Yet another clone...burnt all my bridges

7 点作者 infocaptor将近 14 年前

It may be just "yet another clone" and I don't have words to defend that.Feel free to bash my approach on presenting a web app as desktop application or cloning a "done to death" idea into a web application that can be used on desktop or host it on your own.For the past 2 yrs I have worked so hard that I poured my entire soul and heart into my new product. So if you believe every soul is unique then there must be something unique about it, right?After all the work done I think it is time to push my baby out the door even though it thinks it is not ready. But who decides readiness? My first product was not even half ready when i launched it so i think this should be ok to release.I was a total newbie when it came to anything related to internet application development. My brain was wired for only database and java programming. So I had to learn php,javascript,jquery etc from scratch, do the research, experiment, learn and implement. so 2 yrs is complete end to end, evenings and weekends. In 2006 I quit my job and started working on my first product and did consulting on the side. Now I have quit consulting permanently and working on my new product. I can say, I have finally burnt all my bridges :)Here is the product info MockupTiger is a web based wireframe and prototyping app for dashboards, web applications and desktop software. You can use it on your desktop or host it on your corporate network or domain.Since it is a web application built using PHP, I had to use a portable webserver like server2go for desktop deployment. I know that it won't be a straight "install wizard" like experience but i had no other option. I was not willing to have two kind of product/architecture to maintain and support.If you wish to try, I want to give you free license and offer this to all HN users reading this.Just download the application, either on your desktop or your domain and when you come to the registration screen, enter "hacker" for the last name field. i will know that and will automatically email you the license information.After that if you like to review it and provide feedback it would be awesome.Email me directly at support@mockuptiger.com for all of the belowIf you hit any issues installing on your desktop or domainHere is the download with instructionshttp://www.mockuptiger.com/how-to-download-and-start-mockuptiger-on-desktop (NOTE, in step 6, enter 'hacker' as last name)For server installhttp://www.mockuptiger.com/how-to-installhost-mockups-on-your-own-server-or-domain (NOTE, in step 3, enter 'hacker' as last name)thank you NileshPS: I tried hard not to sound desparate but actually I am so desparate to get feedback. Working alone for 2 yrs and suddenly I am expecting you to talk. Please, I am dying for feedback and will take every suggestion and criticism in good spirit.

7 条评论

pkamb将近 14 年前

I'd lose the cartoon tiger mascot right away.No one is going to read any of the paragraphs of text on your homepage. Especially the one at the very top. You want bulleted lists, quick bits of text you can read in seconds. Your "Summary of Benefits/Features" section at the bottom does this... do text like that + thumbnail pictures for each.

M1573RMU74710N将近 14 年前

Just FYI "burning your bridges" is a very negative term, and it's generally considered something that you should never do. (i.e., it's not something you would put a smiley after).The phrase implies a permanent and somewhat violent (not necessarily physical) end to a relationship.Simply quitting your job would not be considered "buring a bridge" unless you quit in such a way that you could never ever get your job back (for example, punched your boss in the face or something like that).Your tool looks interesting and I wish you good luck with it.One thing I would suggest at the moment is to lose the cartoon-ish tiger logo you have, in my humble opinion it doesn't fit with the type of product.Also, I would change the colors on the various boxes that say things like "Save time", and "Save Money"...They also seem cartoon-ish and don't seem to fit with the product.Also at the bottom I would change this line:> Please, can you share this with your friends and colleagues?The tone is just overly conversational and a bit to pleading (unintentionally I'm sure).A simple "share this" like most websites have would probably be better.Wish I could give feedback on the product itself, but it's not the sort of thing I use.

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msmithstubbs将近 14 年前

I wouldn't be so negative about it being 'yet another clone'. You've created a product that fulfils a need. The fact that others have produced similar products demonstrates there is a viable market. You've targeted a specific need with the download option which presumably you see as under served.I tried the web demo but as others have mentioned it's not working at the moment.I do have some comments on the website itself. I find the homepage a little confusing. Clicking 'Home' take me to 'Wireframe and Mockups', which is actually the homepage. I'd move 'About' and 'blog' links to the end of the nav, as they are less important to a potential customer. The features and benefits can probably do without the shaded background - use a larger heading and they will stand out on their own, while reducing clutter.I'm interested to see how the 'portable server' approach goes. I can see the appeal of self-hosting options for larger companies, but I suspect the personal users will be less technical, business types who don't want to worry about a local web server. Hosting the app for them will cut down on your support requests, so why not sell online access to personal users for $77 and the enterprise, self-hosted package for more (say, $299)?

PonyGumbo将近 14 年前

I totally understand your anxiety. I've been getting feedback for my application over the last few months, and it typically falls into three categories:1) Actionable items (e.g. this was broken, you should add this feature) 2) Binary Criticism or Praise ("hard to use" / "looks really good!") 3) Talking out of their asses ("Forget digital, it's all cassette tapes these days!")With that in mind, I'm going to try to stick to category 1 as much as possible.First, why not make it a simple web application? It'd be easier to deploy features and bug fixes, and you'd eliminate the support nightmare surrounding installations. Plus, you'd have predictable recurring revenue.Second, the graphics/clipart on the homepage - including the screenshot - seem a little amateurish. I'd put a demo video here instead. I'd hire a graphic designer to put some polish on, and lose the cartoon tiger entirely. I also think you'd be much better off having a simple website layout already mocked up in the web demo rather than the array of clipart.I hope this is helpful, and I hope you take it in the spirit in which it was intended. I know it's difficult to hear criticism when you've invested so much time in something.

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huhtenberg将近 14 年前

Clicked on the "Try web demo" link on the home page and it does not appear to be working properly.It brings me to <a href="http://www.mockuptiger.com/wireframe/mockups/demo_register.php?mode=SUCCESS" rel="nofollow">http://www.mockuptiger.com/wireframe/mockups/demo_register.p...</a> page, which looks like this - <a href="http://i54.tinypic.com/dnh6c7.png" rel="nofollow">http://i54.tinypic.com/dnh6c7.png</a>. "Click here" points at getin.php, but it effectively cycles back to the same page after all redirects.

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draggnar将近 14 年前

put up a screencast or some type of video - or even just some screenshots.

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infocaptor将近 14 年前

Here is the direct link for download <a href="http://www.mockuptiger.com/download" rel="nofollow">http://www.mockuptiger.com/download</a>