This post is a bit overly critical, but I'm being honest and hopefully you'll understand what I mean.
Your site design feels very dated, unprofessional and cluttered. Simple things like rollovers are wonky and nothing lines up - it's hideous. The fact that everything is done in tables stands out like a sore thumb and adds to the "this was made in 1998" effect. I'd dismiss your site straight away based on its design.
Your site is too complex and has no single "hook" as to why someone should use your site over the more popular alternatives. You need a core idea that can be summed up in a few words - the fact you needed 7 points to summarise the site is a bad omen and smells of too many half-implemented ideas. Tou need to figure out what the core problem is and what your solution is. Note most successful sites can be summed up in 2 or 3 words to potential users - "Internet Auctions", "Web E-Mail", "Search Engine", etc.
It also badly fails the "Do I have a reason to use it?" test. Basically, a good test is whether /at this moment in time/, irrespective of /any future/ growth, it's useful to people. In this case, the answer is a resounding "no" - for neither buyers or sellers who are all already on eBay and their ilk. It's a /serious/ uphill struggle for a site to take off from that point and is a major problem you need to solve before you can expect anyone to use the site - and, believe me, 'word of mouth' is not the solution.
Another problem is that the site is too big - you don't need so many categories and sub-categories when you have so few items on it so they become a real challenge for anyone using the site. Remove them until they become necessary, and link to your listings on the front page.
Having an initially small site fosters community and makes it easier to use, and it's comparatively trivial to split a site into smaller parts if and when it's required.
Honestly? Today it's honestly not something I would even consider using and I can't imagine anyone wanting to use the site. If I were you I'd seriously consider shutting the site down for now, figuring out a simple hook, how you're going to make your site initially popular, and how to take on eBay (these are the huge social problems, not technical problems), and then redesigning with that in mind. Let's not forget you're trying to succeed where bigger names like Yahoo! Auctions have failed.
About the design, yes all points taken. Actually we are programmers and tried to do as better job at design as we could. May be we need to get professional designer and I surely hope to generate enough business to be able to afford that.
You are right, we need to reword lot of content to express the exact message. I did 4-5 rounds of user-testing from usertesting.com and redesigned, but sure there is lot of room for improvement.
I think we need to do better job at explaining that we are not auction site and we are not trying to attract users who like auctions. Rather we are trying to attract people who like the price-negotiation and also Alibaba model. We tried to explain that in the demo video, but seems like we need to do better job.
Thanks for the feedback. This is what I love about hacker news. Very good and honest feedback.
I know the hard work behind such a project; I strongly recommend that you take all criticism easy, focus more on getting the best out of them.
You may not build the next eBay but your idea can evolve around a better niche if you remain focus, don’t weight the first impressions against your hard work, and don’t let your feelings get in your way. Make it your mission to build something that people can actually use.
Thank you so much. Exactly what I was thinking. The great thing about hacker news is the feedback and wisdom that we can get from other like minded and smart folks.
We are pretty flexible in changing ideas to make sure we build something that people will like and use.
Your site design feels very dated, unprofessional and cluttered. Simple things like rollovers are wonky and nothing lines up - it's hideous. The fact that everything is done in tables stands out like a sore thumb and adds to the "this was made in 1998" effect. I'd dismiss your site straight away based on its design.
Your site is too complex and has no single "hook" as to why someone should use your site over the more popular alternatives. You need a core idea that can be summed up in a few words - the fact you needed 7 points to summarise the site is a bad omen and smells of too many half-implemented ideas. Tou need to figure out what the core problem is and what your solution is. Note most successful sites can be summed up in 2 or 3 words to potential users - "Internet Auctions", "Web E-Mail", "Search Engine", etc.
It also badly fails the "Do I have a reason to use it?" test. Basically, a good test is whether /at this moment in time/, irrespective of /any future/ growth, it's useful to people. In this case, the answer is a resounding "no" - for neither buyers or sellers who are all already on eBay and their ilk. It's a /serious/ uphill struggle for a site to take off from that point and is a major problem you need to solve before you can expect anyone to use the site - and, believe me, 'word of mouth' is not the solution.
Another problem is that the site is too big - you don't need so many categories and sub-categories when you have so few items on it so they become a real challenge for anyone using the site. Remove them until they become necessary, and link to your listings on the front page. Having an initially small site fosters community and makes it easier to use, and it's comparatively trivial to split a site into smaller parts if and when it's required.
Honestly? Today it's honestly not something I would even consider using and I can't imagine anyone wanting to use the site. If I were you I'd seriously consider shutting the site down for now, figuring out a simple hook, how you're going to make your site initially popular, and how to take on eBay (these are the huge social problems, not technical problems), and then redesigning with that in mind. Let's not forget you're trying to succeed where bigger names like Yahoo! Auctions have failed.