Maybe they can use http://alpha.crowdmind.com to facilitate the application review process. Going to release private group collaboration functionality soon, this could help when comparing the applications.
IMO, you need to do 2 things to be successful with this app:
1. Integrate with major IM services, AIM, Jabber etc, and have your own "Say Hi service" in there for LBS chat.
2. Put something around the app, as in make it do more than just chat. Explore making it a dating app, so that you can chat/"quick date"/"lunch date" people around you that are signed up with your service. Companies like match.com etc have just stopped innovating in this space and you may be able to get traction.
I haven't done the research to see who else is doing this but it seems like for your app these two things look like an obvious steps.
We are different from hunch because we are more of a perspective gathering tool, rather than giving you an answer at the end.
This system is meant to help with gathering advice and wisdom from your network and the crowd. It then lets you rate how important those things are to you so that you can make a decision.
Good job, overall I like it. I understand your audience and the need to do this in a simple format. Mint & Wesabe are US focused and don't cater to your audience. One thought is to make this available to other audiences - e.g. Chinese, African, etc. Because similar needs exist in those places and all you would have to change is language on your site.
My review is going to sound critical, but assume things I didn't mention are good
My first reaction (in order):
1. How is this better than Mint or Wesabe
2. Why would I start inputting things manually when others can crawl it for me.
3. "Oh this is for an Indian audience" - make this clear on the site
UI:
- Bouncy effects are distracting
- Use row background colors to differentiate between them
- Red cross is too prominent, grabs attention before anything else
- Graph is also grabbing attention which it is meant to but use different palette. You can look at Google Analytics, Woopra, Chartbeat, etc. to get an idea
- "Reason" label makes it seem like I can enter a long explanation but the text field makes it seem like I can enter a short description. Either change the label to something like "Expense Name" or change the text box.
- The sliding background on menu items (top and graph) feels jittery and lags when I move my mouse around too fast. This can be annoying to people with vision issues. Make it simple hover.
- Recent Entries should be horizontal width right under summary (same width as summary), because its the second most important thing I care about on the page. Inputting expense is a secondary task on a regular visit because when I have something input I'm going to seek out that form and record my expense.
- Red flags went up when I saw Sex, Phone, and DoB on the sign-up form. Never going to give that up to a new site. What are you planning on using this info for?
- Chipper on GTalk is another questionable practice. How do we know it's secure? It's fine as long as there won't be any long term personal data exchange.
Other thoughts:
- SMS alerts or updates
- Create a "family" or "group" to track and compete (game like) with others
- If you get enough traction, give people tips on expense categories (e.g. Petrol at the gas station near your work is cheaper than the one you use near your home)
Good Luck. Good job, glad to see people looking to help other markets!
I really have to thank you on this feedback. It was just more than helpful. You have pointed out issues that my very techie mind had not seen so far. I am very well taking into account every point you have mentioned. Thanks again.
