testing my comment

Revolutions begin because people have a difference of opinion. Why not have a space where you can foster those different opinions? There can be a mutual benefit for the creator and the critic when constructive criticism can be respectfully exchanged.

I believe the exchange of ideas is critical to speed up the advancement of anything. A great example of this is the advent of the internet and how quickly we have advanced as a society.

Getting a fresh pair of eyes can provide a new perspective that could be invaluable for a project. Imagine the possibility when thousands of eyes see the project.

Personally through my experience I have found keeping an open mind results in opening a lot of doors for opportunity. The web development space allows creators to be nimble, but even with that said, through my experience the end product always seems to turn out better the more constructive criticism received through all the stages of the process. This is why we have adapted an open platform for discussion in such an early stage of critter.

One of the biggest flaws of online interaction is the lack of identity. It makes me cringe to read what people write in the comments for Youtube videos or even CNN articles. My guess is that if they had to use their real names, they would have more intelligent responses. I know getting people to log in using Facebook or getting them to sign up for it will be a hurdle for our site, but the conversation/comments will be of a much higher quality.

Anonymity has its place, however in our case I think it is better we don’t. The closest comparison to the service critter provides is a forum, through our research it is clear that one of the many drawbacks is anonymous people hiding behind a screen name and making absurd comments just to get a laugh, which they would not normally say if their reputation was at stake.

We have some great ideas about user interface, but it will be hard work to implement, test, and revise those things to make the best possible interaction with users. Please chime in with examples of the best and worst experiences you've had on other sites or what you'd like to see on our site.

With the internet being open to anyone with an idea, it is hard to make yourself stand out from the competition. For this reason it is critical that the user experience is flawless, to make sure you retain loyalty.

We have no idea who Critter will attract. As one of my favorite business authors, Guy Kawasaki, writes: we're just going to "flow with the go!" It could be a useful site for: design projects, essays, photographs, illustrations, school projects, music, website layouts, logos, home beer brewing rigs, custom computers, etc etc!

Technology is a rapidly changing environment and to stay in the game you have to be able to be nimble and always looking for that next enhancement to make the user experience better.