Your website sucks.
Yeah, the title of this post has all the subtlety of a brick to the dome. But that's how tons of online applications approach their products! Sure, it works, but you're missing out on tons of potential because it's ugly.
We're dealing with a very sophisticated Internet consumer these days. And with the proliferation of Internet-based applications and services, there are tons of examples of terrible design. I'm not going to preach about UX design or any of that boring stuff. I'm just trying to make a general, sweeping and overly-simplified point.
If you're serious about being an online entrepreneur, you simply have to acknowledge that a beautiful user experience is as important as a flawless and useful application. If you don't, you're toiling for fewer rewards than you could otherwise reap. In fact, I'd argue that you could probably have some legitimate success by stealing the application ideas of a few ugly services, putting some makeup on them, and selling them as your own. Hell, if you're strapped for ideas or looking for experience, I'd fully advocate doing that.
My point is this: The modern Internet user not only expects but demands a beautiful user experience in conjunction with the usefulness of the product.
The Air Force apparently has a saying when it comes to the R&D of new planes...
"Look pretty. Fly pretty."
The notion is that if it doesn't look slick, how can we expect it to function well? That might not be entirely valid as a system of analysis but that's how consumers think!
You're not going to convince the market to change its expectations. You simply have to change what you value in the production of your application to better meet the expectations of the modern Internet consumer.
Disagree or have something to add? I'd love to hear about it. patrick@patrickkeefe.com


