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Feedback appreciated on side-project I've been working on

A

Alphathree33

Platinum Member
It's called HeadHire. I built it with several thoughts in mind:

* That most employed people would at least consider a job offer if it involved more money and bigger opportunities

* .. and that companies (esp. software/technology) are really struggling to find the talent they need. (At least the ones I've worked for.)

The idea: why not give companies the opportunity to see how difficult it would be to hire someone else's employees? (e.g. what would their asking price be.)

The feedback I'm looking for is:

* Would you create a profile and/or hire people from the site? Why or why not?

* General feedback on the idea, usability of the site, the value it provides, etc.

Thanks a bunch guys. I've been slaving away at this nights and weekends for a while now. ;-)

http://www.headhire.com
 
theflyingpig said:
Sorry dude, but that website just looks 'fake' to me. I don't know what it is, but it just does. I wouldn't sign up.
Click to expand...

No offense intended but I agree. The layout bears an unfortunate resemblence to many a spam site I've seen. It's probably the sparse layout, big words and the list of numbers.
 
dighn said:
No offense intended but I agree. The layout bears an unfortunate resemblence to many a spam site I've seen. It's probably the sparse layout, big words and the list of numbers.
Click to expand...

None taken... I can't ask for feedback and then get offended now can I. ;-) You guys are totally in my target market so if you don't like it, I'm sunk.
 
Alphathree33 said:
None taken... I can't ask for feedback and then get offended now can I. ;-) You guys are totally in my target market so if you don't like it, I'm sunk.
Click to expand...

I think it's rather unfortunate because that site actually utilizes great design imo, focusing the reader's attention to the relevant areas. but ads tend to use the same tricks... I'm no graphic design guru though so I can't give advices on changing it. And impressions can be quite personal.
 
Alphathree33 said:
This is really good feedback especially if you could pinpoint what about it, e.g.:

color scheme
layout
wording/language
font
style
graphics
Click to expand...

I would have to say it's all of the above. Right now, it has the look and feel of one of those spam/placeholder sites. I guess the thing I dislike (dis-trust?) most about the site is the "recently created profiles" section. It just looks like a google ad box to me, and I've conditioned my brain to automatically ignore and/or hate anything that even resembles them.
 
theflyingpig said:
I would have to say it's all of the above. Right now, it has the look and feel of one of those spam/placeholder sites. I guess the thing I dislike (dis-trust?) most about the site is the "recently created profiles" section. It just looks like a google ad box to me, and I've conditioned my brain to automatically ignore and/or hate anything that even resembles them.
Click to expand...

OK. Is it the salaries that irk you?
 
This is why you hire a graphic designer, as others have said the entire presentation lends itself towards that of a spam website. You need to take a step back from this and consult with someone who understands how to layout information to make it appealing visually, someone who is well versed with web design.
 
Well thanks for the feedback guys. It's really interesting -- that's why you ask for feedback, never know what you're going to hear.

Everyone else I've shown the site to LOVES the design and finds it really easy to use. I've actually been evolving it based on user feedback...
 
Alphathree33 said:
Well thanks for the feedback guys. It's really interesting -- that's why you ask for feedback, never know what you're going to hear.

Everyone else I've shown the site to LOVES the design and finds it really easy to use. I've actually been evolving it based on user feedback...
Click to expand...

You're showing it to the wrong people then, or people who are too close to the project to give you accurate feedback. It's pretty unanimous here already.

If you're serious about the project, hire a designer. If you can't afford one, see if you can get a student interested in helping you out over craigslist or something like that. It will make all of the difference.

Goodluck!
 
Sabot said:
You're showing it to the wrong people then, or people who are too close to the project to give you accurate feedback. It's pretty unanimous here already.

If you're serious about the project, hire a designer. If you can't afford one, see if you can get a student interested in helping you out over craigslist or something like that. It will make all of the difference.

Goodluck!
Click to expand...

See, when you say "hire a designer" I'm not sure how that's the solution. Feels like I need a marketer.

IMO the "design" follows good design principles; the problem that everyone is talking about is more on the marketing side of things.
 
Alphathree33 said:
See, when you say "hire a designer" I'm not sure how that's the solution. Feels like I need a marketer.

IMO the "design" follows good design principles; the problem that everyone is talking about is more on the marketing side of things.
Click to expand...

The design does not follow good design principles.

Bad initial gut reaction from your users = bad graphic design

Bad gut reaction to text based content = bad marketing / strategy
 
I would expect to see a link to a FAQ on any site like that. I would have to read more before I would consider signing up.
 
Is there a particular reason you used 'Sign Up' and 'Sign In'? It stands out, but I'm not sure in a good way..
 
Couple of things from this full-time developer:

- The colours on the front page don't make it clear what is a link and what is regular text. I'd drop the gold header colour and use a dark/medium gray instead.

- Font sizes aren't delineated well. I believe in very apparent changes in font size, making it extremely obvious what's a header and what's body text. Pretty much everything on the front page blends together to average out to 18px or so. My eyes don't know where to start and follow.

- Don't have a feedback button always-present, especially on your front page. You've a professional website. While feedback is great, a link of that prominence is a distinct sign of a lack of self-confidence.

- The major obstacle your website faces is that there are approximately one million job search websites on the Internet. I'd instinctively decline to sign up on 99.9999% of them because I realize I'd end up submitting all of my confidential information to a website that has all of 5 candidates and 0 companies signed up. Best way to rectify that? One of two ways: Put a company considered to be a household name on the front page (see the right side of http://www.monster.ca/ ). Alternatively, place a 50px wide banner right above your "Would you like to earn more money at a better job?" text that lists the signup statistics of your website: "Available immediately: 47,000+ jobs" and "Number of Employers: 3,800+" (see near top of http://www.dice.com/ ).

Best of luck - that's a brutally tough website market to try to break into this far along.
 
Looks good to me. I like the colours, fonts, and general desgin. I think the "spammy" feel others are getting is just from the emptiness of it.

Once you flesh it out with more features/content it will look less and less "spammy".
 
Here's the problem I have. I would never, ever, put my name on a site like that. Here's why. If I were to see an employee of mine on there, I would immediately start looking for a replacement. When it comes to the software industry (where I work), there is a HUGE learning curve and it takes a long time to get a new person up to speed so loyalty is a big thing.

It's a good idea. It might be a big hit. I wish you the best with it. But I know that I wouldn't sign up.
 
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