Expose Yourself on Launchly's Site Review Service

Written by Dana Oshiro / July 3, 2009 2:00 PM / 4 Comments

This post is part of our ReadWriteStart channel, which is a resource and guide for first-time entrepreneurs and startups. The channel is sponsored by Microsoft BizSpark. To sign up for BizSpark, click here.

You know that scene in Alice in Wonderland where Alice is tumbling down the rabbit hole past all those miscellaneous chairs and birds? That same feeling of confused dread is often how users feel when they're attempting to navigate a site that has never been tested. We know that developers pour their souls into their projects. But that's also why it's sometimes difficult (and even personal) to point out the flaws. A developer has to ask, "Do I want it built my way without compromise or do I want users?" If you want to run a business, rather than spending months speculating on what you think users might want, it's sometimes best to simply ask them.

Launchly is a web application review site where developers can upload screen shots and links and ask for user advice and feedback. Released this past week, Launchly appears to be a beefier version of Feedback Army with the additional abilities to track changes and request multiple rounds of recommendations.

The site allows developers to submit and resubmit their projects in iterations. Each iteration must be at least a week from the last one and new iterations are bumped to the top of the "New Launches" section. This placement in the "New Launches" section prompts user responses via Twitter and RSS. From here, developers gain a new round of suggestions, traffic data and social buzz aggregation. Older iterations are then stored in the "Iteration Archives" for review.

Says Minnesota-based Launchly founder Brian McManus, "When my own launch day came, I did the typical submissions and SEO stuff but still found myself wondering what people thought of the idea and site in general. I turned to HackerNews and requested feedback there."

McManus was thrilled with his feedback but unfortunately his post was shortly buried below a slew of other posts. He could resubmit for further discussion, but he'd lose the thread of suggestions he'd already received. In order to track his site changes and show the evolution of his own work, he created Launchly. McManus is currently charging $40 for the standard launch package and he plans to roll out two additional tiers to incorporate the added features of polls, custom sub-domains and usability testing.

A few companies are already appealing to the Launchly community for feedback, including TwitterMass, Tweet Promote and Iconfinder.

The truly interesting part about this service is that it allows reviewers to see sites evolve as per their suggestions. In essence, Launchly creates a sense of ownership and site-loyalty for those who've contributed feedback. While it's too soon to say if the site will take off, it's a great way for developers to gain new insight into the projects they're often too close to. It's also a non-violent and civil way to settle team disputes and make a case for changes to stubborn executives.

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Comments

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great idea, something I have been through myself with the launch of http://startupticker.com

The design sucked but it's changing each day and as are the features but its all from our usage and user feedback. we are not quite there for the design but we are closer now.

I will try this for new projects for sure.

Now if there was a site that had a decent amount of coverage and also showed off these types of projects then that would be great.

ReadWriteDev = developer project shown off maybe :D

Posted by: Darren | July 3, 2009 3:39 PM

This seems like a really nice idea, in theory. However I don't see what would motivate people to go out of their way and go to launchy test a site and then write some constructive feedback, much less go back and care about how the site development is progressing. That's one issue. Second issue is that they're charging the site owners to list their sites! If there was a way to channel some of that money to the people reviewing that site or if there was an expert review, then it might be worth it.

Just my 2 cents.

Posted by: Gezim | July 4, 2009 11:33 PM

Hi Gezim,

I'll respond to your question about motivation with one of my own. What motivates all of the people on sites like HackerNews to give feedback to people that ask there? In my opinion there are simply people that like looking at new sites and would love to have the opportunity to help shape them at an early stage. It could have a direct impact on them if it's a tool/site that they might use long-term.

On your second issue, we charge because we believe we are providing a valuable service. Nothing is really free anyways because it costs you your time which is one of our most valuable resources. Charging helps to ensure we have high-quality sites launching with us. That being said, we are mulling over ideas along the lines of what you were thinking. The difficulty, of course, is how do you handle paying people? Paypal? Sure. Now what about the potential tax implications? That's where the problems start.

Posted by: Brian McManus | July 5, 2009 1:56 PM

Launches on launchly are now free in anticipation of some major changes coming up in our new release! After the release there will still be a way to get free launches in addition to the paid tiers so everyone will be able to get in on the launchly action.

Posted by: Brian McManus | July 23, 2009 8:30 PM