One of the main complaints in many recent posts is that the web page does not do LiveCode justice and may be one of reasons why LiveCode is not more popular.
It has been said
My personal tastes also had me question the Minecraft-looking figures and the pop-up, the whole presentation.
But when I discussed this with Kevin he tells me conversion rates are way up, and have grown over time as they refine based on data from the A/B testing.
So while it may not reflect my own tastes, and would not be how I would do it for my own company, I can't argue against measurable results.
So what if it increased the conversion rate. That says it is better than what was. That does not mean that it is good. For all we know, it went from 20 users to 30 users. The big question is how does it compare in conversion rates with it's competitors? That is the number we want to shoot for, not just incrementally better.
LiveCode does not have to make changes for each of our comments but they do need to listen to them in whole. If multiple people are saying the same things and in other posts over the years, there might just be some truth to them. For the changes: listen to what they say, look at your competitors and what they are doing write and improve.
In an earlier post I said:
Add Some of their serious competitors:
Delphi -
https://www.embarcadero.com/products/de ... e-download
XoJo -
https://www.xojo.com
Look at them.
Now look back on LiveCode's attention getting webpage:
https://livecode.com
In no way is LiveCode's website even close to them in clarity, information, attractiveness, etc. LiveCode is not running with the big dogs. According to Tiobe - Delphi is #9, Scratch is #16, Swift is #20, etc.
I am sure that they can come up with many reasons why those languages are where they are and LiveCode is not higher. But my simple point is that LiveCode's webpages are not up to the quality of their competitors and are not helping LiveCode close the gap. Others have said much the same. Don't blame us because we are pointing out the flaws and trying to help with suggestions.
Do the following:
1. talk to users, experts, anyone...get feedback - on the site, on what is most important to them, what isn't, what they like, why the bought, why they did not convert. collect as much data as possible,
2. Study your competitors, research what works and what does not work, read the literature, hire an marketing consultant with a proven track record,
3. Make a few different approaches, put them all up somewhere and do a test focus group study. Get feedback. You could even make copies of your competitor's intro webpage, substitute your own name and see which they prefer. Put the three best for a week and let the visitor's to your site vote on the one they like best. That will get you some marketing capital with users and maybe some press along with it.
You say, where does the time, staff and money come from? Then do what you can. Keep it short and simple. Some info is better than no info. At least do something not just come up with reasons not to do anything
As for the communication issues - too much, too many, not enough info from the core team......... Like you said, there are too many differing opinions. If people have questions or are curious why something is done one way instead of another, why not have a way for people to submit questions to LiveCode staff, dev teams, officers, etc? You could referee them and weed out the nonsense ones, combine like ones and present your edited version to the company. Give them a week to answer them and present them back to us. They do not have to answer questions that are private or business related. They should just say so and leave those ones unanswered.
There may be many at first but as we better understand where the company is coming fro and where they are going, then the questions will subside. You have many users who care about LiveCode and want what's best for it. Our ignorance and lack of understanding is causing a lot of friction. And yes, the concern that the company does not really care about us or what we think. Perhaps our input and our insights can help the company do better in the future.
Perhaps an open "mike" with Kevin might be possible. We could talk to him directly and he could give us a preview of some of their plans and thinking. Maybe even get some input from the user/consumer side of the equation. That would be better than making an announcement of a new pricing plan followed by many subsequent forum posts complaint, questioning and disagreeing with aspects of. it Maybe, just maybe we might have some good ides on how to raise money or get more customers.
As for all the contact, information and documentation the company has already, It may help to list in some central place all that is available and how to get on that list/where to find it/etc.
(stay tuned for chapter 2 -