Feedback Needed - The Best Music Site Is the Goal

Posted by Mihaela Lica as Pamil Visions Partner Studies

There are a few reasons behind my seldom apparitions on the Web – some of personal nature (relocating home and office to larger premises) and some professional. While the personal reasons allow for some flexibility in scheduling tasks, the professional activities know no “excuses.” I must admit it is quite tiring to manage work and private life, and sometimes it is difficult to “think” when the schedule is crowded with so many tasks. So consider this a cry for help.

I need your feedback to help me with a project I am working on right now for Pamil Visions’ newest customer Fairtilizer. I already managed to finish an extensive competitor analysis and sure market analysis and the next task is “user and visitor feedback” to determine what changes need to be applied for the landing page (screenshot below) to become more effective. Under normal circumstances this would be a time-consuming task requiring research, web-based surveying and data analysis. At this stage such an in-depth endeavor would be more than the client needs – the homepage will be redesigned anyway. But your feedback will still help giving the design company an idea of what to improve or change. It will also help Fairtilizer better understand what their visitors think when they first see their current version of the site.

So if you have some time, please take a look at the screenshot below, and then answer as many of the following questions as you can. In exchange… you know you can count on my help at any time you need it.

What do you like about the design at fairtilizer.com?
What do you most dislike?
How would the site be more effective?
What do you think of when you first see the Fairtilizer logo?
What does the name Fairtilizer bring to mind?
- A county fair
- Cow manure
- A rich alluvial plain
- Other
How would the header be more effective?
What three things do you expect from your online music destination?
Which is more important: the artist on the music site or the community/ networking aspect?
Would you rather visit or use an online radio station or are building playlists and music news more important?
Do you think the online music industry needs a change? What kind of change?

19 Responses

Jehzeel Laurente

July 22nd, 2008 at 3:54 pm
1
1. What do you like about the design at fairtilizer.com? - The design is simple and elegant. I like its simplicity.
2. What do you most dislike? - There are so many blank spaces in the site. Some sort of ads or other features should fill up those empty white spaces.
3. How would the site be more effective? - It would be more effective if the website is faster and all genres and types of songs is available in its database for online streaming. There should also be options to purchase the song thru iTunes or Amazon. There should be live support in case there are users who needs assistance in navigating the site. Not just a FAQ page. Online chat support are important nowadays and it’s one of the great factors for the success of a website.
4. What do you think of when you first see the Fairtilizer logo? - The Fairtilizer logo is simple and common. It should be changed or just enhance it to make it look more astounding and great.
5. What does the name Fairtilizer bring to mind? - Cow Manure. It’s something to be added in soil to make plants more healthy… I think…
6. How would the header be more effective? - The header should be flash but loads quickly. It should be more colorful and presentable. not just a variant of pink, violet and black. It should contain what the website is trying to say or to present.
7. What three things do you expect from your online music destination? - Fast online music streaming, An online account wherein I can bookmark and save favorite songs so that when I come back I can listen to my saved songs all over again and an option to purchase the song legally thru iTunes and Amazon, or an integrated and reliable e-Commerce system wherein I can use my Paypal or Credit Card for online music transactions.
8. Which is more important: the artist on the music site or the community/ networking aspect? - The community is more important than the artist on the music site, because without it, the website is gibberish. But, the website should have a wide array of artists and the list of songs and albums for each artist.
9. Would you rather visit or use an online radio station or are building playlists and music news more important? - I would prefer an online radio station, playlist building and music news are second in priority.
10. Do you think the online music industry needs a change? What kind of change? - For me, the online music industry is at its peak. I can’t think of a change as of now.
Billy Warhol

July 22nd, 2008 at 4:19 pm
2

I like the use of Logos + Avatars which are c0ol Dezigns*

Too much White Space tho + their Cow Manure Logo needs to Pump Up the Volume!!

I expect FREE MUSIC + LOTS OF IT!! I wouldn’t give Ripoff King Steve Jobs a Single Penny for ANY of his Overpriced OverHyped Crap Apple Toys iTunes Garbage*

same with Bill Gates + MicroPOOP Zune!!

;PPP

Thass why I love FineTune.com - plus it has a Fabulous AIR Player U can put on yer Blog*

I like RadioBlogClub.com too*

;)) Peace*
MK

July 22nd, 2008 at 4:29 pm
3

1. What do you like about the design at fairtilizer.com?
It’s clean and simple. Whitespace is used extensively, and there’s not a ton of ads cluttering up the space

2. What do you most dislike?
Perhaps *too* clean and simple, it could come off as amateurish.

3. How would the site be more effective?
First off, “Fairtilizer: Amplified Word of Mouth” does not say “this is a music site” at all. Aside from the logo looking like a musical note, I wouldn’t know just by looking that this is a music blog/sharing site.

4. What do you think of when you first see the Fairtilizer logo?
Music.But why the flag on the note is a leaf, I don’t know. What does music have to do with plants? Is this a music site to make your crops grow faster?

5. What does the name Fairtilizer bring to mind?
*
* Cow manure (Sorry, but that’s the first thing I thought of)

6. How would the header be more effective?
Again, a short & sweet descriptor of what Fairtilizer is. Something like “Find new bands you’ve never heard of” or “Home Grown sounds from far away”

7. What three things do you expect from your online music destination?
Free music, non-DRM music, free music. period.

8. Which is more important: the artist on the music site or the community/ networking aspect?
The artist. I personally don’t care what everyone else is listening to, but when I find an artist I like, I want all their tracks.

9. Would you rather visit or use an online radio station or are building playlists and music news more important?
Online radio station

10. Do you think the online music industry needs a change? What kind of change?
Music should be free. And bring back Napster the way it used to be–free, fast, and totally unregulated. Smack-down bitches like Lars Ulrich. No one wants to hear multi-millionaires complain that they’re being cheated out of additional revenue.
Karen Lynch

July 22nd, 2008 at 4:33 pm
4

1. What do you like about the design at fairtilizer.com? The recently featured music.
2. What do you most dislike? That you have to sign in and become a member
3. How would the site be more effective? d/k
4. What do you think of when you first see the Fairtilizer logo? A mountain range
5. What does the name Fairtilizer bring to mind? Sorry … cow manure or other chemical fertilizer
6. How would the header be more effective? Filtering the best new music needs to be more prominent … that’s what the site is, amplified word of mouth means nothing to me
7. What three things do you expect from your online music destination? d/k
8. Which is more important: the artist on the music site or the community/ networking aspect? The artist
9. Would you rather visit or use an online radio station or are building playlists and music news more important? discovering new music and playing it, for sure
10. Do you think the online music industry needs a change? What kind of change? d/k
Rob Jongschaap

July 22nd, 2008 at 4:43 pm
5

# What do you like about the design at fairtilizer.com? - Fresh and light.
# What do you most dislike? - Not well structured. When I arrive at this page I don’t see what it is about. No introduction, just a playlist, a player, a sign in form. For someone who is new here rather confusing.
# How would the site be more effective? Don’t know (have no experience yet)
# What do you think of when you first see the Fairtilizer logo? - OK
# What does the name Fairtilizer bring to mind? - ‘fair’ and ‘utilize’
# How would the header be more effective? - Could be more informative
# What three things do you expect from your online music destination? - Online music streaming, Bookmarking tagging etc. Some social features.
# Which is more important: the artist on the music site or the community/ networking aspect? - The size and quality of the content is crucial (more than the social aspect)
# Would you rather visit or use an online radio station or are building playlists and music news more important? - A bit hard to compare. Both are important.
# Do you think the online music industry needs a change? What kind of change? - A more community (artists as well as consumers) driven system instead of one controlled by the music industry would be nice. Social music sites could play a role here.
Andrew Flusche

July 22nd, 2008 at 4:44 pm
6

1. What do you like about the design at fairtilizer.com? - It’s trying to be clean and uncluttered. I like the simple white and grey colors for the layout.
2. What do you most dislike? - My eyes get confused, and I’m not sure what is supposed to be important. I need a focal point. What do you want me to see first?
3. How would the site be more effective? - Simplify the layout and make me look at your focal point. Maybe integrate the left side element into the main column somehow.
4. What do you think of when you first see the Fairtilizer logo? - Trees. It actually looks like they sort-of ripped off the FreshBooks leaf.
5. What does the name Fairtilizer bring to mind? - definitely cow manure. No offense to them, but the brand doesn’t seem very effective to me.
6. How would the header be more effective? - Less movement. A little movement is ok, but that thing looks like 1995 Flash: busy and grainy. Make it crisp with a little subtle motion.
Lisa

July 22nd, 2008 at 5:03 pm
7

1. What do you like about the design at fairtilizer.com? Its very clean and not cluttered.
2. What do you most dislike? Too much white in the left sidebar. You should have something even if its just a design over there.
3. How would the site be more effective? d.k
4. What do you think of when you first see the Fairtilizer logo? music site
5. What does the name Fairtilizer bring to mind?
* Other
6. How would the header be more effective? possibly bigger
7. What three things do you expect from your online music destination? Music, news, a way to buy the product if I like it.
8. Which is more important: the artist on the music site or the community/ networking aspect? artist on the music site
9. Would you rather visit or use an online radio station or are building playlists and music news more important? I like the ability to be able to create my own playlists.
10. Do you think the online music industry needs a change? What kind of change?
The Dude Dean - UX Design Master

July 22nd, 2008 at 6:04 pm
8

1. That you choose white for the main design theme, its clean.
2. The misaligned multi-column layout. If you are going to go Two col, stick with it and keep it tight.
3. Getting rid of that left side third col. Either make the site with three real col or two real col. Last.FM
4. The Brown Note?
5. I thought it said “Fartilizer” I think the all caps makes the I’s look like “|” (Pipe). Try lower case the rest of the letters after the first one. Not a big fan of all caps. I think its too spammy. Again Last.FM - all lower case.
6. Make the header a bit bigger and put some white between the top of the site and the adress bar. Maybe 5 pix.
7. Music, Music Videos, Music Tags. Again Last.FM
8. Work on community/ networking and the music will take care of itself.
9. Last.FM does 3/4s of this question. Focus on Music News.
10. The MPAA and RIAA need to evolve and get with the program. The Music industry needs to free itself from music labels and “Suits”
Affordable Graphic Design

July 22nd, 2008 at 7:26 pm
9

I don’t have much of an online music “need” but I can provide some general feedback as a graphic designer. The name really rings “Cow manure” the most but I like the simplicity of the logo. The leaf on the note actually strengthens the reference to nature.

“What do you like about the design at fairtilizer.com?” Design? What design? No offense but the user interface is severly lacking and this site looks just like a template left untouched.
Jamie with Las Vegas Pool Service

July 22nd, 2008 at 8:39 pm
10

What do you like about the design at fairtilizer.com?
I like the overall layout.
What do you most dislike?
the header and the leopard design don’t really match
How would the site be more effective?
Maybe different colors on the header
What do you think of when you first see the Fairtilizer logo?
simple. which isn’t necessarily bad for a logo, but it isn’t very memorable
What does the name Fairtilizer bring to mind?
A county fair
Cow manure
A rich alluvial plain
Other—actually, this sounds horrible and it might just be the resolution on my computer or perhaps you need a better font, but I thought of “Fartilizer” and wonder what the heck that was and why anyone would have fart in their name.
How would the header be more effective?
It might be nice to get to read all of the words
What three things do you expect from your online music destination?
To have easy access to music.
To have an awesome selection—not just what is popular right now
To have occasional promotions etc… for free downloads
Which is more important: the artist on the music site or the community/ networking aspect?
Community/networking
Would you rather visit or use an online radio station or are building playlists and music news more important?
definitely building a playlist!
Do you think the online music industry needs a change? What kind of change?
Well, there are so many out there and so many that are free to post to your blog or website. I think playlists are changing the way people percieve having to pay for music.
Nicole Z

July 22nd, 2008 at 9:31 pm
11

1. What do you like about the design at fairtilizer.com?
It’s clear and simple.

2. What do you most dislike?
That I have to upgrade my browser (IE 6.0) before I can join and that I need to scroll from left to right and right to left. It’s somehow colourless, maybe because of too much white spaces?!

3. How would the site be more effective?
If I looked for new music on this site, I think I’d like to order one or two songs / cd’s at once. It might be a good idea to offer a link where I can order, e.g. Amazon. Another thing is that I really had to have a second look at it to find out what this site is offering to us… music, yes, but what exactly.

4. What do you think of when you first see the Fairtilizer logo?
My first thought was: it’s too rigid or stiff, simply too linear. I think music is life, music is happiness, music is motion and music is emotion… it’s everything but stiff. The logo should reflect the nature of music.

5. What does the name Fairtilizer bring to mind?
Definitely cow manure…

6. How would the header be more effective?
Maybe more colour, more “life” or “emotion” (as I said regarding the logo) and maybe something like a logo expressing what the site is about.

7. What three things do you expect from your online music destination?
First of all, up-to-dateness down-the-line. Second, an audio sample. And third, a way to order my favourite music.

8. Which is more important: the artist on the music site or the community/ networking aspect?
Personally, I’d be more interested in the artist.

9. Would you rather visit or use an online radio station or are building playlists and music news more important?
I’d rather visit an online radio station.

10. Do you think the online music industry needs a change? What kind of change?
As I don’t visit online music sites – sorry – I can’t form an opinion on this topic…
pearl

July 23rd, 2008 at 12:59 am
12

Hi Mig… I agree with most of the suggestions above but here are my thoughts on it.. sorry for the delay hon..

1. Neat, clean and readable
2. too much white space and content seems scattered ‘coz of misalignment, sign in form standing out in the middle is definitely a turn-off
3. having distinct tabs for Sharing, Listening and Searching music as well as featured songs/artists vs featured member will be inviting, alphabetical listing of songs and artists (possibly by the country)
4. hmm, fair trade? free? not music at all
5. Enough said already about the domain name but attaching those music notes around it might make it look like a music site
6. to me it looked like an ad banner! Fairtilizer incorporated in the header along with music notes will make it clearer that its a music site, flash is killing it right now
7. online music streaming, discovering new music (other than just the popular music), bookmarking and/or buying ability, creating playlists (bookmarking?)
8. featured artists, lesser known but good artists - there are plenty of social networking sites out there,
9. hmm playlists - you can build what you like and expand your horizons by being able to view other people’s playlists

love
pearl
Deborah

July 23rd, 2008 at 7:38 am
13

Well, Mig, you know me, I’m going to give you my honest opinion, whether it offends anyone or not. What good is a review for otherwise? I will read the other comments afterwards so as not to be influenced by any others.

1. I like how it appears clean without an overabundance of ads that clutter things up so much that you don’t know where to look. I also like the sidebar widget for featured members. It moves, which catches your eye, but not so quickly that it becomes irritating, or too fast to see things in detail.

2. I’m not fond of the header. It flashes so much that it makes me dizzy, and hurts my eyes to be frank. There are those who can be affected in a very negative manner by so much flash. I actually thought that the header was an advertisement, which I immediately put the blindfolders to when visiting sites.

I also happen to use Firefox with an addon that prevents videos from starting on their own, along with ad blocker. So the video on the left was disabled, and I didn’t take notice of it, thinking that it was an ad. I had to see your screenshot to realize that it was a video promotion for music.

3. I actually went to the site first from the link in your email before coming here to write a review. Other than surmising it was a music site, I had no clue that it was a music sharing site until I came here. I think that there needs to be some form of intro paragraph as to what the visitor can expect from the site.

I noticed what appears to be a sitemap of sorts at the bottom of the page, but not until I had scrutinized the site. Many visitors would not see the ‘Artists.’ ‘About,’ ‘Blog.’ etc. I think that you need to have pages or links near the top as well.

4. I think of a pharmaceutical company when I look at the logo. Other than the musical note, what does any of it have to do with music? And the leaf? I think that’s what gave me the impression the most that I was going to be sold some pills A leaf is something I would expect to see for anything related to health or green products/solutions.

Also, the logo isn’t large enough to grab your attention that it’s the name of the site.

I think this site is going to have an uphill battle with the name that they’ve chosen for their company to brand it for music. Do you change the name and suffer losses of initial investment, or spend countless dollars trying to create something that implies music and sharing? I see that the domain name has already been used for this site, but that does not mean that the company logo has to be the same. If this is a brand new domain, I would suggest coming up with a better name and purchasing the domain to use instead.

5. Again, it reminds me of pharmaceuticals … someone trying to sell me pills (viagra?) or health and wellness.

6. Don’t use flash, and create some sort of presentation to say what the site is all about.

7. I’m not a good candidate to ask, as I don’t visit music sites.

8. I would say the artist. Having a large involvement in social media sites, I realize that many popular things can be influenced merely by the friends one has accumulated.

9. You can build music playlists at this site? If so, I wouldn’t have known that. Again, not being one to visit music sites, I would think that a vital part for success would mean having a wealth of variety. I think including music news would be a great addition, which would also build more visitors from an SEO level (search engines love content), readership, and stickiness.
Hopeful Spirit

July 23rd, 2008 at 2:01 pm
14

1. What do you like about the design at fairtilizer.com? Easily navigable, well laid-out.
2. What do you most dislike? It looks like virtually every other blog I visit lately. Everyone seems to be adapting the same basic layout/style.
3. How would the site be more effective? More color.
4. What do you think of when you first see the Fairtilizer logo? Somebody should have left that poor 8th note alone. Otherwise, pretty bland and not memorable.
5. What does the name Fairtilizer bring to mind?
* A county fair
* Cow manure
* A rich alluvial plain
* Other
A county fair with cow manure in the air.
6. How would the header be more effective?
Varied colors; a more memorable logo in the header.
7. What three things do you expect from your online music destination?
Nothing. Don’t frequent them.
8. Which is more important: the artist on the music site or the community/ networking aspect?
The music is the only important thing.
9. Would you rather visit or use an online radio station or are building playlists and music news more important?
None interest me.
10. Do you think the online music industry needs a change? What kind of change?
I’m not informed about it as I don’t frequent those sites.
Beatrice

July 23rd, 2008 at 3:19 pm
15

1. What do you like about the design at fairtilizer.com?
It is easy on the eyes and fairly simple design.

2. What do you most dislike?
The header, I find it distracting.

3. How would the site be more effective?
At a first glance, if the video section would be on the right part, also it gives me a
feeling of “things all over”, non structured.

4. What do you think of when you first see the Fairtilizer logo?
No particular thoughts in terms of meaning but the icon can be tweaked/shrinked a bit, also I would bold out the tiny line on the mid section of the leaf (my thoughts are designing related, cannot help it)

5. What does the name Fairtilizer bring to mind?
- A county fair
- Cow manure
- A rich alluvial plain
- Other
Hmm….cow manure, I guess.

6. How would the header be more effective?
Have some negative space trapped between the elements, looks too cluttered right now.

7. What three things do you expect from your online music destination?
To find the music I like, videos of very good quality and I cannot think of a third one.

8. Which is more important: the artist on the music site or the community/ networking aspect?
Both.

9. Would you rather visit or use an online radio station or are building playlists and music news more important?
I prefer the old fashion radio station.

10. Do you think the online music industry needs a change? What kind of change?
Hm, I did not get that visionary yet, have no clue.
Florida Search Engine Optimization

July 24th, 2008 at 8:00 am
16

Mig … Here you go sweetheart …

1. What do you like about the design at fairtilizer.com?
It’s a very simple design … simple is good.

2. What do you most dislike?
The Name

3. How would the site be more effective?
Redesign it … I think it needs a lot of work.

4. What do you think of when you first see the Fairtilizer logo?
I think it looks … novice …

5. What does the name Fairtilizer bring to mind?
fertilizer

6. How would the header be more effective?
Make the recently featured music area the main header … and
it needs to have easier controls … larger buttons … screaming for web 2.0

7. What three things do you expect from your online music destination?
Lot’s of info on music news, simple / high quality audio, large library of selections.

8. Which is more important: the artist on the music site or the community/ networking aspect?
I couldn’t actually say … I think that question is very subjective.

9. Would you rather visit or use an online radio station or are building playlists and music news more important?
I don’t listen to the broadcast music … unless I’m in the car …

10. Do you think the online music industry needs a change? What kind of change?
Yeah, it needs to be … improved …
Sharmistha Neogi

July 24th, 2008 at 9:00 am
17

1. What do you like about the design at fairtilizer.com
Yes. Its Simple and soothing to eyes.

2.What do you most dislike?
I see nothing as of now

3. How would the site be more effective?
Well its too early to comment on this. Lets c how it works now for visitors.

4.What do you think of when you first see the Fairtilizer logo?
Good one.

5. What does the name Fairtilizer bring to mind?
Other

6. How would the header be more effective?
Provide a To-the-Point sentence abt what the site is all about!

7. What three things do you expect from your online music
destination?
Clarity of Sound, Good loading speed and some good collections (like all in one store)

8. Which is more important: the artist on the music site or thecommunity/ networking aspect?
Both

9.Would you rather visit or use an online radio station or are building playlists and music news more important?
Use an online radio station.

10.Do you think the online music industry needs a change? What kind of change?
I dont think so!
Ballast

July 24th, 2008 at 7:30 pm
18

Clean, neat site! I love the chart feature. If that was my genre of music I would be highly interested.
Sueblimely

July 29th, 2008 at 12:19 am
19

Like - the clean look of the lower part of the page although the pastel color is maybe out of character with the sites niche. It could be jazzier and still keep the clean look.

Dislike - The first thing that struck me was the header image - being separate from the title gives it a look of an ad banner. It needs to blend into the rest of the header and page better. The top area of the page looks cluttered compared with lower down This area also looks unbalanced with the large image on the right and the smaller player on the left. The featured track description gets cut off with no read more link to read the rest of it. Lots of wasted white space in the left column. The description just below the header is a good idea but it was not obvious to me that the text in bold links to more info - I had to go to bottom of page to read the “about” to find out more.

Logo - immediately shouts out music but its design is plain

Name = Manure - not in the smelly sense but promoting growth. I like it.

I do not use online music sites because of Australia’s abysmal download limits - we have the maximum sort of plan but it is not enough for family of 4. So I would not presume to answer the rest of your questions