Ask HN: Death by design, poor on-boarding or do we just smell?

[TheRealLogic]

We’d like to get some unbiased feedback (I know – there is no such thing) for our product – http://www.birdviewprojects.com

Our goal was to create an alternative to the typical entry-level project management systems like Basecamp, activeCollab, Smartsheet, etc.

We wanted our product to have a fresher approach: not your typical hierarchy or table view. So we spent over 2 years creating some really sophisticated features and UI elements.

However we’re not able to get any significant traction yet. So where do you think we went wrong: do we have too many features or too few? Is our interface an overkill? Do you think that a better on-boarding can help or we have to do something more dramatic?

Any feedback from our fellow startup’ers or just anyone with an opinion on this topic would be much appreciated!

[jefflinwood]

This looks way too complicated. The birds eye view might be your main feature, but it's visually unattractive, and very cluttered.

It looks like you have all the bones of a great app, but you need a great graphic design and a great user experience architect to take it to the next level.

I tried out your app, which was a nice touch, but it's not nearly as polished as BaseCamp. Even something as simple as a task view in Bird View Projects is completely confusing. Do I turn on the alert checkbox? Add a subtask? What is the difference between the clock and the $?

[TheRealLogic]

I think you're right. Because we're so close to the app, we know exactly what each icon means and how it should be used. And once someone gets past the learning curve, everything starts making sense, however I guess we're losing a lot of people who don't want to spend any time trying to guess what different elements are for.

[staunch]

Just an idea:

Figure out a single use-case you want to be The Best at (planning weddings, or whatever).

Delete (or at least hide) everything except the absolute bare minimum featureset necessary to be The Best at that.

Make the claim on your home page: The Best way to plan your wedding (or whatever).

Have a Weebly-simple sign up process (sign up form on home page). Let people dive in and get hooked ASAP.

Iterate based on feedback. Make 100 customers love you. Expand outside your niche if necessary.

[jiggity]

I would focus on just one aspect that you do uniquely well.

Take Rapportive's landing page: http://rapportive.com. They provide much, much more than just Twitter / Facebook widgets but they purposely restrict what they show. As a potential user, I see that one feature and decide it is cool enough for me to install.

Providing a single, simple, salient advantage I've found works much better than trying to market your solution as the all-in-one Swiss army knife.

What is the one cool feature that you feel differentiates your product?

[TheRealLogic]

If I had to choose only one feature, I'd choose our Bird's-Eye View, that shows you all your projects with key info and allows you to quickly spot problematic areas.

[PonyGumbo]

FYI - "Click, close your eyes and count to ten" was actually closer to fifty on the first load. I went back and clicked the button again, and it only took about seven seconds. Just thought you should be aware.

[TheRealLogic]

Thanks! We'll definitely check and fix this.

[kristenlee]

Intimidating...that's how I would best describe the look of your application. I'm guessing potential customers see a long learning curve ahead and want nothing to do with it. This "intimidation factor" conflicts with your stated goal of creating an alternative "entry-level" project management system. Furthermore two years is way too long to be developing any type of CRUD app.

[TheRealLogic]

Do you think that some on-boarding tutorials can help fix this "intimidation factor" or we need to simplify the UI?

[kristenlee]

I think jiggity said it best, restrict what you show on the homepage and show all the details on another page, that small change is a surefire way to get users further down the sales funnel.

[revorad]

You've clearly done a lot of work and in the video I noticed some features which might actually be really useful. But will they be worth me taking the time to try out yet another project management system? I don't know, you didn't convince me enough.

What's the one reason I should use your software? You need to communicate that well.

[TheRealLogic]

OK, so concentrate more on benefits - makes sense.

[revorad]

Heh, I know that's the standard mantra, but no I didn't mean it that way.

Even if you do decide to concentrate on a feature, that's ok. But then, you must concentrate.

The bird's eye view feature doesn't sound to me like one on the basis of which you can get people's attention. Getting an overview of things is not where most people spend their time. Most of the time is spent in the little things. I think that's why Basecamp has been so successful. They just nailed the basic stuff. Even if their bird's eye view is not that good, it doesn't matter so much because people don't use it much, so they can learn to live with it.

If you do decide to concentrate on that, then maybe you should target your product to the kind of people who do only look at the bird's eye view. That's probably senior level project managers or executives, to whom you could sell it as a project health dashboard.

[tstegart]

I would second this. Also, have you thought about doing some case study testimonials? They're often an effective marketing technique to give people an idea on how your product will help them.

[TheRealLogic]

Well, it's Catch 22. You need a volume of users to do a good case study and you need a case study to increase the number of users...

[tstegart]

Right, but a testimonial still works as a marketing tool. Surely you have one user who loves your product and will say good things about it? Put that user up on your site and show people how useful your product can be to them.

[andrewhillman]

I see some useful features but I think you should simplify it. Just too many features and too much going on. I saw #TaskView. and got overwhelmed. Get that video down to less than 2 min.

[creativeone]

have you tried google adwords?

[TheRealLogic]

It's a very competitive space (CPC are quite high) and because of our small plan fees google ads won't be a feasible option.