| Overall: | 25 | 2 |
| Design: | 4 | 9 |
| Navigation: | ||
| Usefulness: | 7 | 6 |
25
2
On TeamForger you can express yourself. And because everyone does so (or should do so) you find other people and get a good view about them.
Create a page, you can edit it in a word-like editor or view the source and style it as you like to (microsites). TeamForger can also be seen like a newspaper where everyone can contribute or as the first multi-user-blog.
You can start a team, then add free positions to your team. Other users can now apply to a position and you can choose whom to add to your team by browsing the list of applicants for each position.
A forum is also available.
So TeamForger is about people, teams and jobs.
I wanted to create something like a job exchange FREE OF CHARGE.
*) does the site have a good overview?
*) is it a good idea?
*) what do you miss?
*) how's the design?
Even after reading your tagling/value proposition and your longer explanation, I have really no idea what you are offering. How does your site help me (a potential user)? That's the question you need to be answering immediately.
Some of your overview text is actually working to actively confuse me. What does "TeamForger can also be seen like a newspaper where everyone can contribute." mean? What does contributing to a newspaper have to do with forging a team?
Is this supposed to be like Basecamp? If you had to compare it to an existing app, what would it be?
Ah, here you say the world's first multi-user blog. How is that true? I can set up multiple users quite easily in WordPress which is (obviously) a blog...
While trying to figure the site out, I went to the "teams" section and clicked on the "Corel Draw" tag/link and got a 500 error. The Teams page confused me because, as far as I could tell, no teams were listed there.
Honestly I would not worry about the look of the site or the logo at this point even though both will eventually need to be addressed. For now, I think the site is attractive enough. The major problem I am having is deciphering what you offer and why I would want to sign up as a team and/or user. I would make that my primary concern. Make it obvious what you do and offer. Even though your product is free (for now?) you still have to entice people to sign up!
It's hard for me to say if it's a good idea at this point because I'm still not "getting it". Is it a job board? A "multi-user blog"? A newspaper? Figure out one message/use and push that.
okay this is hard talk, but that is very good as a feedback! The error is now fixed. It was a strange error.
The site helps you to find other people of your kind or with talents that could help you with your goals.
To me it's hard to explain what it is. I know what it is because I programmed it, but it's hard to put in words. Well it's for people to find people and then forge a team together or just forge a team and await applicants for the free positions in that team.
It's about teamwork and jobs.
One of the major features is, that everything is very central due to the tag system.
And you cannot compare it to an existing app, because it is brand new :) maybe a job exchange but even those are different.
Put Wordpress, Myspace and a job exchange site in a mixer, blend and you get teamforger ;)
I have changed the greet-message now
Some of the best feedback you'll get is what you don't want to hear.
My first question for you is - Is this a business in your mind?
If you're having problems explaining it, that might indicate an underlying problem with the site itself. What problem, exactly, are you trying to solve? Who do you envision using your site? Why would they use your site over the other sites that already solve their problem in one way or another? These are very important questions that you need to have an answer for sooner rather than later to avoid wasting your own time (as I have done before).
Answering these questions will also help you hone your site's purpose and message which is what's going to convert visitors to users.
the root of the problem of finding an explanation is that I'm from Germany and this my first international site. People say my english would be ok, but still, some things are hard to figure out. Have much thanks to your build-up.
Maybe you know the plattform called Xing? My site should be the stadium before Xing. Xing is for jobs, TeamForger for teams (and jobs as well, but it's not the main point).
I like the idea - I have seen several services for specific domains that do this, but not ones that cross domains. Often times to be truly effective when organizing a team, you need people from several different domains.
On layout - I'm not really a fan. I see that you try to define what you mean by 'page', but the wording was a little off for me. The layout was a little weird as well with the pages.
There is a big gap between the pages on the left and the items on the right. The tag cloud at the bottom, along with the 'sections' area seemed out of place. I don't think that they should be on the same page...perhaps link to it off the main page.
In your logo, you reference your 'workflow' - users -> Teams, Pages, Forums -> Tags. Could you maybe add a link to that logo so that if I clicked on Pages - it explained what they were. I only need a page defined once, and having it displayed every time is kind of redundant...
I think you've got a good start and it will be interesting to see how this evolves.
TeamForger does not look ready to launch. You may have a cool idea brewing here, and the work you put in shows. The site makes more sense now that I am not trying to think of it as a blog or newspaper or wiki.
I clicked down several tag branches and most lead to empty pages. The site feels like a waste land. You need to pre-populate the site with enough good content for others to want to jump in. If I hit your site via google in the real world, I would have immediately left it thinking the site was defunct.
You mention in other feedback that this is your first international site. Are your difficulties in describing the site a language or cultural barrier? Should you first build your site out in German and then make an English version once you are confident in your product? (I'm just thinking out loud.. May be a bad idea.)
Your sitemap.xml file only contains your major landing pages. You should include all your content to increase your chances of your pages getting indexed in google.
Your title tags are the same on every page. You need to change this. Standard formula "{Page Name} -- {Site Name}". Maybe put your site tag line in there.
For more SEO tips: http://evatt.com/blog/technology/seo/seo-article-ifra
As I click more pages in your site, moving from the programming area to the Rock area, I no longer feel I understand your site. All the links are to You-Tube videos with no descriptions. I don't see how showing rock videos helps to forge a team. Maybe what is needed for programmers is different for rock stars. And if this is the case, should they have different sites?
Finally, work on your "elevator pitch". Pretend you are in an elevator with a venture capitalist and have until you get the the 6th floor to clearly describe what you are doing and why people should care. If you can't do that, then you don't have a clear idea what you are doing and your product will suffer for it. Once you have your elevator pitch, put that on your home page.
Good luck!
1) Does the site have a good overview? No. If I had visited the site without first reading your explanation here I would very likely have clicked out without going further because the text is not very explanatory. You could develop a more concise and understandable tagline along with a couple screen shots of the service and its main features.
2) Is it a good idea? I'm not one to say, because I am not big into the idea, but you can usually tell whether an idea is worth your time within a few months.
3) What do you miss? I miss some certifications such as BBB online (Better Business Bureau) and others that would give me some more confidence in the site. I guess, what I mean to say is that the site does not inspire confidence and trust in me concerning the service.
4) How's the design? It could be better, a lot better... However, as you seem to be trying to perceive interest it isn't such a huge deal. In order for the site to be a large success you will need to upgrade and update the design with a better logo and a less Blog Like format.
My 20 cents.
1) At first glance, I don't get what your site offers. I don't get what this means "TeamForger can be used for i.e." Also don't understand this sentence "This site should help you, finding other people of your kind or people with talents, which can help you with your goals." English might not be your first language, so don't feel bad, it's not mine either but I've lived in the US for a long time. I will suggest you have your site reviewed in its entirety by a grammarian to avoid confusion.
2) I think this is a great idea. Once I played around a bit, I understood what you were trying to do, or what I think you're trying to do. Here is what I think you're providing, if I'm wrong, maybe you should make your point clearer. You are providing a location for anyone to sign up as an individual or a team to offer their services, right?
3) You are missing a few things, but I'll focus on one. I think your signup process is a bit odd. I signed up and then it seemed that I was logout? I don't know what screen I was in after I filled in my info and didn't get any info messages telling me what to do or what to wait for. I checked my email and there was the activation email, but I would never have known that just from your site.
4) I think your design lacks a bit. I like the colors used, I just think that your site needs a facelift.
"TeamForger can be used for i.e." this refers to the pictures on the right of that text. OK I'm in the top five of the worlds worst designers (rest is a template) ^^
well you're right in every point!
but one big thing: when you understood what this page should do, can you, as an american or native english speaking person, give me three sentences what I should write as a short brief for new users? That would be great!!
you're looged out because you haven't yet activated your account.
Thanks for your kind words.
Oh, and I just noticed you sent me my pass in my email...you shouldn't do that! Instead have a password reminder function.
Honestly, at first glance it comes across real confusing. Not sure who you're trying to target, but hopefully ones with a lot of attention that is willing to spend more than 15 seconds reading what you're about. Not sure where to look first! Who's your main competitor? What do you offer better than they do? Color scheme looks nice & clean.
thanks! that are the most direct and honest questions. Good to have my focus expanded. As a programmer you have different questions.
I guess I really need a experienced designer.
The site is a place for people to express themselfs, like they do on myspace. According to this I added features for creating teams and telling what's needed in the team. Sameways people can find people by looking at what each can offer and is experienced with.
It's like you want to create something, like making adjustments at your car or you want to program a small game for the fun. All things you better need more people than just one for are hereby meant.
I really like the idea of the site, but I would like to point out some points which would matter I guess:
1> You can surely improve the header/logo.
2> Try improving the top content section:
"TeamForger is completely FREE OF CHARGE
Forge your team today!
TeamForger can also be seen like a newspaper where everyone can contribute.
The world's first multi-user-blog!
It's free to signup and upload pages."
If you make it a bit more graphical and bigger, then user can understand what you do by just landing on the page. At the moment, as soon as I land on the website, I have no clue as to what the site is all about. Generally, when people would come, they are not going to spend more than 10 seconds unless they find something interesting or what they want.
I don't miss anything particular as such but as I have said, it doesn't convey the message that its "A first multi-user blog" in a more convincing way. May be you can add a video showing how the site works?
The over all design is pretty good, simple and professional.
All the best ;)
ok good points thank you so far
I will work on that
the design is a template... I guess I'll have to find a good designer