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Re:Rate/Review my start-up - HearWhere.com by Maro on Wednesday July 23, 2008 @02:54AM (#254141)
Wow! It actually found events in Budapest. The idea and functional execution are great.

The layout sucks. The positioning of the elements seems accidental. Your logo is pixelated, it looks like something from the CGA days.

The search results box is way too small. That should be the main area. You're probably thinking that the map is cool, but as someone who has written GMaps mashups, I can tell you it's not that cool. You could even get away with not showing it at all, and only popping it up onClick. Yeah, it seems cool to show Budapest when I type "Budapest", but frankly, I know where I live. Also, at this point you're not putting down markers anyway!

So, I'd rethink the layout a little.

Re:Rate/Review my start-up - HearWhere.com by pedalpete on Wednesday July 23, 2008 @03:43AM (#254155)
Thanks Maro,

I had the map smaller originally, but the bigger map just seems more engaging. I do put markers on the map after you click on a result. I thought it would be useless to have a bunch of markers on the map first, as you aren't going to decide on a show based on the location, but it's good to see the location after.

Thanks for the input.

Re:Rate/Review my start-up - HearWhere.com by shawndrost on Wednesday July 23, 2008 @03:50AM (#254161)
I like the big map: you've done a good job of building a color scheme that makes it look like part of the design. However, you should put the markers on the map: it's not going to be the basis for the decision about which show I'm going to, but it looks good, and it helps the user, and it doesn't hurt anything.
Re:Rate/Review my start-up - HearWhere.com by Maro on Thursday July 24, 2008 @02:06AM (#255120)
I meant: you don't show markers after search. (Only after click.) But I think that clicking is rare. Users tend to think that clicking moves them off the page, so they avoid it. In any case, after clicking a result, you only show that one marker right? But then, why is the map so big? It could be much smaller if you're only showing one thing on it, IMO.
Re:Rate/Review my start-up - HearWhere.com by pedalpete on Thursday July 24, 2008 @07:53AM (#255255)
I'm going to have to do some playing with this Maro - you could be right about clicking meaning you go to another page. I'm not sure.

I changed the layout yesterday to a smaller map. it definately cleans things up, that's for sure.

I have no idea why my logo is pixelated, but thanks for pointing that out. Web-searches aren't getting me anywhere in resolving that yet. In photoshop I'm doing the 'save for web' at 72 dpi, so I thought that was supposed to take care of that. Any ideas?

Re:Rate/Review my start-up - HearWhere.com by Maro on Friday July 25, 2008 @03:25AM (#256382)
If you're using the Text Tool in Photoshop there's an anti-aliasing option, that's what you want.