Ask HN: Is this a good format for minimum viable products?

Re:Ask HN: Is this a good format for minimum viable products? by tylerwl on Tuesday February 07, 2012 @10:30PM (#3564899)

I think the real value of this type of testing would come from actually talking to people who are interested in your product.

With that goal in mind, I would change the "I'm Interested" button to a single email submission field with a call to action like "Get Started".

Once somebody submits the field, give them a confirmation message to check their inbox. Then in that email, explain that the product is under development and their feedback would be valuable.

Do you have some specific questions in mind that you want these leads to answer for you?

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Re:Ask HN: Is this a good format for minimum viable products? by ZerglingHands on Tuesday February 07, 2012 @10:37PM (#3564924)

Do you have some specific questions in mind that you want these leads to answer for you?

I guess what I need to figure out is how to incentivize visitors to answer my questions (or if they even need incentives in the first place).

I like this idea (even if it creates more stuff for me to test). :-D

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Re:Ask HN: Is this a good format for minimum viable products? by tylerwl on Tuesday February 07, 2012 @11:07PM (#3564988)

Although it's a cheesy title, check out the "Letters That Produced Miraculous Results" chapter in Dale Carnegie's "How to Win Friends and Influence People". It will give you some great ideas about how to get a response from the initial email you send.

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Re:Ask HN: Is this a good format for minimum viable products? by ZerglingHands on Wednesday February 08, 2012 @11:09AM (#3567039)

I hadn't thought of that. Good idea!

Would you say that the following is an improvement?

http://frostchat.com/images/contact.png

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Re:Ask HN: Is this a good format for minimum viable products? by tylerwl on Wednesday February 08, 2012 @01:37PM (#3567799)

Nice work! I'm generally pretty immune to copy, but that would definitely get my attention.

Also, good job eliminating the extra page in between clicking the button and the contact page.

The only thing I'm not 100% sure about is the character on the contact page. It's a high quality illustration, but his expression might cause an upset/worried feeling when someone hits that page. Now that your copy is so good, I would consider removing him and just centering the copy & contact form.

Any plans to start a blog about your tests and subsequent product development? I know I'd be very interested in reading it, and I think a lot of other people here would as well.

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Re:Ask HN: Is this a good format for minimum viable products? by ZerglingHands on Wednesday February 08, 2012 @01:43PM (#3567818)

I purchased the following pack on graphicriver.net a few days ago:

http://graphicriver.net/item/business-man-mascot/119027?WT.a...

I'll think I'll have to run some A/B tests to see what effect the little guy and his different expressions have on visitors.

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Re:Ask HN: Is this a good format for minimum viable products? by tylerwl on Wednesday February 08, 2012 @01:50PM (#3567844)

"I'll think I'll have to run some A/B tests to see what effect the little guy and his different expressions have on visitors."

Excellent idea. And that's exactly the type of activity that would make for a great blog post!

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