Soft launch of our new web app
http://vateapp.com
Just rolled out our new web app. Looking at keeping it in South Jersey for the next few weeks before expanding it beyond.
We built this MVP+ in Rails with largely React front end.
I'll take feedback on the landing page or whatever else you want to spitball. (Vateapp.com)
Hey, John. This is a great idea! Most importantly, it definitely solves a real problem.
Here are some thoughts on the page itself:
I'd expose the types of projects you provide help with on the homepage instead of on hover (like you do inside your dashboard shown in the video). I fear the illustrations aren't straight-forward enough to "get at a glance".
Your "How Vate Works" section might be better with more detail and chunked-out info or bullets. Your video has a few good details on the process and I'd make that more scannable for people that skip the video and are moving fast through the page.
The top of the page could use a little more mention of my pain points as a customer. Your video and further down the page mention a few problems (like repeating yourself to contractors) and I think letting people know that you know what sucks about the process will help people self-select "yeah that's my fear" when they get here.
Overall, I think the page could be cleaned up and tightened up a little to instill some more confidence. This is mostly a visual issue and you could likely hire a designer without much fuss to burn through a cleanup job. I think that could be important to the perceived expertise and seriousness of the service. Your website should feel as tight as the service and job you (and your contractors) will do for me. A little bit slicker would probably go a long way.
On the business side:
You've probably thought about this, but is there a way to build a business around this service itself? I can imagine you having your own staff of contractor/evaluators giving quotes for a set fee. That has tons of value on its own (IE: virtual estimates) as well as providing tons of benefits for me the customer. It's easier, faster, safer and more reliable than calling a ton of people around town and setting up meetings for something I'm not even sure I can afford or is worth the money it may cost. This service would also give me more confidence in speaking with contractors because I would have a safe baseline to start discussions with instead of walking blind into a quote I am inexperienced in. YOu could give me a packet/PDF of details and estimates in a nicely wrapped package so I feel good about what I got and more informed on the next steps.
This would also greatly broaden your market of potential customers.
Is anyone doing that well yet? I don't know the space…
I think you could still tack-on the marketplace play from there, but this core idea feels solid on its own too.
Travis, all good feedback. I'm going to make changes to the design and layout per your recommendations (they match the recommendations of a few other folks too).
What do you mean by more scannable? Can you be a bit more specific so I'm clear on your recommendation?
Totally with you on tightening up the design. Any recommendations for design/coders that offer this sort of finishing touch service?
As far as making changes to the business, quite frankly, we're still in user testing and that feedback loop. We feel we have a very unique value proposition, but we're certainly open to change anything that makes this more successful. There is already a white-glove service that will come to your house, take notes, posts the project, and then collect your bids (HireHaven.com). We're positioning ourself to be for more hands-on homeowners that feel comfortable explaining the project and posting it themselves and then fielding the estimates themselves. So we'll see how it goes, but at the moment we have contractor signed up and are working on getting our first homeowners.
By more scannable I mean chunked out into smaller bits and easier to consume. Shorter punches, maybe in list form, maybe bolding specific phrases that will catch peoples' eyes and match keywords they may be looking for.
Regarding designers, I don't really have time to take on work right now, but you should post here in a new thread saying you're looking. I'd also reach out to some people on Dribbble.com if you see work you like. Lots of freelancers are on there and would likely be down.
Cool on the biz side. Will be interesting to see, what I mentioned is for sure different, but also a wider market and need them you dealing directly with only contractors. Good luck!
First off, I want to say I think it's a great idea! I see this as a win-win for both contractors and those hiring as it saves both time. I actually think it's better for contractors because they spend a lot of time driving and giving estimates.
I think the landing page is a little too basic, but it's clear and does a good job of describing everything.
We’ll probably have to implement a review system that considers any delta between their projected estimate and their final cost.
Makes sense.
This looks pretty awesome! What's your strategy for both sides of the market? I feel likes it's always a challenge to to build a marketplace.
One thing on mobile: Looks like you're using hover states to show the kinds of projects and on first pass I didn't know I had the touch them. Maybe two columns and then caption the illustrations?
The strategy is to seed the site with contractors for free and then bring the homeowners.
Thanks for that info. I’ll cleanup the images. It’s not ideal at the moment for sure.