Splashoo

5 thoughts on “Splashoo”

1. 1) Look around the home page – what is your initial impression of what you see?
   The first thing that grabs my eye is the graphic showing what you can do (ask questions or answer questions).  I like that the overall look and feel is very simple and streamline.  It is very obvious what you can do on this site.  I also noticed the account sign up/sign in form that seems very simple and straight forward, although I am curious if there is a fee associated with this service.  I would probably want to know that before I sign up.  As you scroll down there are three nice, clean boxes that explain a bit more what the site does.  It might be nice to have that info on the top half of the screen and make the account sign up/sign form smaller.  I also like the color pallete, it is warm and friendly.
    
   2) Do you understand what the site is about after looking at the landing page and the About page?
   I do.  The landing page gives a clear and graphic overall explanation of the site and the About page gives more detail and also shows you actual screenshots of how the questions, polls, discussions that are posted look once you are using the service.  The About page also offered some information regarding a points/prize system, but I am still unclear if there is an initial cost to join or a fee for any part of the service.
    
   3) Are you encouraged to (create a new account, subscribe, sign up for a free trial, etc.)? Can you tell us why (or why not)?
   If it is a free account, I would be interested in signing up.  I like the design of the pages and it seems like the information is presented in a very organized manner.  I would have to evaluate after signing up if the information provided is more relevant/reliable that getting the same information by doing an internet search.  I am not convinced that the information provided here is a better quality than other types of questions and answer forums as there is no mention of screening those who provide answers or that they are required to have some sort of qualification to answer questions on certain topics.
    
   4) Go to search engine of your choice and find one other company that offers a similar service. Compare the two companies. Which on do you prefer? Why?
   I checked out the Q&A Forum of Ask.com.  I like that you are prompted to answer a general trivia question right away on Ask.com, that had me interacting with the site right away.  Also, I noticed that you do not have to sign up to get access to the questions or to answer them, which seems different than Splashoo.com.  Overall, I actually prefer the design and interface of Splashoo.com, it has a cleaner layout with nice supporting photos, whereas Ask.com is in more of a “blog” type of layout.  I don’t think that the quality of answers would be any better on Ask.com given that I could start answering questions right away without any qualifications.
    
   5) Please share any additional feedback/comments you may have.
   Overall, it is a very clean looking site, with a single, straightforward message.  I would like to see another way to get into the site/get involved in the discussions or questions without having to sign up. I would like to see more information about how it actually works/what type of information I can expect before being asked to sign up.  Also, it is unclear if there is a cost, so that should be spelled out on the homepage or at least have a link that talks about the fees/points/prizes.
   Thank you.
    
    
    
    

2. 1) My first impression of this site is that is has a simple layout on the home page. I think it may be too simple as there are not many working links above the fold. I think many users will find it helpful that they can sign in with their facebook account. The synergy of facebook and providing opinions will work well, in my opinion.
   2)It is not 100% clear what the site purpose is at first, but marketing professionals would find some interest in the discovering the trends. The About Page makes it much clearer the purpose of the community site and the incentives to participate. It also displays how it is different from Yahoo answers and ask.com.
   3) I am encouraged to sign-up, but not for the points because I never win those type of contests based on points. I would sign up to see how different types of people view the same topic since I am a marketing professional and generally an intellectual curious person. Signing in with facebook makes it easy, but raises concerns over privacy.
   4) I searched google for the term “earn points for your opinion” and one of the top sites that came up was https://www.opinionoutpost.com/.  The main differences seem to be that splashoo provides the results or trends across various demographics while opinionoutpost provides a cash payment option. I would more than likely select splashoo since I would like to compare and contrast my opinion with people who are both similar and different than me.
   5) Since this site has no cost to sign up, it will be relatively easy to get users to get to try. I think the more difficult part is continual engagement and revisits. Also it would be helpful if it became more apparent the purpose of the site and how it is different than the competition.

3. 1) Look around the home page – what is your initial impression of what you see?
   My first impression of the site was that it is a question and answer site. I easily spotted the “Ask and Answer Questions” banner so that I was able identify what the site is about.
   The colors are pleasant to the eye and gave a relaxing vibe but I felt that it was too plain.
   The layout does not seem balanced to me as well – it feels like there is too much empty space. Maybe it would be better if the sections were moved closer together.
   Since this is a question and answer site, I was expecting to find some list of questions somewhere in the homepage. I’m guessing the only way to find out is to sign up. It’s a bit disappointing and discouraging at the same time – how do I know that there are active users and questions running in the site at all?
    
   2) Do you understand what the site is about after looking at the landing page and the About page?
   Yes, it is easy to understand what the site is about. The landing page gave me a quick idea and the about page explained the details clearly. It was great to see screenshots of how the question/answer format looks and how it works.
   I just wish there was a page showing the actual questions. If a visitor sees an interesting question, this may encourage him/her to sign up to participate.
    
   3) Are you encouraged to (create a new account, subscribe, sign up for a free trial, etc.)? Can you tell us why (or why not)?
   No because I couldn’t tell if the site has active users or not. The idea of the site is really interesting but without seeing a list of active questions or any discussions, it seems difficult to believe that the site works at all.
    
   4) Go to search engine of your choice and find one other company that offers a similar service. Compare the two companies. Which on do you prefer? Why?
   So I ended up in Ask.com.
   What I like about Ask.com is that they feature questions in their homepage and that visitors can search and view questions without having to sign in. This a big plus for me. But comparing the format of qeustions on both sites, I definitely prefer Splashoo’s. Based on the screenshots on Splashoo’s About page, users have the ability to use pictures for their questions and even do polls.
   In terms of site activity, I will choose Ask.com since I’m sure people will participate. But in terms of the features, I like Splashoo’s better.
    
   5) Please share any additional feedback/comments you may have.
   The site has a clean layout but I feel that it is too plain. Maybe a background image or gradient will help get rid of the empty spaces.
   Although it is easy to identify what the site is about just by looking at the homepage, I was expecting to find links to click on the page’s sections (Ask Questions. Express Yourself…) to bring me to a more detailed page but there wasn’t any. The only way to get more details about the site was through the About link at the bottom. This could confuse some users who might not find the links easily.
   I like the overall idea of the site. Seeing the screenshot of the questions being asked, I think it is something that will really grab the interest of visitors. I especially like the feature that you can upload photos and ask opinions about it.
   The biggest thing I wish the site has is a page of the actual questions/discussions. This will show that the site has active users and is a lot more inviting for visitors.
   All in all, the site seems to offer something new and interesting but without showing any site activity, it may not grab the interest of first-time visitors at all.

4.  
   1) My initial opinion of the homepage is that it is not very appealing. On the homepage, you are required to log on to your site without any really useful information about the site. There is nothing on the homepage that would entice someone to bother to take the time to register for your site. You have three boxes on the homepage that provide no information on the high quality of the activities available on your site.
    
    
   2) I believe the use of color on the Landing Page and about Page is much more appealing than the bland homepage. Using color graphics on the homepage would increase the likelihood that someone interested in this kind of site will register for it. Once drawn into the site, there are many interesting discussions available on a wide range of topics that would draw the user back. Access to the About Page, as well as the Blog is hidden at the bottom of the site page. Access to these pages should be much more prominent on the website. A variation on the About Page should probably be the homepage for the site. Seeing the About Page and the Landing Page made the site much more interesting to me.
    
   3) There is nothing on the homepage that would spark my interest in registering for your site. As I explained above, the homepage needs much more eye appeal to make me want to register for the site.
    
   4) The site I looked at was MYSPACE.COM. That site made extensive use of colorful graphics which made for a much more appealing site to explore. I believe looking at that site reinforces my belief in my comments in item 2.
    
   5) I believe the demographic you are looking at would be bored by the blandness of your homepage. Once you get beyond the homepage, there is much about the site that your demographic would find very appealing. I believe if you reworked the homepage, your site might be very successful.

5. 1. The first thing that caught my attention was the huge registration box on the right. It dominated the page. Other than that, my first impression was that the home page looked very generic. I didn’t see anything about it that was particularly enticing.
    
   2. The home page gave me the impression that Splashoo was just another site like Yahoo Answers or Ask.com. However, after reading the About page, I realized that your site offers prizes for active users as well as fairly sophisticated data collection and graphing.
    
   3. I probably wouldn’t join the site since I don’t think I have enough time on my hands to answer questions regularly. But I can see how college kids, stay-at-home moms, or others with sufficient free time would find this a fun challenge.
    
   For the purpose of this review, I went ahead and registered. I was surprised at how much data you wanted (i.e., full name, date of birth, gender, etc.). Most sites just want a user name and password. This would be a turn-off for me if I was a visitor trying to decide whether to sign up or not. Once inside the site, I thought the layout was attractive, and I liked that it was more visually oriented than its competitor sites, featuring images to accompany questions. I had no problems navigating the site using the Q&A categories, although I didn’t notice any graphs or other data displays. It also took me a minute to figure out that the main search bar only works for the currently highlighted category. I would’ve preferred a search feature that could return results for the whole site.
    
   4. I don’t even need a search engine to tell you that Yahoo Answers and Ask.com are big competitors in this field. However, as noted previously, they don’t offer the kind of data collection and comparison or the kinds of incentives for participation (i.e., prizes) that you do, at least not to my knowledge. So you seem to have an advantage there.
    
   However, what Yahoo Answers and Ask.com do more effectively is presentation. Notice that when you land on each site’s home page, it displays a current feed of questions and answers plus a search bar to get visitors started. I actually don’t think either home page is ideal, but at least visitors can immediately discern what these sites are for and how to get involved. Also, unlike Splashoo, these sites have no barriers to reading questions. Visitors don’t have to register to read, just to answer. I’m guessing that increases their traffic quite a bit in comparison to a site like yours that requires everyone to sign up before they can interact with the questions in any way.
    
   So, ultimately, while I think Splashoo has a better concept than either Yahoo Answers or Ask.com, I think the latter two sites do a better job of marketing themselves at this point.
    
   5. If I were you, I’d start by redesigning your home page. Make your logo smaller and place it further up in the left corner. Make your registration box a lot smaller and move it below your three selling points. Those three selling points should be front and center. Visitors aren’t going to convert to members before they know what the site is about, so tell them that first. I also think you really need to add a selling point related to the prizes you offer. Again, this is a great incentive for participation that your major competitors don’t offer. Finally, I would set up a feed of current, active user Q&As and maybe a recent graph or two on the home page to give visitors a preview. They shouldn’t have to go to the About page to see that stuff.
    
   As mentioned before, I like the visual orientation of your site. It’s attractive, and it’s fairly easy to navigate (I found Q&As easily but not any of the promised data). However, I really think you need to let visitors at least read the Q&As. If they want to actually answer questions, then they should probably have to register, but honestly, you’re going to lose conversions if you don’t let visitors get any kind of preview of what you have to offer.
    
   That’s about it. To sum up, I like Splashoo’s concept, and I think if you work on your presentation, you could eventually be a competitor for Yahoo Answers and Ask.com.

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