[sischoel]

That looks like a great thing to me. One thing that bothers me though is that you have to hand over your full name and email address before you can even see what functionality this website provides. I would prefer if there was some kind of guest access or at least some screenshots of the interface.

[_JasonE]

"Add courses to your profile from our catalog" I'd need to see these before signing up. The picture of the books on the shelf seems to imply you can use MOOCs from popular sites but "our catalog" sounds proprietary.

[johnnyodonnell]

This is something I can add. Our catalog currently consists of all courses from Coursera, edX, Udacity, Udemy, and The Great Courses! Maybe I should also fix that wording as well.

[_JasonE]

Ahh I see. Then I would use something closer to what you just wrote there:

Works with Coursera, EdX, Udacity, The Great Courses, and Udemy courses.

I'd actually recommend changing the tagline on the site, as well, to be more clear: "Find the perfect study buddy for all your Coursera, EdX, and Udacity courses."

[johnnyodonnell]

I like that. I think I may have to use that.

[nerdponx]

Our catalog currently consists of all courses from Coursera, edX, Udacity, Udemy, and The Great Courses

Just put that sentence on your site.

It would also be helpful to see "class sizes" for a given course. I don't want to sign up only to find after the fact that nobody is taking the same course as me.

[johnnyodonnell]

I like that copy as well.

Having class sizes is a great idea. I'll have to look into adding that.

[johnnyodonnell]

This is something I can work on. Screenshots are something I could easily add. Would it help if I put some screenshots on the home page?

Guest access would be a bit hard, but definitely doable as well.

[agracey]

I think it's a really cool service to offer and I could see it really helping a lot of people. Here's my thoughts on it.

The main webpage is possibly too minimal. While minimalism is nice, as it sits currently, it gives the appearance of "not done yet". I would recommend adding more explanation about what a user would expect, maybe some screenshots, user reviews, etc.

It likely feels trivial as the creator but keep in mind that you know a lot more about your service (and your vision) than your users do. The goal of your landing page should be to bridge that gap. This all needs to be done without adding any extra work for your users (including filling out forms).

Hopefully that helps a bit?

[johnnyodonnell]

That helps a lot. This is something that I haven't been keeping in mind. Great suggestions for what to do with the landing page and also some of the best advice for framing how I should think about how a user will see that first page. Much appreciated!

[sischoel]

I think it would help, you could also have a link to a separate page where you show screenshots and how it works if you want to keep your landing page minimal.

It's just a trust issue, not in particular with you, but if I come across a website that wants my email address but doesn't clarify what if offers in return, I'm hesitant in giving up that information.

Also it is not clear to me, if my full name would be shared with other users of that page. I certainly don't want my new employer to know that I'm looking for a study buddy for "Java 101" right after accepting that offer for a senior position :)

[johnnyodonnell]

Ahh yes, very true :) A lot of good points. Thank you for the feedback!

[balladeer]

Also, the assumption that everyone wants to share their last name, or that every one has a last name is erroneous. Some people really don't have a last name (esp. the place I am from there are lots of people with just one name). You might want to change the form to just a "Name" or make last name optional. Unless of course you are legally required to not do so.

[johnnyodonnell]

You don't have to share your actual last name. Pseudonyms are fine. I didn't think about the case where someone doesn't have a last name. I might need to do something about that.