So good it makes you angry
Sometimes there are things that are so good it actively makes me angry, because it presents a version of the form that seems unimpeachable.
Money Things is like that — it is such a good newsletter, so dense and interesting and funny that it makes me mad, because having to read, like, Hot Pod or Pro Rata or other industry newsletters after it is just an exercise in dwindling returns.
Lincoln in the Bardo was like that — it was such an interesting and beautiful and novel piece of work that it retroactively invalidated so much of what I had consumed beforehand. It was my first audiobook, too, and it basically ruined audiobooks for me, because how do you top that?
And now, this. This product page for Transmit 5.
Let’s run through all the things it does well:
- There’s a really dope spinning truck on the top. You can move it with your cursor. It captures the eyes, it is pretty, it is neat. It is a great truck.
- The copy is clear, concise, and large.
- There are screenshots of the product front and center, because obviously there should be.
- It’s got those nice little infographics about why you should upgrade (answering probably the third most important question this page has to answer, which is Why should I upgrade?)
- The page flows nicely, with the little arrows between each content block that lends a little flow.
- All of those features! And the nice snippet screenshots for the keynote features (but the nice little icons for all the features.)
And the subtler things, too:
- It is dynamic, but not busy. There is only ever one thing to look at at once.
- Super responsive, and not in a “uh, I guess everything is gonna be in a smaller font now” kind of responsive way.
- The way it repositions the entire product from most folks’ perception of it:
Now, long ago we’d call Transmit an “FTP client”, but today, with Transmit 5, we connect to lots of different server types and cloud services. For example, Amazon S3 dramatically changed the way files are served on the internet, and Transmit is a great way to manage your Amazon S3 buckets.
- Seriously, that truck is so cool!
Like, ugh.
This is like a heat check of a product page. I have bookmarked it and will revisit it every week or so when I need reminding that these types of things can be so much better than they usually are.