77 karma · joined September 15, 2008
try user accounts so i don't have to type in my zip code every search. and so i can save certain searches.
and a really killer feature would be if i searched for 'desktop computer' the category searched was automatically set to 'computers/tech'
thanks!
A couple tips:
* Make the writing on your blog (and your other pages) more colloquial. And enable comments on your blog. Feedback is incredibly valuable to a newly formed company.
Example on the main page: "For over seven years, Matter has developed 'better experiences' in products and services. Perq comes from our own fruitless search..."
should be: "Perq was inspired by our own need..."
* Not so much text on the main page. As another commenter said, I don't want to see a list of every feature that you provide. If I'm interested in your product after the first page then I'll want to see a detailed feature list.
* Take the pop-up that comes up when you click "View Details" on the Tour page, and embed it into the page. Put it front and center and let all of the other text fall below it. It's very close to a demo and it speaks much louder than pure text.
* On the homepage, everything below the masthead feels superfluous because it's so bright and small.
def shuffle(x):
for i in reversed(xrange(1, len(x))):
j = int(random() * (i+1))
x[i], x[j] = x[j], x[i]
All the way down to the second to last element, which has the chance to be exchanged with itself or the first element.
This is exactly how the good Knuth shuffle algorithm works, right?
I've been kind thinking of making something with Canvas. I didn't know it had this potential. Thanks for sharing!
mouse over each part of your regular expression to see what it does
It's Steven.
First, there's the simple privacy issue. If a professor told me to install a keylogger on my computer or if she told me to use etherpad to write an essay - either way I'd feel like my privacy was being violated.
Then there's the practical issue of how this system would affect writing ability. I personally do my best writing when I'm able to ignore the critic in my head and focus on the words. Being self-conscious about someone seeing all the stupid things I wrote along the way would make it much more difficult to get into this state of concentration.
Finally, there's the issue of making teacher's not only read two dozen boring essays but also watch replays of them being written. I personally think their time could be better spent.
Get rid of the b&w stock image on the homepage.
Keep wording consistent: change "Complete our simple registration" to "Complete our simple sign-up form". On the registration page, change the "register" button to "Sign Up!"
Keep your logo in the top left corner of all your pages. It's nice that it gets out of the user's way after moving off of the homepage, but it's confusing.
Use a feedback form like the one on slacker.com (i.e. omnipresent) -- you'll be much more likely to get good feedback that way.
I really like the homepage design, but the content in the center of the page should be simpler and draw in users' attention (e.g. http://pixtures.s3.amazonaws.com/misc/mingle-process.jpg). You can offer a detailed explanation of your service after the user signs up -- or on the "see how it works" page... Or even just a little lower on the homepage.
Your homepage actually convinced me to sign up, but the "On your way to the MingleWeek" page is just plain daunting. So much text. No images. No simple instructions. Too much work before I'm able to see a reward. After I confirm my email address I should be taken to a page titled "Upload Your Photo" (i.e. no "Create Some Portraits") and there should be a big "upload" button in the center of my field of vision. While the homepage is really inviting, the pages after sign-up are less than inspiring.
The "Make a First Impression" page is cool. Make it easier to submit content. Don't even bother having multiple fields under the "Music" tab (i.e. Song, Musician, Album). Keep it simple: "Song Name" is enough. People will write "Song Name - Artist Name" in a single text field if they're so inclined. I would also suggest making all of the tabs omnipresent (e.g. http://pixtures.s3.amazonaws.com/misc/getting-to-know-you.jp...).
"Terms and Conditions, coming soon!" heh :)
P.S. Try to find a way to encourage a friendly atmosphere and community. That's why people visit social websites: the community. I would invite some of my friends to your service if there was a more compelling reason than "As the FlowMingle community grows, so do the number of people you can choose from." It seems like what you're trying to do is make a site geared more towards friends casually hanging out, having fun, and getting to know each other -- and I think that's great. Formal dating is overrated.
Cool concept. Good luck.
Question. Why did we (human beings) spend so many resources and so much effort developing the LHC when it seems obvious that a comparable amount of effort and resources could have dramatically improved our way of life?
I mean, if people didn't have to work for a living, wouldn't we see like a ten-fold increase in people pursuing the arts and sciences?
Btw, I've thought the same thing about fast food chains for a while.
One of my dreams is to create a completely automated restaurant. Touchscreen menus embedded into each table. Food is prepared in the basement and rises up through the center of each table. The only thing actual humans would have to is feed the machines unprepared food :)
It's slogan could be:
Reliably tasty food
or
The same exact food made my the same machines every day
Maybe the problem is history. Maybe, if we were given the chance to start over and plan a brand new city from the ground up, we could eliminate a lot of unnecessary elements that currently occupy a lot of our time and energy.
Would it be possible -- with our current technology -- to build a giant, self-sustaining field of photovoltaic modules? Thousands of automated machines and robots could maintain and repair this system. Massive amounts of free power could effectively fuel a developing city.
And if our basic needs were taken care of, we could each start to focus on what matters to us, instead of what merely ensures our survival. I think it's about time for us humans, collectively, to move past worrying about having enough money for food and a place to live.
The search button is way too big. The text is too big. Shrink everything and fit more information on one page.
Maybe include some "Web links" on every page. Then right align the "More topics" and "More Web links" to the right so people know they're not ordinary links, but instead offer additional functionality.
Overall, I really like it. It looks like you lift a lot of information and links from wikipedia. I think this is a great idea.