[FEEDBACK] MVP "The Special Gift" Side Project
Hi guys!
We at BetaPeak decided to join the side project craze and dedicated some time to an experiment. I wouldn't want to divulge too much info up-front as we would like to test if the USP actually goes across as expected, but generally - it's a landing page builder with a specific target audience.
We have a few concerns regarding the MVP:
- We've introduced only 4 themes/templates for starters in order to validate whether such service would be interesting for the users. Do you think that's too little of a number or is it enough to spark interest?
- The landing page design is relatively appalling as we wanted to build it as quickly as possible, with the least amount of fuss. Is it too basic and do we need to introduce some additional visual appeal to the landing page in order to get the point across and convert the user?
- We'd like to know how easy it is for users to pick a theme. We've introduced a preview pop-up - does this give you an idea of what that theme is all about or do you need a full-screen, all-bells-and-whistles live preview of the theme before you start customizing?
- The website currently supports only desktop resolutions (in order to cut dev time in the MVP phase). Does this bother you?
- We currently offer a premium and a free version. Do you think there is enough value on top of the free version in order for it to lead to a purchase?
- Well, generally anything else that pops into your mind would be super appreciated and we'd love to include your feedback in the next feature/tweak iteration.
Thanks a lot and we hope you like the idea, looking forward to your thoughts!
Hey, thanks for sharing! First of all, it's quite vulnerable to put your work out there and invite feedback. For that, props! It seems like you're asking for some critical feedback, so here goes...
I am a 27-year-old man, who hates hates hates sending cards. "I have to pay $4 for a card so I can write a stupid message?!" That said, I'm not exactly the target market for gift giving...when I got married, I gave all that away to my wife.
I've received "e cards" before from my grandparents and my experience was uncomfortable...Cynicism was my first response.
One of the interesting players in the "cards" market is SendOutCards. They are a pyramid-marketing group that goes after corporate accounts.
As far as I'm concerned, I wouldn't be willing to pay $30 to send an ecard, considering there are options for free online. And I would feel uncomfortable having ads on the card that I send to my sister.
I would consider paying $10-25/year to have all my friends-that-I-send-cards-to in a database. When their birthdays come up, it sends me an email saying: "hi, time to send a card to them. Click here to send an e-card or click here to mail them a card."
I would be willing to pay $4/card I send out, and I would assume that the e cards were free. Add to the e-card the ability to send along a gift certificate and I would pay $2.
In short, the value to me is in the convenience of not needing to remember or go to the store to get a card. The actual design of the card is a secondary concern.
(One more caveat that I really am not your target market. :) )
Hi Stephen,
Thanks a lot for your thorough feedback, really appreciated!
The parallel you made with e-card websites shows we couldn't really put forward our unique selling point well enough - the added value in our case is having the personalized design (apart from being able to personalize it, duh) to be put up on a custom domain name, e.g. happy-birthday-joe.com.
Our main assumption is there are people willing to pay for that extra personalization step, as it really makes for a unique experience - how often (as a regular internet user) do you see your name on a website, and it being customized just for you by your loved one?
Actually, that idea "just let me know when to send those damn cards" sounds interesting. I would imagine there must be existing services offering that, but if not - hey, who's up to collaborate on another side project :)
I don't like to send cards either, but I honestly doubt how many people would pay for a custom domain. Social networks give me usernames, and to your point, I would think ecard.tld/happy-birthday-joe has the same effect you are trying to achieve. Without the hassle of custom domains.
E-cards didn't really lift off as expected as far as I know, I think people really like the physical aspect of a paper card.
Well, best of luck on the personalization! Just checked out BetaPeak and it looks cool too!
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Hi Infinite!
This is actually an awesome idea! As soon as we read it we started brainstorming how we can incorporate such a functionality within the current version. My main concern is still validating whether this would be a feature most people would choose to use, or are you one of the few (no offence, people are just different) :)
It would require the need for user accounts (in order to manage submitted wishes), separate screens for accounts settings & wish management, etc, which is something we'd like to avoid building if it's of no use to the majority of our users. We'd probably need to start with an MVP version of the new feature of the current MVP (wow, a mouthful). Possibly something as simple as "enter the email addresses of the people you want to collect wishes from, and you email" and this would just send notification emails to those people "Hey, we're making Joe a card, reply to this email if you want your wish included in there" and the e-mail' reply-to address will the the original user's email. After he receives all the wishes by email he can go into the platform and enter them manually one by one. Just thinking out loud here but does this sound like a viable approach to you?
This comment was deleted 7 years ago