Ignighter Blog

Our New Design

If you’re reading this blog, chances are that you’ve noticed the new design we implemented throughout the site over the weekend.

We’re personally really excited about the new design because not only does it look better than our old site (there’s no denying that), but it also includes some major improvements in overall usability.

The design is courtesy of the multi-talented Andrew Hyde and we’re very appreciative. For more on Andrew Hyde and his many hats, check out this post on Krista Paul’s blog.

As always though, Ignighter is a work in progress and we’re looking for feedback. So if you think the color scheme sucks, we removed an important feature, directions are confusing or overwhelming, or you simply want to tell us how much you love every part of it (we like these the best), please let us know!

July 7th, 2008 Posted by Adam | About Ignighter, Design, Ignighter Release, Ignighter Update, ignighter |

Copy That

Many thanks to Brian Burns for going out of his way to drastically improve the landing page copy on Ignighter.com. Check it out and let us know what you think.
Copy is really important, especially landing page copy. Think about what happens when you click a link to a website you’ve never been to before. Chances are you scan the top left side of the page looking for some keywords that jump out at you. Then as your eyes scan diagonally down and to the right you might look for some kind of imagery that conveys the idea of the site. But often times an image is ambiguous. Take a look at the current image on our landing page. Is this a group dating site? A social network for people in the witness protection program? A dissociative identity disorder support group?

If the image doesn’t cut it, and it usually doesn’t, then it’s time to find the words. As consumers we generally hate looking at the words because a) we’re really lazy and b) the words aren’t always crystal clear either.

We can’t do anything about the laziness, but if we try hard we can make the words more clear. It’s easier said than done though because writing copy is hard. Effin hard. We Ignighter fellas consider ourselves fairly capable writers, but it’s become immediately apparent to us that we suck at writing copy for Ignighter. Part of it is that we’ve been living and breathing Ignighter for many months now. We talk about the concept to each other and to outsiders multiple times a day. We’ve become so entrenched in our own worlds that it can be really difficult to articulate what we’re doing, why it’s great, and keep that all under 75 words. We’ve learned that as founders of a company it’s important to take a step back and get an outside perspective (we’ve found this to be valuable in just about every area of building a business, but copy writing is a prime example). In our case we were very fortunate to get the outside perspective of a professional copy writer. But even if you can’t get that, having your buddy explain what exactly you do back to you can be a great exercise in re-understanding your own company.

On his blog, Brian does a great job of explaining why copy is especially important for startups, and this really resonated with us:

Startup copy is ALL about the ideas. That’s because most startups (at least in new tech) are developing a new one. You’re not peddling blenders here… you’re selling a new way for people to relate and interact around RSS feeds (for example). Really, that’s what makes new tech so cool, and if you do it right, that’s what gives your copy (and your brand) life. But it also means you have to explain the ideas, and it means you have to explain them well.

We (obviously) love our concept, but if we can’t convey it well on our site, then the idea loses significant value. That’s pretty much a no-brainer since our site is the physical manifestation of the concept.

We think we’re finally on the right track now, but we’d love to hear people’s feedback, so please check it out and let us know what you think. Pretend you have no idea what Ignighter is and you’re stumbling upon the site for the first time. Do you immediately understand the concept? Did your brain try to skip the words first and then come back to them? Can you get a feel for the demographic we’re primarily targeting? (hint: 20-somethings with one personality)

June 17th, 2008 Posted by Adam | About Ignighter, Ignighter Release, Ignighter Update, Startups, group dating, words, writing copy |

Ignighter’s First Weekly Release

About an hour ago we pushed up our first in what will hopefully be a series of weekly releases that will continue throughout the summer.

If you visit our homepage you will notice we have a different look. Our design intern, Jeff Beining, did a great job of designing a new header for us which really helped bring a new, sexy tone to Ignighter.

As you navigate around the site you will also notice that a majority of it is exactly the same as it was before. In addition, you will probably even find some bugs. Each week we hope to add better functionality and a better look and feel. Little by little, and with the influence of some amazing mentorship, we hope to make a great looking and flawlessly functioning site.

On a visit to Dresden, Germany a couple years ago I stopped by Volkswagen’s Incredible Glass Factory.

Here they build the prestigious Phaeton (much more popular among Euro-glitteratti than American-glitteratti) in a completely transparent environment. Volkswagen invites the general public in to get a glimpse of the Phaeton during each stage of its construction. It’s awesome.

That’s kind of the way we view our construction of Ignighter right now. We’re building in a glass factory.

I guess one difference between us and Volkswagen is that our “general public” consists of a handful of friends and mentors who regularly read our blog and visit our site when they’re bored at work and Perez Hilton hasn’t updated in a few hours. VW’s general public consists of thousands of curious Volksophiles traveling from thousands of miles away just to see how the cars under construction.

Another difference is that we’re greatly desiring of feedback from all of you. We want to know how you think the site looks, how we can improve the functionality, and where we can find bugs. The site will be constantly evolving, but we’d love to have the participation of our friends. At Volkswagen, that wasn’t exactly the case. During the tour I actually tried to convince one of the German workers to try making the driver’s side floor slant downward toward the pedals instead of toward the seat (whenever I drop a piece of gum while driving it’s like there’s an industrial strength vacuum sucking fallen objects into a crevice too tiny for my large hand to reach). Those workers apparently weren’t seeking out feedback though. I don’t know what his German barking translated to, but the hills weren’t exactly coming alive with the sound of his voice.

We, on the other hand, are very serious in our request for feedback. So please tell us what you like and don’t be afraid to tell us what sucks. Don’t worry about hurting our feelings, we’ve been in Boulder 2 weeks and already our skin has gotten thicker than yo Mama’s glasses. And those things can see into the future! Ohhh!!!.

So please let us know what you think. And don’t worry, none of us know German.

June 6th, 2008 Posted by Adam | About Ignighter, Ignighter Release, Ignighter Update, ignighter |