Review Appreciated Please

ImDave · 07-10-2014 3:26pm #1

Hi Folks,

I have been working developing a site based around office/commercial workspace lettings. The idea is that of a standard property listings website, but tailored for the business/commercial lettings sector. The plan for development going forward before launch is to enhance the "TeamUp" functionality, moving more towards connecting people to develop, expand and collaborate on business opportunities etc.

I would appreciate any of your valuable feedback.

www.snapdesk.ie

Thanks,

Dave

ImDave · 17-11-2014 11:42pm

If anyone has any feedback on this I would appreciate it. I realise it is reasonably unpolished at the moment but any tips appreciated.

cormee · 18-11-2014 11:59am

Hi ImDave

I like the idea, best of luck.

Few observations/comments

Centre and change the colour of the List Your Space button, it doesn't jump out at me at the moment.
What is TeamUp? You need some sort of explanation, maybe via a tooltip on the button. At the moment it's meaningless.
Your selected link/current page isn't highlighted in your global nav, it's stuck on "Home" at the moment
Include a Register link in the global nav
Include a link to register on the login page, or ideally, include the form itself using a tabbed panel
"Place Listing" is a bit ambiguous, as it could be a location (place) or add (place an advert), clarify that
A search for everything in Ireland returns a "No listing found", which is not true, either list everything or highlight to the user that they need to qualify the search by selecting specific fields (make selecting options mandatory)
Lose the

on the serp (personal opinion!)
I'm not mad about the h1 font, I'd go for something a little more modern (personal opinion)
Pretty/Semantic URLs would help your SEO
The thumbnails on the SERP seem to be full sized images that use height/width attributes to scale them down, scale them down correctly and use the original size ratio
Maybe make the phone and email buttons a different colour
The Favourites option is neat, maybe make it available to non-registered visitors?

hth

ImDave · 19-11-2014 10:43am

cormee wrote: »

Hi ImDave

I like the idea, best of luck.

Few observations/comments

Centre and change the colour of the List Your Space button, it doesn't jump out at me at the moment.
What is TeamUp? You need some sort of explanation, maybe via a tooltip on the button. At the moment it's meaningless.
Your selected link/current page isn't highlighted in your global nav, it's stuck on "Home" at the moment
Include a Register link in the global nav
Include a link to register on the login page, or ideally, include the form itself using a tabbed panel
"Place Listing" is a bit ambiguous, as it could be a location (place) or add (place an advert), clarify that
A search for everything in Ireland returns a "No listing found", which is not true, either list everything or highlight to the user that they need to qualify the search by selecting specific fields (make selecting options mandatory)
Lose the on the serp (personal opinion!)
I'm not mad about the h1 font, I'd go for something a little more modern (personal opinion)
Pretty/Semantic URLs would help your SEO
The thumbnails on the SERP seem to be full sized images that use height/width attributes to scale them down, scale them down correctly and use the original size ratio
Maybe make the phone and email buttons a different colour
The Favourites option is neat, maybe make it available to non-registered visitors?

hth

Cormee,

Many thanks for taking the time to check it out.

Everything you have pointed out is valid and correct, and all stuff I will look to address straight away.

One thing I was thinking was that the TeamUp function isn't explained properly, and the idea of explaining with a tooltip is a great idea.

The search form returning no results when the city/county dropdown is left blank is also something that has been on my mind and I need to reconfig the PHP a little to figure a way to sort that out.

Thanks again for your help.

Dave

myIdea · 19-11-2014 12:35pm

Fix your pre-footer background image:

.mid-banner {
background: url('../images/tc.jpg') scroll center transparent;
padding: 5em;
background-size: 100%;
}

Reduce padding to your liking.

_Brian · 19-11-2014 4:18pm

I wonder if there is enough information immediately regarding the purpose of the website. you have information but it falls below the fold. I like the look you've got but wonder if more information higher up wouldn't be a good idea.

tricky D · 19-11-2014 4:40pm

In addition to the above:

Why don't you use the geolocation features of html5 to display listings in the user's area and have those displayed more prominently ie. further up the page or above the fold (wherever that is these days).

I don't think a tooltip will work well for explaining TeamUp. It's easy to miss and has significant problems on devices. I'd suggest looking at a video and/or dedicated page. TeamUp = 'Find others to rent space with' explains it well but is buried at the registration page.

Your email addresses need to be made into mailtos.

html5 allows for a phone number to be rung directly on a device, use <a href="tel:+35314434745">+353 (0)1 4434745</a> instead.

Grey text on grey/light backgrounds is hard to read, up the contrast.

The usage and term workspace doesn't hit the mark imo. The umbrella term used in this part of the market is usually commercial property. Why not just stick with that?

You're using some 's for spacing which is a poor method, use a css padding instead.

Dump the meta keywords entirely, it has no positive value and using 'dublin' in the attribute 4 times risks a Bing penalty.

I don't quite agree with cormee on the thumbnail sizing. The Rule of Thumb is to have them at thumbnail size for thumbnails and full size for full size with exception for scaling on devices. Resizing using height and width is a poor method.

Use og: tags and the like to control the content on Social Media citations.

Check out on using heading tags more correctly wrt semantic ordering/hierarchy.

You need to look at selling the advantages better, perhaps some case studies or the like could work.

The registration pages have some text in the graphics which would be better if they were displayed as text.

On the property listing pages, the email for info sends to a form instead of displaying an email address which is expected. Phone numbers could have the html5 tel stuff mentioned above.

The Add Bookmark links to a generic login page with no explanation that login is required. You could make this a separate login page with the required explanation.

Why not use the View on Google Maps feature fully with the properties flagged instead of a static map with no actual location/GMap functionality.

hth/gl

cormee · 19-11-2014 5:30pm

[QUOTE=tricky D;93101831
I don't think a tooltip will work well for explaining TeamUp. It's easy to miss and has significant problems on devices. I'd suggest looking at a video and/or dedicated page. TeamUp = 'Find others to rent space with' explains it well but is buried at the registration page.

I don't quite agree with cormee on the thumbnail sizing. The Rule of Thumb is to have them at thumbnail size for thumbnails and full size for full size with exception for scaling on devices. Resizing using height and width is a poor method.
[/QUOTE]

Well having a tooltip is better than not having one, maybe use both a tooltip and Tricky D's suggestion.

What issues do tooltips cause on devices? Here's a mobile friendly example (haven't tested it) http://osvaldas.info/elegant-css-and-jquery-tooltip-responsive-mobile-friendly

Re thumbnail sizing, I'm saying the same as you, Tricky D, don't resize them using height and width.

tricky D · 19-11-2014 5:38pm

cormee wrote: »

What issues do tooltips cause on devices? Here's a mobile friendly example (haven't tested it) http://osvaldas.info/elegant-css-and-jquery-tooltip-responsive-mobile-friendly

Fat finger and un-focusing: not for all mobile browsers handle tooltips gracefully and care is needed for the un-focusing due to the danger of unintentionally and annoyingly clicking a link outside the tip area.

Misread the other bit, apols, should have read it properly instead of scratching my head as to why you would suggest the bad resizing method, which of course you wouldn't.:):o:

zephyro · 22-11-2014 8:17pm

My 2c:

1. Loads without js!

2. Don't like the background image at all!
3. I think it should be a little clearer on landing what exactly your service is, not an expert but afaik "workspace" isn't the standard term here. Maybe move some of the explanatory text from just above the footer to the header?
4. Not obvious what the purpose of "Team Up" is, and as placed it suggests it reads from the two input boxes which I doubt.
5. Several issues when clicking on "About" ... navbar disappears, don't think the "Find" button should be on an about page, "check out or FAQ" -> "check out our FAQ".
6. Why not add the FAQ to the navbar?
7. The about content seems to be partally duplicated on the homepage, why??
8. I'd remove the properties from the homepage, hardly anyone will scroll down never mind click.
9. I'd add Contact to the navbar too, as well as the social media links.

Most importantly though the concept seems a decent one, gl!

Joshua5 · 03-12-2014 7:14pm

I think the concept is great but you will struggle without a big budget for marketing. With the likes of Regus and Instant offices this will be a difficult battle.

ImDave · 15-12-2014 6:09pm

Guys - thanks sincerely for the feedback which is very valuable.

I have taken steps to remedy most of the points noted in the posts, and working now towards some of the more intensive enhancements.

Joshua5
I think the concept is great but you will struggle without a big budget for marketing. With the likes of Regus and Instant offices this will be a difficult battle.

Fair point for sure. One thing however is that this website is distinct from the likes of Regus and Instant Offices as it is not just for serviced office space by any means. The focus here is more so on sharing office or commercial space, and allowing business owners/commercial space owners to let unused/unwanted space out to generate additional revenue. In addition, I would like to see a wide range of types of commercial spaces - not just office/retail but workshops, commercial kitchens, music recording/rehearsal space etc.

Moving forward, the idea with the TeamUp feature is to match and encourage people to collaborate when renting spaces together, or collaborate on business ventures or opportunities which may be mutually beneficial.

Thanks again for the feedback.

Review Appreciated Please

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