That is a horrible front page. You don't want your users to see that right away. I do understand that you want your users to see right away that your service is "OMG SO EASY" and everything, but throwing them right into the empty personal page is very confusing. You should have a more general front page that explains what's going on succinctly using simple terminology and pictures, with a big "Get Started!" button that drops them into the editing interface that's the current front page.
Alternatively, your front page could be the editing interface, but with the default contents set to an explanation as described above. So the user would just get started by removing your content and adding their own.
I understood your front page, but only after a moment of confusion. Your average user is just going to be confused and scared away by that page. (They have no incentive to put in the effort to figure out what's going on, so it has to be obvious.)
Go with the alternative of an editing page with some default help content. Never have a get started page if you can possibly avoid it. Never ever.
If I saw your getting started page that said something like, 'Make your own webpages! Put text anywhere!', I'd leave. The only thing you have going for you is that people can literally click on the page anywhere and type text in.
Alright, so the parent poster was not very constructive with his criticism but personally I have no idea what to do with this site. And don't take that to be a reflection of your own abilities as a developer, it just means it's time to push through the next iteration cycle and do better.
A front page should provide a value proposition, either implicitly (allow the user to sample your service in a way that makes its value clear, like google) or explicitly (by stating your value prop, like photobucket). I think the best front pages are hybrids, much like Flickr, which allow you to both quickly sample the service and read how you should be using the site.
Comments
That is a horrible front page. You don't want your users to see that right away. I do understand that you want your users to see right away that your service is "OMG SO EASY" and everything, but throwing them right into the empty personal page is very confusing. You should have a more general front page that explains what's going on succinctly using simple terminology and pictures, with a big "Get Started!" button that drops them into the editing interface that's the current front page.
Alternatively, your front page could be the editing interface, but with the default contents set to an explanation as described above. So the user would just get started by removing your content and adding their own.
I understood your front page, but only after a moment of confusion. Your average user is just going to be confused and scared away by that page. (They have no incentive to put in the effort to figure out what's going on, so it has to be obvious.)
Just my two cents.
Go with the alternative of an editing page with some default help content. Never have a get started page if you can possibly avoid it. Never ever.
If I saw your getting started page that said something like, 'Make your own webpages! Put text anywhere!', I'd leave. The only thing you have going for you is that people can literally click on the page anywhere and type text in.
What front page do you have?
Alright, so the parent poster was not very constructive with his criticism but personally I have no idea what to do with this site. And don't take that to be a reflection of your own abilities as a developer, it just means it's time to push through the next iteration cycle and do better.
A front page should provide a value proposition, either implicitly (allow the user to sample your service in a way that makes its value clear, like google) or explicitly (by stating your value prop, like photobucket). I think the best front pages are hybrids, much like Flickr, which allow you to both quickly sample the service and read how you should be using the site.
Just some food for thought!
http://jey.kottalam.net/tmp/clutterme.png