I thought that since this author's startup is sorta a 'reddit for politics', I'll plug my own startup (currently self-funded) which is a 'chatroulette/duolingo for politics': https://dinnertable.chat/
Putting a log in requirement to even see what your app does may provide a filter on usage that you don't want.
While there may be advantages, I think you'd be hard pressed to overcome the drop off from potential users who will bounce.
Furthermore, you're not delivering a clear value proposition "JOIN THE CONVERSATION
you're invited to our dinner party beta". And then you have an ambiguous call to action "start login".
At no point are you giving the potential user a reason to even want to login. And then you're asking the user to overcome an email signup and confirmation flow before they even get to see what your product does. Consider the case where the product isn't what the potential user thought it was, now you've wasted their time, what good is their email signup?
Why not go for a progressive engagement flow? You can still require accounts, signup and login for continual use. However you could engage the user first, then make your email signup ask. Wouldn't that be more advantageous?
I took your feedback and added a guest login to the site to help reduce the bounce. I've also updated the banner with a better 1-liner about the platform.
So now dinnertable.chat has a simple progressive engagement flow, although it can still be polished a lot... but I'm hoping this will help.
Thanks again for all your feedback, and please do let me know if you have more! :]
The entry page needs a little work, particularly the top banner as you pointed out. It's a challenge and a delicate balance. I tried to provide as clear of an explanation on the front-page... do you feel you learned of the value proposition by reading the rest of the page below the banner?
I do like the idea of a progressive flow, but the tricky thing is reducing bots/trolls (+banned accounts) from entering back into the live debates.
Not OP, but I thought the body of your landing page did a good job explaining it. However as you suggest the top banner / header could be more impactful.
Ive recently been referring to this [0] landing page guide and one helpful principle is that, for banner header copy to be good, the reader should be able to know exactly what your product is by reading only your banner header
I think of it more as a system to help people improve their political reasoning. Too many people are stuck in bubbles, and 'reaching across the aisle' cannot be solved by just showing the "facts"... it needs to be an emotional journey best carried out through interpersonal connections. The question is... will people be willing to have these difficult conversations? I'll just have to see with this startup. heh
Cool, seems like it'd attract exactly the people who don't need it though. ;- )
I'll sign up I think!
Edit: While I was signing up, I tried copying the verification code from the email, and it copied with the period from the email, so when I pasted it into the site it didn't work. Maybe put a zero-width space in there (U+200B) or ditch the period altogether. ;- )
Edit 2: The "start login" page didn't work the first time around. In the console I saw a 404 status on something. When I refreshed, it redirected me to the right page though.
Give that signup and sign in flow a good test, I was almost ready to call it quits after trying a couple times!
Edit 3: The countdown clock is jumping around a bit. Turns out the font for the numbers (Montserrat) is proportional, and does not support OpenType tabular number variants (in CSS you select these with: { font-variant-numeric: tabular-nums; }), so the countdown clock tends to jump each time a second passes and it is updated. Maybe nitpicky but it bothers me.
Update: thanks again for all the suggestions! Here's what I've done...
re Edit) removed the period, hopefully that helps
re Edit 2) fixed the 404 issue: was a rare bug
User flow) I've now added Guest Pass login which will
improve user flow in areas. I'm curious what exactly are some of the flow issues you hit more specifically.
re Edit 3) I switched to a monospaced font for the timer :)
EDIT #A: I've made the "signup/login" banner button to navigate to the registration page (with option to see login) instead of the login page by default. This should a much better flow as most users clicking the button will be those registering. Thanks for the tip!
Another update: I've made the "signup/login" banner button to navigate to the registration page (with option to see login) instead of the login page by default. This should a much better flow as most users clicking the button will be those registering. Thanks for the tip!
"seems like it'd attract exactly the people who don't need it though"
I know you're joking a little, but aren't the people that hold incorrect beliefs exactly the type of people that need an emotional way to connect to others (the opposites) that are informed to resolve these differences? Often I find that people with strongly held views are able to reach small compromises via personal communication, rather than any counter facts/news. Whether this particular implementation/solution works, time will tell :)
> I know you're joking a little, but aren't the people that hold incorrect beliefs exactly the type of people that need an emotional way to connect to others (the opposites) that are informed to resolve these differences?
I agree whole-heartedly, and I've seen this happen a lot on Twitter (though clearly it is not the norm there, from what most people say). My point was more that you'll have to work pretty hard to find and attract people who actually need your platform, because being closed-minded is seemingly what got them into that mess in the first place.
Thanks for the feedback- super appreciated! The login/reg system is in need of an overhaul and is the next task on my list. Also, ya, the font choice has made the countdown timer finicky. heh
Thanks for the help, I'm not sure what you mean exactly by 'OpenType number variant' flicking, however I've since updated the countdown clock with a monospace font.
While there may be advantages, I think you'd be hard pressed to overcome the drop off from potential users who will bounce.
Furthermore, you're not delivering a clear value proposition "JOIN THE CONVERSATION you're invited to our dinner party beta". And then you have an ambiguous call to action "start login". At no point are you giving the potential user a reason to even want to login. And then you're asking the user to overcome an email signup and confirmation flow before they even get to see what your product does. Consider the case where the product isn't what the potential user thought it was, now you've wasted their time, what good is their email signup?
Why not go for a progressive engagement flow? You can still require accounts, signup and login for continual use. However you could engage the user first, then make your email signup ask. Wouldn't that be more advantageous?