Uplaude – Just Show It Off!

18 thoughts on “Uplaude – Just Show It Off!”

1. Send an email to info@uplaude.com with the word STARTUPLIFT on the subject line and we will send you an beta invitation email. Okay.  I sent it and received my invitation in approximately two minutes.
    
   While you wait, go to  . Spend no more than 5-10 seconds on the home page. What do you think the site is about? It appears to be a site where you can announce a recent event in your life for others to see and award you for such.
    
   When you receive the beta invitation email, click on the link to create your account. I received my invitation in approximately two minutes.   Account created.
    
   Comment on various elements of the site (design, navigation, etc.). The design of the site is very clear, clean and easy to read.    Navigation is very easy.  The pages all seem to load in a matter of seconds without incident.    The About page is very straight forward and to the point.    Terms and Privacy are all laid out with easy to understand wording.    I am not totally understanding the Leaderboard section.  The pictures all seem to be very fuzzy and I can’t seem to find out what they are all about.
    
   What do you think about the concept of the site? Is there anything you would like to change? Although I understand the concept of the site- which is to show off your accomplishments and have others acknowledge them, I don’t see where I would actually have a need for this.  I am assuming it is something geared to the younger generation and/or someone who has a great online presence.    I would like the Leaderboard page to have some sort of explanation as to what it is about and what it pertains to.
    
   I am not understanding how to directly upload my award either.  I do not see the section or page that lets me do so.
    
   Please share any additional feedback/comments you might have. My concern is that I have missed how to upload and/or share my awards.  Or is it that others give me an award.  This information is not totally clear to me.  I don’t see any instructions on how to do this, nor what the Leaderboard is all about.  I would like to have access to that information immediately upon my arrival to the website.
    

2. Send an email to info@uplaude.com with the word STARTUPLIFT on the subject line and we will send you an beta invitation email.
   Done. Signed in.
   While you wait, go to https://www.uplaude.com. Spend no more than 5-10 seconds on the home page. What do you think the site is about?  It appears to be a way to give awards to people.
   When you receive the beta invitation email, click on the link to create your account.
   Done.
   Comment on various elements of the site (design, navigation, etc.).
   I am assuming you mean from inside the dashboard (once logged in)
   I can view fan uplaudes, pending, leaderboards…
   No real guided direction to “get started” – wish there was a tutorial or obvious steps to use Uplaude.
   What do you think about the concept of the site? Is there anything you would like to change?
   It seems like you have an awards aspect, but you need more dimensions. Some sites reward for behaviors, but it just seems like you have an award. How will your model generate revenue? How does your site offer something that others dont? Doesn’t currently solve a need in my life.
   Please share any additional feedback/comments you might have
   Actionable suggestions:
   1. I see awards on your homepage – however, it means nothing to me, the first time visitor. Do you think the awards should have a dedicated page (off of your homepage) and leave your homepage for your selling points and maybe show an “example” of an award (or the most recent one) without having to show all of them. I don’t believe showing so many adds any value to your brand.
   2. I think you should have a large selection of customized icons for your awards. The two-hands inside a pale yellow circle is not visually appealing to me.
   3. I don’t know why I would send invitations (10) when your service does not sell itself or show me that I need it.
   4. Don’t know why I receive 3 emails for signing up. Is leaning toward the spam (annoying) side. Especially if I find that your service can’t help me.
   5. I wish there was more dimensions to what you offer, other than just giving rewards. Don’t see business viability here.

3.  

   Send an email to info@uplaude.com with the word STARTUPLIFT on the subject line and we will send you an beta invitation email.

   Sent email got a response in less then five minutes.  So I commend you on obviously having this on an auto responder, to insure that testers get access as soon as possible so they can complete their task at hand.

   While you wait, go to https://www.uplaude.com. Spend no more than 5-10 seconds on the home page. What do you think the site is about?

   I take it this is about discussing awards and accolades that you have received along the way.  However, this isn’t made very clear on you homepage.  In fact I found myself pressing on the home link because I wasn’t sure I was actually on the homepage but maybe my own profile page, only to discover that this was indeed the homepage.  Sorry, but it needs to be more descriptive as to what the website is all about.

   When you receive the beta invitation email, click on the link to create your account.

   I did this and it was fairly simple to do.  However, had no need to upload any awards at this time so I wasn’t able to test this part of your program. 

   Comment on various elements of the site (design, navigation, etc.).

   As I said above the homepage isn’t a well done as it could have been.  I thought the font was a good size and quite visible, that the links were pretty self-explanatory, but still not enough information on what the website is all about.
    

   What do you think about the concept of the site? Is there anything you would like to change?

   Well I think the concept is a good one in general.  Lets face it when something great happens to us we want to share it with others, but if we don’t have anyone to share it with what do we do?  This website gives you a chance to share you accomplishments with others.

   Please share any additional feedback/comments you might have.

   I can’t stress enough that the homepage may need to be redone.  I think you have a good idea for a website, but the homepage really doesn’t explain well enough what can be done there.  Maybe you could show people examples of what they could do on the website in the way of showing them examples of pages showing awards that have been uploaded.  Give them a description about how the website was designed to share your accomplishments with other out on the Internet.  Your homepage is the first impression someone will have of your website and as it stands now I don’t think it’s a good example, this is just my opinion.

4. Send an email to info@uplaude.com with the word STARTUPLIFT on the subject line and we will send you an beta invitation email.

   Done.

   While you wait, go to https://www.uplaude.com. Spend no more than 5-10 seconds on the home page. What do you think the site is about?

   It’s like a site which allow people to post their special event or any achievement in their life and get reward from others.
   

   When you receive the beta invitation email, click on the link to create your account.

   Done.
   

   Comment on various elements of the site (design, navigation, etc.).

   The layout looks simple and easy to use which is comfortable. I would suggest that the displaying comments area should be have different color with the background so it does not look confused. Or u can have a boxes line for displaying the comments. The menu bar showing at the right hand side would be a new design for me as usually people will place it on top and i like your design which place it on the right. I feel that it’s more convenient. when i click on my own username it shown the home page, when i click on your hot spot which is your site logo it shown the home page too, and there is a home link at the right of your menu bar. i dont think you need such many link that linked to your home page. maybe you can cancel the username. I would like to see that i can directly search for friends at the home page instead of clicking the find people. The send invitation have a limitation stating that 10 left. i dont really understand why you have to add the 10 left as i think that isn’t good if people invite more than 10friends?. I like your profile pages which displaying the amount of awards, comments etc. 
   
   

   What do you think about the concept of the site? Is there anything you would like to change?

   The concept of the site is great. Which i think it is a nice place for people to share and brag about their achievements. People would like it as who doesnt like let other people know their achievements to others? I think this site can attract many members. Beside uplauding, i would like to share some video about the uplaude if i have. i would like to have something like if i get more than 10awards what benefits will i get from the site. This could make things more interesting and more active. i also like to share my future achievement that i have in my mind, so when i achieved it i can brag about it at uplaude. when people share about their future achievement, it can allow their friends to give the person some encouragement. When the person face problem in their achievement they can find solutions through plaude by asking people opinion or helps. I would like to add these to the site so it can have more feature can it’s more useful for people. I also would like to rate the achievement such as people are rating this achievement as a high achievement or a low achievement by thumbs up or rate by stars. Maybe you can add photo sharing as people like to share photos. 
   

   Please share any additional feedback/comments you might have.

   Since the site is new to people, i suggest that you showing how does your site works, listing the purpose and features of your site, listing what benefit people will get when signing up for your site and the quote of your site. By listing these visitors will get a clear image about your website and what your website offer to them. People like sharing things with their friends, so at this point your uplaude is a very good sharing point which people will really like. But maybe some people doesnt know what uplaude is, you have to explain it more clearly at the main page. Such as displaying: What is uplaude? (follow by your description). Make it short. and also show them steps by steps about your site feature which is really important.

5. Send an email to info@uplaude.com with the word STARTUPLIFT on the subject line and we will send you an beta invitation email.
   Done. It took just two minutes for the invite to arrive.
    
   While you wait, go to https://www.uplaude.com. Spend no more than 5-10 seconds on the home page. What do you think the site is about?
   It seems to be sort of a social networking site focused on congratulating people on various accomplishments and life events.
    
   When you receive the beta invitation email, click on the link to create your account.
   Ok.
    
   Comment on various elements of the site (design, navigation, etc.).
   Well, the homepage is incredibly plain. And the logo with the little hands reminds me of computer graphics from a much earlier era, maybe the mid-’80s. That creates the impression that this site is something either tech-related or kind of retro. I think you really need some images of balloons, confetti, streamers, award ribbons…things suggesting celebration. Maybe some smiling people holding up trophies or ribbons or obviously celebrating monumental life moments like college graduation or a new baby. The recent awards at the bottom would be more eye-catching if they featured larger user icons. That way, the focus would be on people. Right now, the focus is on the award icons, which do nothing to personalize the site. The whole thing has a drab, impersonal feeling right now.
    
   You could really use some tabs at the top to familiarize new users with the site. I checked out About (which, again, should really be at the top), but the page is really sparse. It does give me a general idea of what the site is about, but it doesn’t get me excited. It needs more detailed copy, some screenshots, maybe a video.
    
   Once I got into my account, I was expecting something a little more elaborate and was surprised to see the same plain layout and color scheme. I started clicking through the tabs at the top. How come I can only send 10 invitations? Wouldn’t it be better to allow users to send an unlimited number of invites? The profile seems to provide basic functionality, but this is something you could definitely dress up and make more fun. Instead of just asking users to create a bio, how about encouraging them to list things like “degrees earned,” “honor societies,” “titles,” “awards,” “achievements,” “life events,” etc.? After all, this site is supposed to be about earning awards and comparing achievements. I didn’t see any privacy settings. It would be nice to have some options there. How does “Find People” work? Should I be searching for names or email addresses or what? You really need an FAQ or user guide page to explain how to use the site, including how to send awards and so on.
    
   My feeling is that you could just do so much more to make this site visually appealing and fun to use. And as it is now, I’m not sure why I should use it. I mean, is it really worth signing up for a site just so I can send a friend an “award” graphic? I already have plenty of ways of congratulating my friends that are a lot more meaningful–sending cards and flowers, sending ecards, leaving Facebook or Twitter comments for those who use such services. What’s the big incentive to use your site? I would be more excited if you offered meaningful prizes for users who earn a lot of awards on your site. I’m talking about monetary prizes, vacation packages, gift certificates, things like that. Maybe you could offer different awards for different kinds of accomplishments and then give prizes to users who earn the most awards in a specific category. Like how about a gift certificate to a sporting goods store for people who earn a lot of athletic awards? Or a free Kindle for people who earn a lot of academic awards? Stuff like that.

   You might also consider offering a bunch of awards that are “just for fun.” These could be awards for things like being a great friend or being a natural comedian. This would allow people to make their friends feel good about themselves whether or not they have any significant talents or professional accomplishments.

   Finally, I think you should expand your search feature so that users can find each other based on similar interests. You might also allow users to form interest groups on your site. For instance, people who are interested in games like chess or poker might want to form a group, and people who are into a sport like track or tennis might want to form a group. That way, they could more easily keep track of each other’s accomplishments.
    

6. Thanks for your feedback.  You bring up some valid points that we had not taken into consideration.  But, hey, we’e just starting out and this is the type of feedback we are looking for.  Thanks again.

7. Good feedback.  Thanks for the insight. We are definitely looking at more dimensions but we wanted to start off with a minimum set of features.  We will do what we can to make sure that it becomes a site you will want to use.  Thanks again.

8. Thanks for the great feedback.  I think you make very valid points about the site and feedback like this will really help us out.  Thanks!

9. Awesome feedback! This is the kind of feedback we were looking for. I have a question about the comments, did you mean to change the background color of the section that contains the comments when on the award page?  As in to create a visual division between the award and the comment?  Great feedback and insight. Thanks again!

10. Definitely great feedback!  The invitation limit is just because we are in beta and just starting out.  We want to limit the exposure for now. We appreciate the insight and feedback.  Thanks!

11. Send an email to info@uplaude.com with the word STARTUPLIFT on the subject line and we will send you an beta invitation email.

    While you wait, go to https://www.uplaude.com. Spend no more than 5-10 seconds on the home page. What do you think the site is about?

    The site is about giving others rewards, for their achievements.
     
    I am not really sure why you would want to do that though… The only reason that I can think of, is when you are doing a team project and you want to guide your team mates into doing the right job.

    When you receive the beta invitation email, click on the link to create your account.
     
    Got it in around 5-10mins. A quick comment here. I don’t like the fact that you used a hyperlink without the showing the URL. “Accept invitation” was hyperlinked to an invitation page, but really you should have at least showed the URL. Why? Because some people are maniac about having to click on a “god-knows” redirection.
     
    They prefer to physically copy/paste the URL into the address bar, for safety purposes. And it makes sense doesn’t it? You could have hyperlinked me to “www.virus-attack.com”, for example (I don’t know if the URL actually exist). The point is if you say:
     
    “Accept invitation – https://www.uplaude.com/users/invitation/accept…”
     
    I know that the URL is from uplaude.com and not from some weird website. Please take that into account.
     

    Comment on various elements of the site (design, navigation, etc.).

    HOMEPAGE
     
    Your homepage is really abstract. You should provide more details about “How” to award people. How your website works, what awards can you give, and most importantly why I would want to sign up. Isn’t it the main goal? To make people sign up and use your website, and as such, you need to provide them a reason to sign up. You are just saying “Sign up to award other people and receive awards”, yet you do not specify what types of awards, is it a score that you get? Or a physical award sent by mail? Apart from this feature what more do I get? Social network? If so, include it in your webpage. Give the user a reason to join!
     
    The header in your homepage is way too big. In some cases, it works fine, but here it does not. Why? Simply because you just got a bunch of texts plus your logo… Texts are not really attracting are they? I’m pretty sure you did not want to read this comment either. Just think for a moment. Would you rather go to a website with block texts, or a website with lots of illustrations? I know which one I would choose. The homepage is not interactive enough.
     
    You might argue that you don’t have much texts at all, and I would argue back that the amount of texts depend on the amount of images. The ratio between them. And your website definitely got more texts. There is also the issue of “too big” font size as well… When you include a text that is too big, it is really hard to read.
     
    We often say that big texts are easier to read, this is true but TOO BIG texts are hard to read because the reader will need to take some distance before being able to read.

    For example, take a heading in the newspaper, a little big. It is easy to read if you are far away but if you put your eyes close to the words, you will find out that it is really hard to read. It is the same effect with your homepage. You know that the visitors will be using a computer and thus being relatively close to your texts. By making your texts so big, you just made readability a little bit more diffifult.

    AFTER SIGNING UP
    ( Award Page I’m guessing )
     
    First thing I noticed… A spanish “reward”… I don’t understand spanish and I’m confused. Your website should be 100% english, OR at least provide the option to filter the reward into different languages. “Display awards in english, french, spanish, etc…”
     
    Umm… The layout seems to be simple but I am still confused. It is not really user-friendly. I got a big block on the right-hand side with the words “CyberFrancis” written on it. What is it supposed to do? I also got the option to “become a fan”. I am guessing that “CybeFrancis” is another user? If I guessed right, you should indicate that.
     
    I clicked on my username, and when to my profile but then when I tried to find the previous page again, via the links/tabs, I couldn’t… Why?

     
    PROFILE PAGE

    Pretty straight forward. I love the way you describe the blocks when I don’t have any items in it. It tells me what will be in there, which is really helpful.

    I don’t like to see your logo everywhere. In the profile page only, I can notice 3 of your logos. One in the header, another in the Gold Coin award thing, and the other one is on top of my username. There is too much of it. A maximum of two should be used. More than that is becoming absurb.
     
    I still don’t get the purpose of giving awards… I clicked on the “Click here to describe your awards!” and when filled I was awarded this award? So I can award myself? Doesn’t that defy the purpose of getting awards from other people?
     
    Again… I think, the space that the awards take are way too big… Imagine someone having 100 awards, how many would you be able to fit in one page? How long that page would be? And if you don’t fit everything on one page, and use a “next” button, how many of those next buttons would you need to click? Now imagine 200-1000 awards? You should make them take less space… Or at least, get a “Minimise” or “Summary” option.
     
    It is just plain boring… No interaction at all. Provide a “news” block or a “latest award” block in my profile. I just have Award, Given, Comments, Fans…. The landing page is too boring. Include the fans on top, the comments just underneat or on the side and THEN the awards in another tab… Make it sort of like a blog, it would be much more interesting.

    What do you think about the concept of the site? Is there anything you would like to change?
     
    Interactivity – Read above
     
    Colour scheme – You got only one colour with different tones, this adds to your website’s boredom, include more colours! Four maximum! And it will much more entertaining for the eyes
     
    Change the aspect of the format of the “awards”. Maybe enable the addition of a title? So that you can summarise them using on the title, and when clicked on, the description will show.
     
    Different colours of the awards would be good too. Okay, I got let’s say 5 awards, and I should be able to change their appearance, or order. So that I can choose my preferred award or my best awards, don’t you think? I think it would be an interesting concept to think about. If I choose an award to be my best one, change its colour! Maybe to diamond like feature? It would be awesome.
     

    Please share any additional feedback/comments you might have.

    You should moderate the awards given, it you can. Because people WILL spam and giving stupid awards such as “Biggest **************** ever!” or something. I can see that happening so easily, and thus people will start feeling bad about themselve for being “unloved”, etc…. You should thinkg about those consequences.
     
    You could also enable a feature to link it to facebook and twitter, it would be awesome if for example, your friends on facebook could award you! And see your awards.
     
    I still stress though, that I don’t much use into obtaining virtual awards…
     
    Anyway, Sorry for the long post, but those are my feedbacks and I hope that they will be useful to you! Good luck!
     
     

12. u can change the background color of the sections between the award and comments, so people will not easily get confused. You also can create a visual division between them. I think create a visual division between the award and comment would be enough. As it will look more comfortable. Im glad that my feedbacks can helps.

13. Send an email to info@uplaude.com with the word STARTUPLIFT on the subject line and we will send you an beta invitation email.

    Email sent and I have received my confirmation email.

    While you wait, go to https://www.uplaude.com. Spend no more than 5-10 seconds on the home page. What do you think the site is about?

    While only viewing the website for a few seconds, I think this site is a site where you can give your friends awards for their accomplishments.
    
    When you receive the beta invitation email, click on the link to create your account.

    I have created my site.
    
    Comment on various elements of the site (design, navigation, etc.).

    The navigation is quite simple. Everything is pretty self explanatory. 

    What do you think about the concept of the site? Is there anything you would like to change?

    I like the concept of the site, there’s not much I would change because I do not know of any other site like this.
    
    Please share any additional feedback/comments you might have.

    The only other additional info I have is I like the concept of your website.

14. Good feedback! Don’t apologize for the length of the post. The more you share the more feedback we get. Thanks for specific details.

15. Thanks for the feedback.

16. $5 awarded to pafjlh.

17. $5 awarded to H_game.

18. $5 awarded to tthau2010.

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