Introducing Pulse for Web

chimi 13 years ago |

There is no need to force me to create an account to use this service. Have a list of supported news sites and let me pick the ones I want to see, then save a bookmark to the page.

Requiring an account is a back button.

cristinacordova 13 years ago | |

We require accounts on web for things like news source recommendations and notifications for when we release new features. If you create an account, your sources will also sync across platforms like Android, iPad, iPhone, etc. Our mobile apps do not require sign-in, however, so feel free to download those from our homepage: http://www.pulse.me/

MatthewPhillips 13 years ago | | |

> notifications for when we release new features

The real reason. This should be explained on the site.

cristinacordova 13 years ago | | |

We don't send frequent emails - we haven't emailed our user base in months - until today about this launch. If users don't have an account, they can't have a consistent experience across platforms. A good user experience is our top priority here.

shurane 13 years ago | | |

What about being able to at least preview the service without needing an account? We can do that already on the app version, before we decide to sign up with Pulse.

Signing up is an extra step, and a little too much, for a product that I want to field test before I decide I want to use it.

cristinacordova 13 years ago | | |

Fair point. As you said, you can test the mobile app without signing up. We found that many of our users didn't know about our account syncing feature (because they didn't sign up). They then told us that it was difficult to switch between devices when they downloaded our apps as they had different news sources on different devices. This is an effort to remedy that confusion by keeping one single consistent account across platforms. Trying to get users to sign up later when they want to sync (which we've tried on mobile) has proved to be difficult for most users.

yajoe 13 years ago | | |

Congrats on shipping, and thank you for being part of the community.

I would also second the feedback that requiring an email is undesirable. I know you are doing it so you can count reach and demographics easier and eventually sell those eyeballs or market research. We all need to eat. I get it. However! There is fatigue from needing to log into free services, especially when there are alternatives racing to the bottom with less friction.

You may grow your userbase faster by encouraging early adopters like those who visit this site to use the product. I also believe that the sign-up stopped >50% of the CTRs. I would recommend removing the requirement to sign-up now. Just $0.02 from yet another joe on the internet... :)

cristinacordova 13 years ago | | |

Thank you. You can test the mobile app without signing up. We found that many of our users didn't know about our account syncing feature (because they didn't sign up). They then told us that it was difficult to switch between devices when they downloaded our apps as they had different news sources on different devices. This is an effort to remedy that confusion by keeping one single consistent account across platforms. Trying to get users to sign up later when they want to sync (which we've tried on mobile) has proved to be difficult for most users.

chimi 13 years ago | | |

Look, it's your app, you can do what you want with it, but you're losing potential users with this requirement -- end of story.

cristinacordova 13 years ago | | |

Yes, we agree that there will be some drop-off, but we're taking that chance in order to provide the best experience across platforms.

tuhin 13 years ago | | |

The biggest reason of all, it lets you sync sources across all devices. Sync saved stories. Notification and communication take a backseat when you can easily send push notification to a much larger audience that is your entire userbase. Just thought it was important to mention that.

abuddy 13 years ago | |

Requiring an account might be okay if you can delete your account later. Pulse.me doesn't provide such functionality. At least I didn't find it. I've signed up and then I don't want to use it anymore, why can't I just remove my account?

chimi 13 years ago | | |

u r the product

gankit 13 years ago | |

The only way to reliably save your subscriptions (so that you can open pulse and see them instantly) is the have an account and save it on our servers.

bicknergseng 13 years ago | |

Tell that to Fab or Gilt or Facebook...

darklajid 13 years ago |

I'm sure I'm not the target. The window is - empty? [1]

Ghostery informed me that it had to block Facebook Connect, but this surely isn't the intended landing page, even if I _do_ hate Facebook crap? I mean - I could at least use the links above and see the about page, but for a landing page this is kind of baad.

1: https://dl.dropbox.com/u/1194203/Pulse.png

smectos 13 years ago | |

Same problem. Chromium Version 21.0.1180.75 (150248) on 3.5.0-2-ARCH

L.E: Unblock Facebook connect in Ghostery.

gddr 13 years ago | |

Indeed, blocking Facebook Connect or disabling Javascript makes the page show empty (on all browsers).

cristinacordova 13 years ago | |

Thanks - we have fix on the way for those that block FB Connect

ceejayoz 13 years ago |

... why is there an Internet Explorer logo in the top-right of the interface screenshot?

cristinacordova 13 years ago | |

We worked with Microsoft to incorporate multi-touch gestures available in IE10 into Pulse for Web. You can read more about that partnership on the IE10 blog here: http://windowsteamblog.com/ie/b/ie/archive/2012/08/09/with-i...

MatthewPhillips 13 years ago | | |

Incredible! Hopefully Microsoft submits its pointer events to W3C.

rodly 13 years ago |

Pulse user here since the first iPad came out. Love your service and use it all the time. Need an intern for next Summer? :)

gankit 13 years ago | |

What do you want to work on? ankit<at>pulse<dot>me

Albuca 13 years ago |

Definetly looks interesting! However the corperate network I am on at the moment does not display the page correctly (could be anything from outdated html5 or just regular blocking).

Either way, I really enjoy the iPhone/Android app!

I agree though, I don't like the IE logo on the top right of the page. Call my crazy, but I am really fond of the simple, clean, eligant display on the iPhone/Android. Plus I just don't like IE.

As far as requiring an account - While I do see the merit in requiring registration, I think it should just load up the interface, and require registration if they would like to save their list of sources for when they visit the website later. Not to mention, noting that the sources and everything sync's across platforms is definetly a plus.

Good luck to you!

cristinacordova 13 years ago | |

Your corporate network is likely blocking FB Connect, which we have on the top of our page. We're working on a fix for it.

Albuca 13 years ago | | |

Ahh.. yes that would definitely be it! They are very anti-facebook.

Cheers!

mlapida 13 years ago |

Requiring facebook connect is a deal breaker. My corporate intranet blocks all facebook request (and I do as well with Ghostly). Please place the facebook connect JavaScript at the bottom of the page.

ajhai 13 years ago |

'Welcome message' is being popped up for every page I visit even for the pages that I'd already visited. A bug? Using chrome 21.0.1180.60 m on Windows 7

Edit: Issue resolved after reloading the page

cristinacordova 13 years ago | |

Thanks for pointing that out. Some other users have mentioned it showing up more times than necessary. We're taking a look.

ClintonWu 13 years ago |

Funny to see this ranked right below "Design Tips: Never Use Black." http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4357002

tuhin 13 years ago | |

1) It is not black it is #111 :) 2) Rules in design are meant to be broken. It is good to know the rules nevertheless, so that you know which ones to break.

chrisdroukas 13 years ago |

Super high information density for browsing followed by a clean and simple reading experience.

Well executed, congrats to the Pulse team.

zachgalant 13 years ago |

Awesome job guys. It looks really cool!

executive 13 years ago |

can I use this product without signing up

cristinacordova 13 years ago | |

You can if you download our mobile apps. Our web application, however, does require a sign-up.