Taking time off NCSU, raised funding for a project I'm working on, and need some critics to verbally abuse the usability of the current closed-beta, this can be a flame war, all feedback will help us iterate on the design.

Thanks again,

http:http://www.acceptedge.com/invite/requestp

8/12/2009 5:16:05 PM

without logging in, it looks great.

I would change the font for the feedback tab though, looks too much like facebook. Also, fix the icon that shows up for your site when you choose to log in with facebook.

[Edited on August 12, 2009 at 5:19 PM. Reason : .]

I might not call it the college "predictor". I glanced at it and read "college predator".

[Edited on August 12, 2009 at 5:20 PM. Reason : edit]

And if you can change it, the feedback forum you're using looks too different from the site itself. It also looked a lot like digg to me. You're all over the place! Pick ONE site's design to use, preferably yours.

[Edited on August 12, 2009 at 5:24 PM. Reason : .]

8/12/2009 5:19:13 PM

Thanks for the quick feedback, I'm glad you mentioned the feedback tab, we have gotten very little from the site itself (in retrospect it does just look like the word "facebook").

The College Predictor is a big feature of our service, any recommendations on different verbiage?

We are not able to change the Feedback Forum, that is a pre-built mechanism for requesting feedback "allows voting, show's what feedback we are currently implementing, etc", do you think it would be better conversion on feedback if we had the standard forms?

8/12/2009 5:31:53 PM

I think you went too nuts with the gradient/textures at the top of the page (where the links, etc. are). For me personally, it makes the actual content in the middle harder to focus on because my eyes see this dark, contrasty things at the top, and then bright, less-contrasty things in the middle that tehy don't like to look at.

I think if the header were brightened, or maybe if the content in the middle had a subtle, darker background, it'd be easier to read.

8/12/2009 5:48:34 PM

the Search Universities searchbar looks more like a tab than an input field. i clicked on it expecting to be taken to a search page. it took me a few seconds to realize the cursor was there now

Quote :

"major refresh of AcceptEdge is currently in the works, with a target release of early summer 2009"

early?

[Edited on August 12, 2009 at 5:51 PM. Reason : .]

8/12/2009 5:49:56 PM

I have the header up on PS now testing out contrasts--

We wanted to launch early summer until we got funding and moved to Silicon Valley and are now entrepreneurs in residence at one of the big venture capitalists out here, so we are aiming for September 1st launch when admissions are at the peak of being busy-

8/12/2009 5:56:35 PM

Also from clicking around the tour tabs, it would be less distracting if the footer didn't move every time the content size changed slightly. If it's so much that I have to scroll in the browser, then that's fine, but it might work better with a bigger minimum content height.

8/12/2009 6:01:51 PM

When looking at the feedback button I would think it was a tab that slides out showing a feedback form. But after clicking on it I was disappointed to see its just a lightbox window (nothing wrong with that either). I think it would look better and users would get the response they expected if it was like a sliding tab (right to left)


Also if i don't put a valid email for an invite...I get directed to a new page that tells me I didn't use a valid email. I would make the validation on the same page unless it was successful this way I don't have to keep clicking back if i make a mistake.
which you did on logging in but if I don't enter the correct information it took me a second or two to realize there was an error and where the error message appeared. It needs to be more obvious. Maybe even change the border or background of the input fields to indicate an error and the error text in the same color.

[Edited on August 12, 2009 at 6:05 PM. Reason : .]

8/12/2009 6:02:12 PM

Working on setting a min-height for tour page area now--

The login / auth needs a fair amount of validation, I like the idea of the tab sliding over and being a more standard form as well, at least for the next few months until we get more substantial traffic that yields a higher conversion of valuable feedback via the voting system currently in place.

I'm sending this all to our UI guy as well, it's much appreciated it.

8/12/2009 6:09:09 PM

What do you think about the College Profile page?

http://dev.acceptedge.com/college/1

8/12/2009 8:53:44 PM

hook us up with a generic login so we can see

8/12/2009 11:25:50 PM

RSXTypeS - if you click http://www.acceptedge.com/invite/requestp all you do is fill out those 3 forms (it can be ambigious info, it pushes you right into the main site).

We will have the actual landing page up tonight though!

8/13/2009 3:29:03 PM

qntmfred - good point a/b the search input in the header, we are changing it now-

8/13/2009 3:30:25 PM

My input:

Flip the login and search locations.

Login is a primary action for the user, so it should be one of the first things they see.

Studies have also shown that search is one of the top 3 things users will do on modern sites, if it is available. That means it needs a more prominent position in your layout, potentially above your nav rollovers.

On the page you just linked to (requestp) - your forms don't need instructions beside them. Those fields with the title inside are more than enough guidance for the user. You'll want to fix the ******* password field to actually SAY password, though.

Just a visual note: don't use #000 for text on a site. Ever. The contrast is too much and can cause serious eyestrain after extended viewing, as well as the fact that it can throw your visual design off.

Try #888 for your text color and see how that works out.

8/14/2009 9:24:15 PM

the menu stuff at the bottom is way too long. like, twice the length it needs to be. any reason for that?

and some of the colors in the "accept edge" logo on the bottom left doesn't quite match the background color.. so yea, kind of looks funny (on this computer anyways)

[Edited on August 14, 2009 at 9:33 PM. Reason : a]

8/14/2009 9:32:44 PM

Overall looking good so far, just some tweaks recommended.

1. Agree with comments about the heavy gradient use. I think gradients are fine for the very top and banners, but solid colors would look cleaner for everything in between. Visually, there is just a lot going on w/o having anything to do with the content.

2. A darkened search box background is unusual. I worry that people will think it is inactive.

3. The "Logout" text should be in the same font as 'My Account', for consistency. And the darkened look of its background makes me think it's selected or active. I'd make it the same background as 'My Account'.

4. The moving footer relative to main content size is a bit distracting. Perhaps if you can only make it go down to accommodate a longer question.

5. I think the bottom menu bar looks fine.

6. Is there a way I can easily go back and revise a previous answer? I tried 'back' on the browser and the form messed up. Perhaps a 'breadcrumb' trail under the % complete section? Not sure.

7. For the 'do you observe a religion' question, "doesen't" --> doesn't. And perhaps "do not want to go to a religious school" should be a choice as well?

8. Tooltips or 'learn more' popups. For the 'urban, suburban, and rural' school question, these labels are often a bit misleading I think, though the data comes from standard sources. NCSU often labeled an 'urban' school i think, yet it doesn't feel like UT-Austin, University of Chicago, MIT, UCSF, etc -- places that are truly in heavily urbanized areas. Maybe for each option you can have a "learn more" link and show a short slideshow with (aerial) pictures of representative campuses for each label. That way you can show the diversity of campuses that fall under label.

9. Perhaps this actually isn't predictive, but I was surprised to see no questions about possible major interests. I ask because when I get my listing of results, I see UNC and WFU above NCSU for the 'ACC Schools' breakdown. If my first major interest is engineering, then UNC and WFU would probably not be ranked higher in terms of predicting which college would be a good fit. Alternatively, if someone was interested in 'medicine' or 'health', then universities with attached medical/pharmacy/dentistry schools would be nudged higher in the recommendation. Granted, this data is probably not easily scrapable, but in terms of quality of fit could help out.

Good luck, it's looking good!
- Saket

8/15/2009 1:19:58 PM

Visually, two things grabbed my attention.

1.

The gradient in this image doesn't fully blend into the top horizontal bar. I can definitely tell where one image ends and the other begins.

2. The login button should either be the same width as the essays column, or not share a horizontal line with it at all.

8/15/2009 2:27:23 PM