the incredible day-to-day flexibility you have to engage in whatever interests or random fun activities that pop up. I can easily take afternoons and days off, or sleep in until 11 if I want.

I like your thinking- you should trust it.

Select a HUGE market that interests you and do something disruptive. Your youth, resources, and lack of risk make the timing perfect.

Couldn't agree more about putting it up now. It's such a minimal resource commitment, and you get to leverage any traffic/press with an incredibly valuable resource: interested users!

We got 400 beta users from a tech-crunch mention on a pretty minimal "teaser" beta page. Even though we lost some momentum by not being able to launch immediately with those users, it's been great to release waves of beta invites as we iterate.

That would be fantastic. http://www.sitestrux.com/work brandon(at)sitestrux.com

Thanks!

Awesome response, thanks a bunch!

Why not move the "How Bookhu works" box to the top left? It doesn't seem like you need full width for the book scroller.

For the book scroller, shouldn't you add some functionality there inherent to Bookhu, like the ratings? It just has descriptions right now, which makes it look simply like a catalog.

I would venture that the "inherent" skills (i.e. skills that can't simply be learned) are those that separate the truly good anything, whether it is a designer, developer, or basketball player. Maybe the term there is "talent"?

Agreed- devoting yourself to anything will adjust your perspective. But I'm not sure that alone can explain super dork programmers or really off-the-wall designers? There's something more fundamental there.

It's an interesting tangent- how much crossover is there in the inherent skills of a developer and designer?

I use those terms from a pretty elitist graphic-design view. Of course anyone with a knowledge of tools can 'create' something. But the good graphic designers I know are so much more than their tool set- they are just different breeds of people. After immersing yourself in that world it changes your perspective.

There are two types of graphic designers- creators and copiers.

Creators create original work and ideas, and can synthesize a wide range of influence, tools, and trends to get exactly what they need.

You will never be a creator.

But there's no reason why anyone can't be a copier. There are enough resources to easily help with every aspect of graphic design. Find something you like and try to incorporate a similar effect into your design.

Start with taking a few moments to keep tabs on Smashing Magazine (http://www.smashingmagazine.com/).

The golden rule of UI: never sacrifice usability. Those fonts might look interesting and add to the overall aesthetic, but the smaller versions are virtually unreadable on my machine.

I agree about clarity. The headphones image makes me initially think music service with social features, and I felt like I had to interpret all the bullet points just to figure out what it was.

The logo is a little distracting. Am I missing the connection of what the orange circle/triangle mark is supposed to suggest? Plus your eye tends to follow triangles (arrows), and this one is leading to left into nothing.

The screen shot is nice, and the colors and the design of the UI look like much better choices than the dated blues and greens.

FAQ is your best page- clear and focused. The features is too distracted by the right column. Does download need a testimonials column that looks so similar to the two download packages?

I know this has nothing to do with the product itself, but we all know marketing is just as (more?) critical.

One other note- I know you are going for MVP, but don't completely through branding out the window.

Where's the logo? Even if you don't have one, let's at least get the name somewhere above the fold. And it's a good name.

I would consider defining the BlackBerry requirement immediately. Yes, I see the image, but why wouldn't I think you're just using that as a default phone image? You're risking high frustration if they don't catch the supported platforms note.

As far MVP, if it works and you can start exploring product/market fit with rapid iterations (add more lean buzzwords here)...then of course!