AdaptiveBlue - Latest Comments in Open Source Product Management: Which Call To Action Is Clearer

Re: Open Source Product Management: Which Call To Action Is Clearer

Alex Iskold — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 20:02:42 -0000

Wow, you guys are amazing! Thank you so much for all your great insight and input!

To answer Daniel's question. The two buttons do not do the same thing. Widget menu leads to a list of choices, one of which is Grab This function. Grab this is the old choice that we had that took the user to the screen that enabled copy.

The reason we went with the menu is because we wanted to offer more than the Grab/Copy feature. For example, when you are looking at someone's Netflix Queue, the copy does not make sense you want your own. But when you are looking at New York Times bestsellers, then copy is what you want.

Re: Open Source Product Management: Which Call To Action Is Clearer

obscurelyfamous — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 19:33:27 -0000

Do both buttons do exactly the same thing?

If it both leads to, essentially, "grab this" then you should use "grab this."

Re: Open Source Product Management: Which Call To Action Is Clearer

Terry Bain — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 19:25:54 -0000

Hey. You guys added Disqus comments. Right on!

Um, to answer your question... absolutely "grab this" over "menu anything because, well, "grab this" is an action, whereas "menu" is just a thing, sitting there, doing nothing at all. Action words will always rock, whereas the word menu is all soft and cushy and just not at all very interesting. Also, the word "grab" is interesting because it seems to imply simplicity. I don't have to do much to "grab" something.... but "menu" implies complexity. I'm going to have to "navigate" a "menu" and "find" what it is I want to "do." But that's just impossibly impossible. I'd rather grab. Any damn day.

Re: Open Source Product Management: Which Call To Action Is Clearer

Max — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 15:15:54 -0000

Definitely "grab this". "Widget menu" sounds like something that would be used by the site's administrator, not a visitor. "Grab this" or "Grab This Widget" (or simply "Take Me!" if you want to be coy) clearly speaks to the visitor about a specific action THEY might want to perform.

On a side note, I think the placement of the link itself is very problematic. I kid you not, it took me (someone not intimately familiar with AB's product) a good 45 seconds to spot the actual difference between the two versions that you posted! That's not a good thing - most people won't spend that long looking for your link.

Re: Open Source Product Management: Which Call To Action Is Clearer

Leigh — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 14:35:39 -0000

it must be bc i'm pissed off still at the airport (two more flights canceled) but it took me way to long to even see where you put the call to action on either one (and i used to be great at those kids games in the newspapers).

You have enough space to write "grab this widget" where it says Powered by Adaptive Blue ;-)

Re: Open Source Product Management: Which Call To Action Is Clearer

Steffan Antonas — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 13:55:50 -0000

I agree with Memo.You've got to assume that the majority of people out there are less tech savvy, and want to find out how to get the widget on their own blog - The phrase "Grab this" just isn't clear enough for the non blog-speak world, and you want the tech to be obvious for most people. "Get your own" isn't catchy, but the message is more clear. Can anyone think of a better catch phrase than "Grab this?". That might be the answer.

Re: Open Source Product Management: Which Call To Action Is Clearer

Memo — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 11:24:41 -0000

"Widget" is definitely in the vernacular and people are more likely to associate it with something they can publish/use on their own web spaces. I was never a fan of "grabbing" things off the internet--too organically dubious.

Re: Open Source Product Management: Which Call To Action Is Clearer

paulsweeney — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 09:21:11 -0000

Ah, came to this late, but would go with "grab this" or similar: However, I would give some thought to the positioning of the button. If I "consume" the widget by browsing down it, may I not want it bottom right? then (I usually) really like a little drop down ajax a la "book mark it to here" type apps.

Re: Open Source Product Management: Which Call To Action Is Clearer

Fraser — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 00:46:05 -0000

(hey, no letting other people's comment bias your response! :) you're reading a blog, you see this cool looking thing in the sidebar and you want it; other comments are nowhere to be seen)

Re: Open Source Product Management: Which Call To Action Is Clearer

Aunt Bee — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 00:34:21 -0000

I think that "Widget Menu" looks better and would be my choice. But I agree with Andrea that "Grab This" is more of an attention grabber. It actually leads the viewer to do something, which would be good for AdaptiveBlue's growth.
So my vote is going with "Grab This."

Re: Open Source Product Management: Which Call To Action Is Clearer

Andrea Hill (afhill) — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 22:16:06 -0000

>What do you want to click on first if you want your own?

Me? Or people who don't eat, drink and breath the web? :)

"Widget" is a buzzword. Those of us who work in the industry are probably nearly sick of it now. We know that a widget is something you can take to put on your desktop or your blog. Some people don't really know that, and wouldn't think "wow, this is cool, and if I click on a "widget menu", it may offer me information on how I can get a widget of my own."

As well, "widget menu" describes what it is. Which is fine, but what you really want to do is lead visitors to do something, right? "Grab this" accomplishes that: presenting the users both with a call to action, AND letting them know the result of that action.

Re: Open Source Product Management: Which Call To Action Is Clearer

Steffan Antonas — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 19:49:23 -0000

My vote is definitely for the "widget menu" version. If there's only one option, people will always go to the "menu" to see what the options are first if they want it. It's a good idea to just design-in a single point of interaction. If there were multiple options, then "grab this" would make sense (like with the myblog log widget).

If you decide to go with multiple options, leave the menu on the top and include a "grab this" type option at the bottom. That's where most people expect a "get this on my blog" option to be. Best of breed, IMO, is the shelfari "get your own shelf" button - Simple, obvious design and language. "Grab this" might be a little ambiguous for some users.