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by samweinberg 4765 days ago
Form follows function. Basecamp may not have the prettiest looking homepage, but at least it works. The copy effectively communicates what Basecamp is, and the website is laid out fairly well.

Was there something specific about the page that you had a critique on?
1 comments
raylu 4765 days ago
As I mentioned earlier in this thread, I really think Basecamp's homepage does a very poor job of communicating what it is.

> Last week 6,033 companies signed up for Basecamp to manage their projects. Today it’s your turn.

This is not a description of what Basecamp is.

> For all of my projects, I use Basecamp to keep track of every file, discussion, and event from beginning to end—all in one place.

This pretends to describe Basecamp but I could also use it as a description for Dropbox, MediaWiki, and Eventbrite (seriously, what the hell is an event?).

> 97% of customers recommend Basecamp.

COLOR ME IMPRESSED!

To quote myself: I want something concrete like "Basecamp lets you write words, puts checkboxes next to them, then moves them around randomly" (I'm not a fan of the product so my summarization may be biased).

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timjahn 4765 days ago
"I really think Basecamp's homepage does a very poor job of communicating what it is."

That's great that you think that, but (and don't take this the wrong way), it's irrelevant. I'm fairly sure 37signals tests their design/copy/layouts and if this one wasn't working to make them more money, they'd tweak it as necessary.

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raylu 4765 days ago
While it may be the case that this version of their homepage has been tested to yield the best conversion, that seems completely irrelevant to my point: "the Basecamp homepage does a very poor job of communicating what it is".
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timjahn 4765 days ago
If the Basecamp homepage did a very poor job of communicating what it is, I find it hard to believe it would yield the best conversion.
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raylu 4765 days ago
You find it hard to believe that people would pay for things without understanding what they are? I don't understand your premise.

Do you honestly think the Basecamp homepage communicates what it is? As stated earlier, the description could apply just as well to Dropbox, MediaWiki, or Eventbrite.

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