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55 Comments

Shipped a New Landing Page!

I just shipped the first real landing page for Minute. Before this, it was just a title and tagline.

Open to any and all feedback, suggestions, critique, etc.

  • Can you tell what Minute is?
  • Who it might be for?
  • What benefits / features it has?
  • If you journal regularly, or want to journal, what does and doesn't resonate?

https://www.minutehq.com/

Thanks!

  1. 6

    Hey Alex,

    I like the mobile and desktop screenshots front-and-center. "A modern journal designed for everyday life." doesn't really explain anything though – "modern" and "everyday" are very generic words, and they don't differentiate you from the other apps in the space.

    I also think the logo/wordmark should take a back seat to your explanation/problem-to-be-solved text. It also adds a bit of confusion – the word "Minute" brings a certain meaning, but there's nothing explaining why it's called that. Is it short-form journaling?

    1. 1

      Hey @jstayton!

      Appreciate the feedback -- I can totally understand how "modern" and "everyday" sound generic, and may not get much real information across. And great point about bringing a problem-to-be-solved front and center.

      You mentioned Minute bringing about a certain meaning. I'm curious, what does it mean to you?

      Short-form journaling is a great way to think about it. Maybe its a micro-journal? A major goal with Minute is to make journaling as simple as possible. It is hard to start from a blank text field. It isn't always obvious to know what to write about, or sometimes, after a busy day, its hard to remember your day! Minute tries to make journaling as simple as possible by bringing your day and your people right into your journal.

      I'll definitely take your comment into account and re-work the messaging. If you have any ideas that come off the top of your head, I'd love to hear them!

      1. 3

        Yeah, I definitely associate the word "minute" with a short period of time. I think you could have a pretty compelling message if you leaned into the "short/micro-journal" aspect of your app as its differentiating factor. Because I agree: starting with a big, blank text field is intimidating!

  2. 4

    Here's what I like:

    I love the minimalism of the product and I love that the product works on both mobile and desktop. I love that the product focuses on privacy. I love that the product emphasizes connection with close friends, as opposed to an entire social network.

    What could use improvement:

    Your landing page seems focused on convincing people to use a journal. But I think it would be more fruitful to target people who already use a journal. Journalling is fairly popular already. Consider that an iPhone comes with a Notes app by default.

    Your website should focus on highlighting the advantage of your product over competitors. Why should I use your product over Evernote or Ulysses or the Notes app? What makes Minute stand out?

    It seems like Minute's unique feature is that users can share their journal entries privately with their close friends. This is huge! This is a really cool feature! I personally would love to use a product that allows me to share my thoughts with just my friends, and not my entire social network.

    You should remove the quotes from famous people and instead highlight the fact that your product allows people to share thoughtful content in an intimate and small-scale way with their close friends.

    Additionally — your landing page doesn't tell me which devices are supported by the product. That would be good to know.

    TL;DR:

    • don't use your landing page to convince users to journal
    • focus on the unique features of your app - privacy, tagging friends, reminiscing feature
    • remove the famous people quotes
    • make the logo more memorable
    • font choice is a bit on the boring side; consider using a more interesting sans-serif font

    Best of luck!

    1. 2

      I'm super in agreement! I didn't see this until just now - turns out my comments are just redundant (oops!). Well said, lexhaynes!

      1. 1

        Lol, it means even more when repeated by multiple people! Def appreciated :)

    2. 1

      Love the feedback @lexhaynes -- thanks the taking the time!

      Definitely agree with you and others that it'll likely be more fruitful to focus on people who already journal. I imagine people who already journal may not find the quotes helpful also, so those should likely go, or be given a different treatment.

      I'm seeing confusion over the contacts/friends feature, and I'll need to clarify this (and maybe change some terminology). You can't actually share with friends. You create contacts and tag them so that its really easy to go back to your posts that involve friends. Each of the friends gets an internal "profile". It ends up being like a personal rolodex: each person gets a short description for anything you want to note about them, and then you can see all your past notes that reference them.

      Btw, would you like to share journal posts with close friends? I initially built this with the idea of keeping it totally private, but it could be cool to have a space for your close friends. I just don't know what it quite looks like yet -- certainly open to any ideas you have!

      Also agree on font & logo. If you have ideas on fonts or a better logo, I'm all ears. There is a lot of room for improvement, but I don't know much about that stuff.

      Will add something about devices: its for web, and responsive for narrow or wide viewports.

      Thanks again for your awesome actionable feedback!

  3. 3

    My biggest concern is privacy.
    How can you guarantee the "lifetime" and "never lose access"? By the exporting?

    The landing look really pleasant, btw. Made me want to make my daily notes again :)

    1. 1

      Thanks @Dimmi!

      Totally understand your concern about privacy. All of your data in Minute is just for you; none of the other users ever have access to your data, and there are no sharing features built in. Technically, all server communication is protected with SSL and your data is encrypted at rest in the database in a virtual private network.

      As far as data access goes, current-best thinking is to ensure access for people who have subscribed for 1+ years. I don't ever want someone who's invested time and money into Minute to feel like their data is locked up. That means that if you unsubscribe after a year, you'll always be able to login to your account, view/edit/delete/export your data, and have limited creation functionality.

      And as far as longevity of the service goes, Minute is being built to last. I know this can be hard to believe because so many projects are launched, run out of money, and then shut down (I've done it too!). Minute has been my passion project for the last year and I'm "funding it" for myself and a few friends & family. As is, it isn't much $ and is already sustainable. It also already has the only product validation one needs for a side project: I love it. I use it everyday and highly prefer it to anything else out there :) The reason for a paid subscription model is so that if others use it, it'll always stay sustainable and there will be no need for ads, investment, etc.

      1. 2

        Thank you for the such in-depth and honest response, Alex.

  4. 3

    Hey this is interesting!

    My two cents about design: Maybe you can consider a different typeface, more emblematic and coherent with what it is said on the wording. I imagine a serif font could do the job here. The logo also feels a little bland/common, probably would benefit from a more bold approach.

    1. 1

      Hey @alelepd!

      Glad to hear you find it interesting. Totally agree about the bland typeface and logo. I don't know much about typefaces & logo design and excited to dive deeper and improve them.

      Do you have any ideas for font or logo? Any ideas or pointers to references would be greatly appreciated :)

      1. 2

        I think it will require some research and brainstorming to create a solid brand. You can read some articles from Brandnew to get a sense of how typography can be used in many formats. Learning about design systems would be helpful too if you want to go deeper.

  5. 2

    Looks good and the value prop is pretty clear. However, not sure I need a paid service if I can do this on a regular notes app. Maybe a comparison with a regular notes app will be a good way to convince folks to try it out. Cheers!

    1. 1

      Hey @arpitc! Thanks for the feedback to address people who already use a notes app.

      For journaling purposes, there are certainly differentiators between Minute and a generic notes app. As other have mentioned, it sounds like they need to have more emphasis on the landing page.

      Will take this feedback into account when planning for the next iteration!

  6. 2

    This is fantastic!

    I've been daydreaming on building something like this. I actually started but I'm in really super slow mode.

    Can you tell what Minute is?

    Journal app meets social network

    Who it might be for?

    Everyone, specially people already interested in journaling.

    What benefits / features it has?

    • Keep your journal
    • Share it privately with your friends.

    Side question: How would you prevent from celebrities having 1 million "close friends". Any plan to discourage that? Or are you thinking that's something desirable.

    • Get flashback / reminders
    • Google Calendar integration.

    If you journal regularly, or want to journal, what does and doesn't resonate?

    For me (and this is my personal opinion) if you integrate with Google and save in the cloud, how am I certain this is private still (I know it is, but from an end user perspective this still sounds like "Big company will steal my data"). And why not use a blog or instagram / facebook instead (I'm not saying I prefer those of course) but thinking on adoption this might be a concern.

    I agree with some of the comments already said by others, the titles need either a different font or a bigger font.

    Also the testimonials might be more relatable if you use personas, some common people instead of famous individuals.

    Example: https://i.stack.imgur.com/MZkVB.jpg

    1. 1

      There actually isn't a sharing feature. Its more like a private address book or rolodex where you can can a list of contacts, tag contacts to notes, and then easily go back and see all your notes for a contact. Several people here thought the same thing, so its clear that the presentation is confusing.

      Re: big co having your data in the cloud. A few things:

      1. We integrate only with Google for login and to read your contact & calendar information. We don't send any of your private journal data back to Google so you don't need to worry about having or stealing this data.
      2. Your data will be in the Minute cloud, and users will need to trust it like they trust other online services
      3. We will never share your data with other users, or third parties without your consent. The product is designed to be private
      4. The monetization model supports this. By having users subscribe, Minute is 100% aligned with its users. We don't need to rely on ads, selling data, or anything other model that might threaten user privacy.

      100% with you on font improvements, and on testimonials vs quotes.

      Thanks for all the feedback @OscarRyz!

      1. 2

        Several people here thought the same thing, so its clear that the presentation is confusing.

        Ah I get it. Just for your to quick filter them. So when I met this person in real life I can type "Alex" and all the stories where alex is tagged will be summoned.

        Cool!

        Keep he good work!

  7. 2

    Hi Alex,

    I journal regularly in a simple Word document on my computer, and I use the Word app to journal on my phone. I didn't see any advantages that Minute offered over a Word doc until halfway down the page when you start talking about features like tagging friends, Google calendar and flashbacks. I think you should talk about differentiating features higher up on the page. My general thoughts/reactions were:

    • Hero image: app looks nice and clean, but not sure why I need this over my Word doc.
    • "Personal journal reimagined": sounds like marketing fluff. How is it reimagined?
    • Covey/Oprah quotes: I already journal, I don't need to be told about the benefits of journaling. How is Minute better than my Word doc?
    • "Beautiful home for your thoughts": yes, the app looks nice and clean, I could tell that from the hero image. Not a huge selling point for me.
    • "Brilliant with your friends": hmm, that's interesting. Now that I think about it, I don't/can't really have tags in my Word doc. Maybe this would be useful.
    • "Connected to your everyday life": here's another interesting feature, though it's not that important to me.
    • "Flash back to the past": another interesting feature.

    In general, I think you're going to have a better time selling your product to people who already journal rather than persuading non-journalers to start journaling and also buy your product.

    Reality is I may not be your target customer, but hope this is helpful.
    Good luck!

    1. 1

      LOL, "sounds like marketing fluff" :)

      Love the play-by-play reaction style of feedback here. Agree that narrowing in on a target buyer is important and choosing to target people who do (or don't) journal will be part of it.

      Thanks @stevenkkim!

  8. 2

    Thanks for sharing your work with us! I like the idea and the landing page looks nice and clean.

    A couple thoughts.

    I journal. Sometimes it's multiple entries in a day, every day. Sometimes weeks go by between writing. I currently use the built-in notes app on my phone and Google Docs.

    When I looked at the page, it didn't immediately stand out why it's much better than what I'm currently doing. I don't see enough to sign up for a free trial right now, let along start recurring payments of $5/mo.

    The first text blob isn't necessary for someone like me. I already journal. I don't need to be convinced. It's "a lot" of text for something I'm already convinced of. Unfortunately, spending the time and mental energy to read it reduces my likelihood of reading the parts more relevant to someone like me.

    The quotes have the same effect. I'm already convinced. I already journal. What would really make a difference to me is to read quotes from users about how it changed their journaling - how it made something frustrating easier or how it created some new insight or whatever that they wouldn't have gotten with their previous methods. E.g. quotes that illustrate other having found this tool to solve a problem I have too or an experience I can aspire to have too.

    I actually kind of scanned right past the features because after the first blurb and quotes, and "a beautiful home" value prop, I figured all of the page was just an effort to convince me to journal. I don't need that, so I bounced.

    Literally, as I write this, I thought, "I must've missed something." So I just went back and took a look.

    Sure enough, I see that the unique value props are the last three - the ones that were "hidden" from me (e.g. the ones I skipped because I'm a lazy human and I though it was just going to be more about why I should journal and how my entries can be beautiful). Sharing, easy integration into my existing daily flow, and fun flashbacks are the unique value props that might convince me.

    I'm not certain these are enough to get me to bite.

    BUT, for me, as some one who already journals, they're the things I need to see first. They're the things that get me to consider giving the tool a try. Because, otherwise, notes and Google Docs work great.

    1. 1

      Appreciate the detailed feedback @verespej!

      Its really helpful to hear your thought process as you read the page. It really clarifies how much of the content isn't well targeted for someone who already journals.

      Quick question about your journaling: is there anything you wish you could do with your existing Google Docs + Notes setup? No worries if nothing comes to mind. Just curious what you think about your setup!

      1. 2

        Great question!

        Some context:

        I primarily use Notes (on Android) because it's quicker and doesn't require a network connection. I use Google Docs more as a backup because my entries are important to me, even though it's extremely rare that I go back and read anything.

        Some things that come to mind about nuisances in my setup:

        1. Both Notes and Docs have document length limits. The limit in Notes is explicit. For Docs, I've found that when I go beyond a certain length, performance slows down to the point of being unusable (not sure if this is still true - I haven't checked in a while). So, I divide entries into multiple Docs, each titled by time range. When I exceed the allowed length of a Note, I (eventually) copy the content over to Docs.

        2. I manually add timestamps for entries. This leads to some lack of consistency and I've occasionally forgotten to do so and won't recall when I wrote it. I'd generally prefer not to have to take (the 2 seconds of) time to write out the date. When I go to make a journal entry, I just want to get my thoughts down.

        I hope this comes in useful!

        1. 1

          Interesting.. thanks for the info @verespej! Just to repeat and ensure I understand: you like the offline access, and then need a place to backup your notes. Pain points are (1) that your backup doesn't handle many notes well without manually splitting into several docs, and (2) its a mild inconvenience to consistently add timestamps.

          If you have another minute or so -- do you ever go back to your notes? If so, when and what kind of value do you find in it? Again, no pressure and appreciate your time if you find some!

          1. 2

            Yes. To add additional clarity, the offline access is mostly a matter of performance. E.g. the notes app loads immediately and I never have to wait for saving. It's quick in-and-out.

            Neither the backup nor notes app itself handle copious text.

            Correct regarding the mild inconvenience of timestamps.

            I almost never go back over notes. I've done it maybe.. two or three times in the 4-5 years I've kept them.

            1. 1

              @verespej - great, thanks for the extra info! 🙏

              1. 2

                No problem! Hope it ends up being useful. Good luck with growing your user base!

  9. 2

    Hey Alex, congratulations on your landing page. I really like it because it is beautiful, clear and simple. Also, I really like your idea about journaling. I personally adore journaling and practice it every day in the morning and in the evening. Keep going up with great work 💪🚀🔥

    I am in the process of creating my first indie mobile game and I want to make a beautiful, clear and simple landing page so I would like to ask you, what tools have you used to create your landing page?

    1. 2

      Hey @rus89!

      Thanks for your note about the landing page.. its encouraging to hear :)

      What do you use for journaling? Any online tools?

      I built the landing page with pretty vanilla HTML, CSS, JS/jQuery. It started super simple, and then began getting more and more complex. In the next iteration, I'll add a bit more sophistication with use templates for components and LESS/SASS for CSS.

      If you haven't seen out Webflow, its worth a look for creating your landing page. Its an online editor to build webpages and I've seen some really great looking landing pages built with it.

      1. 2

        Hey @alexshye, thanks for your reply.

        For journaling I use my favourite tools, notebook and pen, and sometimes when Google Docs.

        I already got recommendations for Webflow so I will definitely try it. I saw some templates and looks pretty nice and professional. I also considered using Bootstrap, Wordpress, Squarespace, or Leadpages. There are so many tools, and the more I find, the more I am confused which one to use. I understand that if I use HTML, CSS, JS, jQuery I would have a full control over it, but it will take me a lot of time and energy to build it. For now, I need some super fast, easy, and beautiful solutions, and of course if it could be as cheap as possible.

  10. 2

    I can see the superhuman influence. Looks solid! I would focus on fonts (sizes, styles, colors) and avoid font shadows.

    Good luck!

    1. 1

      Hahah yeah, love Superhuman. That team is a huge inspiration. I wish every web app was as beautiful and delightful.

      Will def be into adding in another font and add polish in the next iteration.

      Thanks @nashtheory!

  11. 2

    Hey looks like a cool product, there’s a lot of space on mobile just the blue background between the hero and the nav.

    Suggest to reduce that maybe? Move minute to the top left and create space for the product image. This is more important than the text “Minute”

    1. 1

      Good call. Thats a lot of blank space that could be probably be better used :)

      Thanks @Mikejames!

  12. 2

    I like how you use quotes from celebrities. I've been wanting to include a testimonials section on my landing page but I don't have enough users to get that right now. You've figured out a very smart solution to it

    1. 1

      Thanks @faraaz! As @JamieGilman pointed out, I hope it doesn't look like endorsement, which could come with issues.

      1. 2

        Noticed this also. I think it’s clear it’s not an endorsement after you actually look at it, but it’s an issue for potential users if they feel it’s been made to look like one. I never look twice at those endorsement blocks—the only reason I paused was thinking “wait, that’s Oprah”.

        EDIT: Looked at the page again. To me, the “flashback” auto-resurfacing of notes is the single most interesting/different feature. On mobile, at least, it’s way far down the page and you’d already lost my attention by that point. Consider bringing that forward.

        1. 1

          Hey @versionxxv! Its helpful to hear what resonates as an interesting feature. Will def be re-working when/where features are presented to surface these earlier.

          Thanks for chiming in!

  13. 2

    Landing page was clear and I understood the concept.

    Only thing that bothered me is the social share with friends idea. I am not sure that's a feature most people crave in a private journal? If I want to share about having coffee with a friend, why not use social media?

    Just my two cents. Good luck!

    1. 2

      Hey @iStayGrizzly!

      Thanks for the thoughts -- its helpful to hear your first impression.

      There actually isn't any social sharing built in. The events and contacts are there to make it easier to journal about your day, and then organize your notes by tagging contacts.

      Here's an example. If I go to a coffee with an old friend, there are various things I might want to note. I might have learned something new about them. They might have had a major life event. Or I might have heard something that I want to remember to ask about the next time we meet. After the coffee, I'd go to Minute, click on the event, add a note about it, and then tag my friend. Later on, the note will pop up in my Flashbacks (our version of Timehop), and in the contact's profile page.

      Does that make sense? So its like a social network, but completely internal to yourself. Maybe a self-social network? lol.. i've sometimes thought about it as a personal CRM for introverts also.

      I'll make a note to clarify that there isn't any social sharing. Thanks again!

      1. 4

        That makes sense when you explain it.

        I think its just a little unclear when reading it because words like "tag" and "profile" have very specific connotations in online websites. So when the website said "save your friends as contacts and tag them" I assumed that meant they would receive a notification on their "profile" i.e. twitter/facebook/IG etc. But I get it now. :)

        1. 1

          Yeah, thats a great point.. the terminology is certainly shared with social sites and could be confusing. Thanks!

  14. 2

    Hi Alex, I like your use of quotes on the page!

    1. 1

      Love to hear it. Thanks for your feedback @radek!

  15. 2

    The domain name made me think it's for meeting notes.

    It's fairly clear that it's a journaling app once I saw the screenshot.

    For journaling/writing apps, fonts are very important. The landing page's font is a bit bland so it doesn't make it look very professional or appealing.

    Agree with what other people said: how does it differentiate. It's better to point that out. (This is also a reminder for my own landing pages lol).

    1. 1

      Lol, just responded to @alxcnwy who's building one for meeting notes!

      Totally agree about the font. A few weeks ago, I spent hours lost in the rabbit hole of Google fonts, and then decided save it until later. Its probably time to revisit that :)

      And yes, will focus more on value prop and differentiation with next iteration.

      Thanks @irid!

      1. 2

        I recommend Adobe Fonts. It's surprisingly affordable. I am on their Photography Plan so I get to access Photoshop and Adobe Fonts, and a few less useful software for ~$20/mo. Pretty cheap given Photoshop used to cost $2,000 to use. No limits on Adobe Web Fonts usage etc.

        Also, you can cancel anytime if when you purchase, make sure you are not committing to their annual plan.

        1. 1

          Thats a great suggestion! Going to dig into Adobe fonts tonight 🙏

  16. 2

    I'd ask what sets you apart from Journal apps that already exist, like Day One for instance. Why would I choose Minute over Day One?

    You can see what the product is from the landing page, yeah. I'd suggest a more striking heading font and some more attention to the responsive design as you change the screen width (although appreciate this might be your first attempt!) -as it would make it feel more polished and professional.

    I'd be careful about using images of famous people with quotes, it looks at first glance like they may have endorsed the product.

    Your audience says it's for "everyone" - which may be too generic. I've yet to do some targeted marketing but have read that you'll speak more directly to a niche if you focus your product on a more specific target audience rather than broadly speaking to everyone - where no one will resonate directly with your product. I've done this too so will test some targeted advertising content.

    The google calendar integration looks like a good benefit, to fit in with tools I'm already using.

    What would resonate with me is design and usability, especially for something personal like a journal - but I'm a front end dev/designer so I like nice looking products! I think even some nicer type fronts and a more branded feel would make it more appealing - this is difficult though I know when your first step is product validation.

    Hope that's helpful!

    1. 1

      Hey @JamieGilman!

      Good point about picking a niche and speaking directly to it. As well as being more clear with the value prop and differentiation aren't obvious enough. Will work on making these more clear in the next iteration. Current best thinking is to focus on how Minute (1) makes it easier to journal, (2) makes your notes more useful in the future, and (3) has a more optimized web experience (e.g., design, keyboard shortcuts, etc.).

      Thanks for heads-up about the quotes. I thought they'd be inspirational but, as you mention, there may be other considerations at play here.

      As a product guy who loves front-end, I totally feel the desire for great design and UX. I've been largely inspired by Superhuman (as you can probably tell from landing page and screenshots :), and want a journal experience that feels the same! As you mention, some nicer fonts would be a big step forward. As well as more polish and responsive design.

      Thanks a lot Jamie! Appreciate you taking the time for some feedback.

      1. 2

        👍Good luck with it!

  17. 1

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  18. 2

    This comment was deleted 4 years ago.

    1. 1

      Thanks @alxcnwy :)

      Minutesai is cool! Lol, while coming up with the name, I remember thinking it could definitely be meeting software also.

  19. 2

    This comment was deleted 3 years ago.

    1. 1

      Hey Jason -- thanks for your feedback! It brings up a few questions, if you have another minute or so :)

      I'm curious, how did you get the sense it was for writers, musicians, and lyricists? I ask because I didn't intend on it, so would like to learn more.

      Totally understand questions about subscription. I also think pen & pad are really good for a lot of things too. What would an online solution need to do for you to consider paying for it?

      1. 2

        This comment was deleted 3 years ago.

        1. 2

          Haha not at all.. thanks for digging in and sharing more details around your note taking wants and practices :)

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