Software dev at Netflix | DC techie | Conference speaker | egghead Instructor | TC39 Educators Committee | Girls Who Code Facilitator | Board game geek | @laurieontech on twitter
I hate the idea that you need to be the "target audience" though. Too often someone mentions a piece of technology in a meeting and we all go to their site to quickly understand what it does/why it's there. Every site should make the information understandable to the majority of people.
I do agree, we should try to simplify things. At the same time saying that just because you want to be included, a company should appeal to you, is wrong. I say "you" by the way as an example and with no disrespect or insult intended.
At the end of the day if a company wants to appeal to a very, very specific individual - let them. It does 2 major things.
You'll spend about 2-3min on their site and give up, saving you time and headache in the long-run with a product you would probably buy but never actually use (hello dozens of "unique and helpful" software packages).
If someone actually DOES need their service they'll almost immediately know, and their on-boarders / sales teams will be able to work with clients that they can actually help/assist.
This really focuses on platforms that are very, very B2B and not B2C (or even B2D Biz to Developer). Example being Puppet as you said. I opened their site, saw the word "DevOps" and immediately got turned off slightly. Then I read the "one liner" and realized I have no idea who they are, what they do, or if I can use them in anyway whatsoever - resulting in me closing their site. Even if my company COULD use them their marketing jargon and lack of "wtf do you do" turned me off.
I'm sure someone out there though loved the page and immediately wanted more information. =]
Software dev at Netflix | DC techie | Conference speaker | egghead Instructor | TC39 Educators Committee | Girls Who Code Facilitator | Board game geek | @laurieontech on twitter
I've been coding for over 20 years now! (WOAH, do I feel old)
I've touched just about every resource imaginable under the Sun (too bad they were bought out by Oracle)
This is a very good perspective! I'm now trying to approach with a few tools that I know very well.
php.net has two sentences at the top explaining what it is.
mariadb.org has a very large "about" card right on the homepage.
arduino.cc also has a nice large "about" card on the homepage.
ansible.com is sort of a middle ground. it feels more like marketing jargon then actionable items.
redis.io has a nice explanation on the homepage.
sublimetext.com has quite possibly the simplest and most direct "about" one-liner at the top. fitting for what it is! plus the homepage animations are a great introduction to what the text editor is and does.
code.visualstudio.com assumes you're already looking for a code editor and know what all the buzzwords around them means.
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I like that you point out Puppet as an example, because the website entirely fails to answer "What problem does this solve for me?"
It's not always marketing jargon. If I visit the Haskell website I also don't get a clear answer to that same question.
But in their defense, it might be because I'm not the target audience for either of those websites.
I hate the idea that you need to be the "target audience" though. Too often someone mentions a piece of technology in a meeting and we all go to their site to quickly understand what it does/why it's there. Every site should make the information understandable to the majority of people.
I do agree, we should try to simplify things. At the same time saying that just because you want to be included, a company should appeal to you, is wrong. I say "you" by the way as an example and with no disrespect or insult intended.
At the end of the day if a company wants to appeal to a very, very specific individual - let them. It does 2 major things.
You'll spend about 2-3min on their site and give up, saving you time and headache in the long-run with a product you would probably buy but never actually use (hello dozens of "unique and helpful" software packages).
If someone actually DOES need their service they'll almost immediately know, and their on-boarders / sales teams will be able to work with clients that they can actually help/assist.
This really focuses on platforms that are very, very B2B and not B2C (or even B2D Biz to Developer). Example being Puppet as you said. I opened their site, saw the word "DevOps" and immediately got turned off slightly. Then I read the "one liner" and realized I have no idea who they are, what they do, or if I can use them in anyway whatsoever - resulting in me closing their site. Even if my company COULD use them their marketing jargon and lack of "wtf do you do" turned me off.
I'm sure someone out there though loved the page and immediately wanted more information. =]
While that’s fair in the “it shows me I don’t want to work with them sends” I’d like us all to strive for better. But I see your point.
This is a very good perspective! I'm now trying to approach with a few tools that I know very well.
php.net has two sentences at the top explaining what it is.
mariadb.org has a very large "about" card right on the homepage.
arduino.cc also has a nice large "about" card on the homepage.
ansible.com is sort of a middle ground. it feels more like marketing jargon then actionable items.
redis.io has a nice explanation on the homepage.
sublimetext.com has quite possibly the simplest and most direct "about" one-liner at the top. fitting for what it is! plus the homepage animations are a great introduction to what the text editor is and does.
code.visualstudio.com assumes you're already looking for a code editor and know what all the buzzwords around them means.