11
37 Comments

Not a designer but just designed this landing page. Does the product come across clearly?

https://writephobia.com
submitted this linkon April 23, 2021
  1. 5

    Hey, the point comes across, but maybe you could add some "benefits" that they get from it, like: "you achieve your full potential" or "become accountable and a better writer with more practice".

    As for the design of the site, and this comes from a fellow non designer, it needs a lot of work. The landing page needs to be a killer.

    For non designer I suggest looking around for some design that you like and try to copy - emh - I mean take inspiration from them.

    1. 1

      Good point about benefits, thanks for that!

      1. 1

        You are welcome

  2. 3

    Hey Burak! Point comes across clear, it was smart to add, “Free, if you never miss a goal.” Couple suggestions:

    1. List a few benefits that communicate how your product will change the user’s life. Ex: “Avoid the stress of missed deadlines”.

    2. Add a more interactive way for users to ask questions, give feedback, or learn more about the product so that you can accelerate conversions. Check out getchipbot.com, when you’re ready for that step.

    Hope this helps! :)

  3. 3

    For me the colors of the front page are too much. I didn't see beyond them and didn't even look at what's written. But it's just my opinion. If you like it it's yours. I don't know what the app is about and I'm just wandering here.

    1. 1

      Haha yeah I really went gradient crazy. I do like it but I also know that I'll be tweaking colors over the next couple of weeks. Thanks for the feedback

  4. 2

    The value proposition came across very clear, although as an existing writer, the first question that popped in my mind was whether I need to write and publish here, or can I write directly at my own blog. I think other writers with existing workflow (Substack, Medium, etc) might have the same question. There is probably an answer somewhere in your website - the landing page did mention "Write directly in our app or elsewhere" - but perhaps making it clearer upfront in your landing page can be helpful.

    After signing up, there are three things that stood out to me.

    One, I hesitated quite a bit in setting the goal. I wasn't sure which specific day in a week I can commit to; I was hoping to see something like "Write Once Per Week". Also, it wasn't clear to me if "writing" here counts only if I publish it, or does it also include my first saved but unpublished draft and its subsequent revisions.

    Two, I had to think about what is my usual wordcount per writing. Perhaps a quick guide / reference can be helpful, showing what "500 words" might look like, or letting me paste an article I wrote recently and find out what my usual wordcount is.

    Three, some users might hesitate to put in credit card right after signing up without having a chance to try it out. Only after clicking around, I saw somewhere that "You can write three posts just to play with WritePhobia." Perhaps you can make this message more upfront (right after signup,), or have an onboarding experience.

    Design wise, I agree with most other comments here that it can be more polished. It gives me an older Wordpress feel, especially the dashboard, and lacks a clear design identity. So I'd probably have a designer to look at it and give it a designer's love and touch and set a clearer overall design theme.

    But I like the idea and would love to try it.

    1. 2

      Thanks so much for your thorough feedback!

      Design, yes, will be a constant battle for me. I'm doing this whole thing myself with $0 budget, so I'm just trying to improve the look and feel a little bit each day. Like (I think) Reid Hoffman said, you should be embarrassed of your first version ;)

      The onboarding experience is still pending as well. What you experienced was just "Signup form -> Go to app". But feedback from you and other users is important in figuring out how that flow should be. I think the next version will be email address -> goal setting wizard. Have you choose "I want to start daily journaling", "I want to write a novel", "I want to work on my blog", and then have it suggest days & wordcounts for you. Then it'll wrap up with password etc.

      Good point about being not sure what counts as writing. On writephobia even private drafts count towards wordcounts. But you're right that it's not clear whether something needs to be published.

      Again, thanks for your feedback, I appreciate you trying it out. This is very helpful!

  5. 2

    Copy = OK, I understood generally what the app is about.
    Design = Honestly, It's not bad, almost there. with only a better color palette and other small rectifications will make your landing go from amateur looking to great.

  6. 2

    Most important, it's very clear what the product is, does and works.

    I second other voices on the tone the message is presented, as it is right now it's like "Hey if you use this app I'll punish you" ( I'm exaggerating of course) instead of "Hey if you use this app you'll create great habits, and if you fail, that's ok you'll still be helping"

    The color really didn't bother me, but I can see how that could be toned down a bit.

    Good luck!

    1. 1

      I'm exaggerating of course

      Ha, no you're not! Before this LP I had a janky text-only one, and the tone of that was very much "get punished for failure". Only as I started making this version did I realize I should probably make it a bit more positive. But I dunno -- maybe my niche will be "masochistic writers".

      But in general, yes the goal really is to reinforce a healthy habit, so I will make sure to include this in my next iteration over the weekend.

  7. 2

    I understood the product right away. As far as the design, it looked like there was a missing hero image on the top right - just a blank space where everyone else has their main graphic. If nothing else, get a stock photo of a person writing and put it there.

    I'm not a goal-oriented writer, but if I were most of my questions would be around the user experience; does using your product fit my workflow or does it feel like two separate steps to "do" my writing and then "prove" my writing so I don't get charged $$.

    Not sure if the best approach is the free trial (as you are doing) or some kind of explainer video you record on Loom.

    1. 1

      I agree re: the blank hero image spot. Everything I tried putting there felt so forced. I may indeed put a callout to a loom video there. Also, I appreciate the input about your workflow question. I hadn't heard that concern yet but it makes total sense.

        1. 1

          Awesome, thanks for digging into this, I appreciate it! I'll try out some illustrations as well as a video callout

  8. 2

    Makes sense to me, cool accountability project.

    1. 1

      Thanks, appreciate it!

  9. 2

    Can you achieve your writing goals to something that is more value added? e.g. what do I achieve by writing?

    1. 1

      Thanks for the feedback. This is a tough one that I'll have to think about. I believe that people who already have writing goals understand the value of writing (writing that book or writing a blog article every week or whatever). But I could be mistaken about that. I think the problem is that writing doesn't just give you one value-add, its value differs based on who you are. I will continue to tweak this as I think about it more deeply. Thanks again.

      1. 1

        okay, but how will you find 'I believe that people who already have writing goals understand the value of writing' these people to sell to?

        1. 1

          That's the question, isn't it?? :D

          1. 1

            That's the reason for my first question.

    1. 2

      Thank you, that's good to hear. I suck at this landing page stuff!

      1. 2

        Who are you using for the landing page? If they have templates, use those. Don't go crazy reinventing the wheel at first. It's a bit overwhelming. Use what's already there :)

        1. 2

          Nobody. This app is in production and it's hand-coded, so this is just me writing HTML and CSS. I googled around for LP templates that other services had and just sorta copied one I like :')

          1. 2

            That works too! lol Only other advice I have is to keep it simple. Make signup only need the bare bones info. Our newsletter signup landing page only asks for an email. And try to keep everything above the scroll line. I think right now part of yours is below.

  10. 1

    Ouch, you need to make a few changes. I'm just going to be brutally honest here because that's what you expect. This is a good product and looks fun and hate to see it not reach it's potential.

    UI is more important here than actual content for you, simply becsause the UI is really bad and people will skip it just because it hurts their eyes and takes too long to process.

    • Hero. It's too small and cramped. I immediately skipped it, make it large and = 100VH.
    • Increase font size. make feature cards better and zoom in. There are tools that let you zoom in and take screenshots.
    • CTA Placement. Bad.
    • Add better graphics. https://blush.design/ is best.

    Now for the copy

    • Make this your header : We charge you $1 each time you miss a writing goal. Your current header makes no sense.
    • Sub header : good enough

    Feature Copy

    • Good but design is bad. Remove the icons and use more negative space.

    It's usually a norm to have 3 feature cards.

    Read these first to learn how to build landing pages. Strongly suggest

    Then make a very rough design and proceed to build.

    You can use carrd to create a simple quick landing page that looks better.

    Also a sepia + brown color scheme is hard to pull off and quite old school. Maybe something modern? Blue, white clean etc. https://www.landingfolio.com/ has lots.

    Cheers :)

    1. 1

      Thanks for the feedback and resources. Honestly I just hate these "modern" landing pages. Blue and white is too overused for me. But I understand that it's a trend and that I can't be too far away from the current trends. So I will have to find some middle ground.

      I can't use carrd because this is a live app in production now, not simply a landing page. So anything I do will have to fully integrate with the app, and also be hand coded.

      Thanks for the blush.design resource, I will check that out. I believe the next iteration will have some lighter colors, more negative space, and I will try some illustrations.

      Based on other feedback here I'm already planning a 3rd feature card for benefits of writing habits.

      Thanks again

  11. 1

    Great idea to use negative motivavtion to CREATE! Hope I will choose your product some day, but for now iam scared to loose all money from my card!

    Advice for landing>You definitely should add BEBEFITS vs LOSS block to fight against fear / negative reation.

    1. 1

      Haha! If you sign up and put in your card, I'll give you a $20 credit so that you don't get charged for your first 20 fails :D If you choose to join but use a different username, just DM @writephobia on twitter with your details

  12. 1

    Interesting idea, I'm just wondering if you could use a little more carrot with that stick

  13. 1

    I really like the classic touch of your theme! For problems, 1)"Achieve your writing goals" does not make a lot of sense to me. I will suggest a clear title. The current one is a bit confusing. 2) I cannot see the words "For Novelists" when I open the page. I feel like you should include in the main page.

    1. 1

      Thanks, appreciate the feedback! I am a little confused about point #2. The first of the three white tiles below the masthead says "For novelists". Do you mean there is a technical issue where you can't see that text? Or did you not notice it when you looked and are suggesting I add it?

  14. 1

    Mmm... I am going to be that guy, I am sorry If I hurt your ego,but is not good....

    You have 300 colors and styles the saying less is more, is a totally true.

    I can see you tried to recreat a couple of site with the same approach , I think is linear.app?

    Anyways, learn about consistency and color theory.

    1. 1

      Thanks for your advice. I updated the color palette.

      1. 1

        Watch this, it will teach you.

        https://youtu.be/s3c-wGbV6K4
        Let me know if I can help you in anyway.