Ask HN: What do you think of our site?(txtms.com)
txtms.com
Ask HN: What do you think of our site?
http://www.txtms.com
7 comments
But what does it do? I get that it lets me create and share a profile, but then what? How do people view/save it on their phones — Do you just send a text message with a blob of information to pick through? What to they do with my profile beyond receiving it? Why do they need to create their own profile?
"Business cards, minus the paper." would probably make that a lot easier to understand, and I think it accurately answers the questions:
1) When meeting a person, rather than giving them your business card you say "Text 12345, which is my number, to this address" and then your business card shows up on their phone automatically.
2) They use your profile information however they would normally use contact and professional information. Its just a business card, after all. Go nuts.
3) You don't need to have a business card to get a business card, but it is a good idea anyhow.
1) When meeting a person, rather than giving them your business card you say "Text 12345, which is my number, to this address" and then your business card shows up on their phone automatically.
2) They use your profile information however they would normally use contact and professional information. Its just a business card, after all. Go nuts.
3) You don't need to have a business card to get a business card, but it is a good idea anyhow.
A name + position + email + company name + phone number can easily add up to > 160 characters, which is the max a text can have. Having information split up across various texts isn't too useful; makes it annoyingly irritating to read a phone number, for example.
And with this method, the person receiving the contact info either has to:
A. Have a good memory in order to remember everything to reenter. This is irritating at best and very difficult at worst. Lets say there's more then one phone number to enter? Or the person has a slightly unusual name. Or any number of factors.
B. Have a few minutes to spend flipping back and forth between the message and the contact. This is time consuming and much slower then just trading business cards.
//edit: Perhaps my original question would have been better phrased as "But what does it do better then what is currently done?"?
And with this method, the person receiving the contact info either has to:
A. Have a good memory in order to remember everything to reenter. This is irritating at best and very difficult at worst. Lets say there's more then one phone number to enter? Or the person has a slightly unusual name. Or any number of factors.
B. Have a few minutes to spend flipping back and forth between the message and the contact. This is time consuming and much slower then just trading business cards.
//edit: Perhaps my original question would have been better phrased as "But what does it do better then what is currently done?"?
Like the other posters have already said, it wasn't immediately apparent to me what service is actually being offered. The 'tip' which is buried on the how it works page definitely needs to be prominently shown as it does (somewhat) help to explain the service.
But that still doesn't tell me what happens when someone texts my user ID to [email protected]. (And they're probably doing this in response to me telling them to 'text kiwidrew to [email protected] for my contact details'.) Questions that immediately come to mind: Do they get a text message in response which has my details? Do they have to sign up to txtms.com first? Will this somehow automatically add my number to their phonebook? Is it actually any faster to give them my user ID and the [email protected] address? Why not just give them my phone number and email address, which is probably about the same length and easier to remember?
After examining the Help page in detail, it sounds as though the person sending a message to [email protected] (to get my details) won't get a response until I log in to the txtms.com website and approve their request. But if I'm out and about (away from web access) and tell someone to text [email protected] for my details, _nothing happens_ for several hours -- and if something went wrong (like the text being sent to the wrong address), neither of us will know until it's too late to do anything about it!
But that still doesn't tell me what happens when someone texts my user ID to [email protected]. (And they're probably doing this in response to me telling them to 'text kiwidrew to [email protected] for my contact details'.) Questions that immediately come to mind: Do they get a text message in response which has my details? Do they have to sign up to txtms.com first? Will this somehow automatically add my number to their phonebook? Is it actually any faster to give them my user ID and the [email protected] address? Why not just give them my phone number and email address, which is probably about the same length and easier to remember?
After examining the Help page in detail, it sounds as though the person sending a message to [email protected] (to get my details) won't get a response until I log in to the txtms.com website and approve their request. But if I'm out and about (away from web access) and tell someone to text [email protected] for my details, _nothing happens_ for several hours -- and if something went wrong (like the text being sent to the wrong address), neither of us will know until it's too late to do anything about it!
I try to click around and read few times, but, it's very hard for me to get the idea on "why i should use it".
Maybe this high-concept pitch needs some reword. "Share your info with a single text message!". IMO, it's everything, and, it's nothing at the same time.
It probably works much better if i can have some context. As patio11 suggested above, "Business cards, minus the paper". Nah, that i got it on why i need to use the app.
It probably works much better if i can have some context. As patio11 suggested above, "Business cards, minus the paper". Nah, that i got it on why i need to use the app.
Where are the dates for the posts on your blog?
http://txtms.blogspot.com/
http://txtms.blogspot.com/
Name is hard to pronounce
"We might have a job opening for you, but only if you submit your business profile IN THE NEXT THIRTY SECONDS."
No, just kidding, I like the site. It has a nice minimalism feel like most good sites..
No, just kidding, I like the site. It has a nice minimalism feel like most good sites..
Read and apply this: http://www.uxbooth.com/blog/good-call-to-action-buttons/
The nav bar, the log in button, and the two red links are all too prominent, so nothing jumps out. Topright signin, large login, red sign up for free, bottom left sign up - redundant. How it works in navbar, Help, red See how it works, What is Txtms - redundant. Every extra option is one less reason to choose ANY option.
I have no idea what your site does. However, when I read the "tip", everything became clear: "To start sharing your profile, have any mobile user text your User ID to [email protected]." Reword that and put it on the front page. You also might want to explain why this isn't just a business myspace for mobile phones.