1:19:15 AM coopisjerk@hotmail.com: Did you look at that web site I emailed you?
1:20:36 AM brendan_lidster@hotmail.com: yeah
1:20:53 AM brendan_lidster@hotmail.com: its kinda what im going for, but not really
1:21:18 AM coopisjerk@hotmail.com: I didn't have a good look around... What are you wanting it to do?
1:21:56 AM brendan_lidster@hotmail.com: the same principle
1:22:06 AM brendan_lidster@hotmail.com: but i think theirs is poorly implemented
1:22:16 AM brendan_lidster@hotmail.com: it requires businesses to add their listings
1:22:32 AM coopisjerk@hotmail.com: And then users vote / rate it?
1:30:36 AM brendan_lidster@hotmail.com: yeah
1:30:39 AM brendan_lidster@hotmail.com: im just having a look again now
1:30:44 AM coopisjerk@hotmail.com: Same.
1:31:02 AM coopisjerk@hotmail.com: I like the layout - colors kind of work, but don't really do it for me.
1:31:03 AM brendan_lidster@hotmail.com: see, i want the one we're doing to be entirely user driven
1:31:11 AM brendan_lidster@hotmail.com: not business
1:31:53 AM brendan_lidster@hotmail.com: i mean, if i search for "cafe" near "walthamstow" i get about 10 businesses, only 1 of which is viewed
1:32:02 AM brendan_lidster@hotmail.com: reviewed*
1:32:37 AM coopisjerk@hotmail.com: I agree that businesses shouldn't have the control - but how does a business get in the system? Like proper spelling, proper contact details, location etc?
1:33:13 AM brendan_lidster@hotmail.com: i want the user to say, have to add and review a business as part of becoming a member, rather than have the business add itself and then just hope that someone actually cares enough to review it later
1:33:48 AM brendan_lidster@hotmail.com: perhaps having the user add the business, but have the system search yellow pages for a matching listing first
1:34:22 AM brendan_lidster@hotmail.com: so say ask the user "business name' and then go did you mean "Bills Cafe" of "213 adelaide street"?
1:36:01 AM coopisjerk@hotmail.com: That's a good idea. I was just thinking that IF all the businesses in Brisbane were added (just say either through an owner inputting them, pulling them out of the Yellow Pages somehow or user submitted) the default search would be able to ONLY search the businesses that have been rated. Then in the results, have an 'advanced tab' that allows searching all businesses?
1:36:22 AM brendan_lidster@hotmail.com: yeah, that could work
1:36:46 AM brendan_lidster@hotmail.com: see, it just annoys me on that welovelocal site that its just another yellow pages 90% of the time
1:36:49 AM brendan_lidster@hotmail.com: oh i know
1:37:17 AM brendan_lidster@hotmail.com: you could also have your postcode stored as a user, so you can quicksearch kind of thing
1:37:21 AM brendan_lidster@hotmail.com: so you log in to your home page
1:37:22 AM coopisjerk@hotmail.com: I'm just trying to think of what might be easiest for the user. Because I know I wouldn't want to input all the businesses info for them. I'd like to be able to search them and review it.
1:37:31 AM coopisjerk@hotmail.com: That's awesome.
1:37:35 AM coopisjerk@hotmail.com: That would be really neat.
1:38:26 AM brendan_lidster@hotmail.com: and then you have a single search box ready to go... you hungry, so you type "sandwich" and it brings back all the rater sandwich bars in 4066 listed in order for rating...
1:38:59 AM coopisjerk@hotmail.com: I like it.
1:40:13 AM brendan_lidster@hotmail.com: oh oh oh!
1:40:18 AM brendan_lidster@hotmail.com: and..
1:40:20 AM coopisjerk@hotmail.com: I like the google map idea though, showing where the street and where on the street it is located. Because then the user doesn't have to go and look up that street (that the cafe they just searched).
1:41:29 AM coopisjerk@hotmail.com: Oh - an extension of the google map. You could have the users address on the map also, that way they know where they are and where the place they're going to is.
1:41:43 AM coopisjerk@hotmail.com: And you're oh oh oh! is ?
1:42:22 AM brendan_lidster@hotmail.com: to ensure we get ratings, if the user searches from within their login for a business type like "sandwich" and they click on the highest rated listings say "bills sandwich bar" it could somehow store that so that when they next log in it says "did you visit "bills sandwich bar" in the end? how would you rate it?"
1:42:48 AM coopisjerk@hotmail.com: Oh nice.
1:43:11 AM coopisjerk@hotmail.com: That's really nice, then they don't even need to search it. It's just there for them.
1:43:25 AM coopisjerk@hotmail.com: That's really good.
1:44:21 AM brendan_lidster@hotmail.com: yeah, and it also assists in ensuring we get as many opinions as possible on businesses.. cause with just 1 person rating it, its a good as nothing...
1:46:23 AM coopisjerk@hotmail.com: I agree fully.
1:49:45 AM coopisjerk@hotmail.com: Also, how were you thinking of rating business?
1:50:06 AM coopisjerk@hotmail.com: Just on a global scale? 1 -5, 1 - 10 (whatever).
1:50:12 AM brendan_lidster@hotmail.com: yeah
1:50:20 AM brendan_lidster@hotmail.com: like a star system
1:50:36 AM coopisjerk@hotmail.com: Or rate globally, or if it's a resturaunt on its service?
1:50:56 AM coopisjerk@hotmail.com: On the value for money.
1:52:14 AM coopisjerk@hotmail.com: I was thinking that a global start system for search results would work best, BUT also being able to review specific things for example service, meal presentation, waiting times etc etc.
1:52:25 AM brendan_lidster@hotmail.com: well.. i think both yeah
1:52:44 AM brendan_lidster@hotmail.com: giving the option to give detail, or quick review
1:54:09 AM coopisjerk@hotmail.com: Options I think will be the main 'feature'. I think the ability to rate it just globally and saying why will work really well, but for someone who REALLY enjoyed it or really hated it - them being able to express that in more depth would be good.
1:54:59 AM brendan_lidster@hotmail.com: and then having say quick reviews having half the weight on the average score would be a good way to ensure a balanced guide
1:55:30 AM brendan_lidster@hotmail.com: i think having the option to not even have to say why would be perfect
1:56:31 AM coopisjerk@hotmail.com: That would be ideal.. But I would like to know why they thought it was worth 5 stars. Or why it was worth 2.
1:57:11 AM brendan_lidster@hotmail.com: just "did you end up going to "x"? how was it?" and having the option to click a star... will encourage people to use it... but also have a mouse over for "tell us more.." so they can comment and rate on more detail...
1:57:59 AM coopisjerk@hotmail.com: I think that concept that you have been describing will work REALLY well.
1:59:59 AM brendan_lidster@hotmail.com: i think primarily people will want to use this service to get quick info out of it... not necessarily spend too much time blogging about all their encounters for that day... but yeah, likeyou said... if its a way more or less than average experience with a particular business, people will want the option to give lots of info, and i think that should have a much stronger bearing on what the overall rating that business gets
2:00:56 AM coopisjerk@hotmail.com: Sounds neato. I like it.
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5 comments:
Nice little conversation guys, I feel dirty reading it.
Just a few points you might want to consider :
- What's to stop a business adding positive comments about itself, and negative comments about its competitors ? Could you make some sort of honor system ? Your vote doesn't count as much if you're a new user or something ? I don't know, it's something to think about.
I do think the idea is rad though. I actually was going to do a similar thing with coffee a while back. Not for a community though - just the best coffee shops ( imo ) around brisbane. You should pick decent rating systems. So, for food places, you've got food quality, service, ambiance. For services ( ie, haircuts, tim's brazillian wax ), you've got value for money, time, annoying conversaiton level...
Stuff like that.
Thanks for hooking the blog up :D we should all be able to help eachother out.
Thanks!
I think in terms of the business adding itself thing - its an issue but not too much of an issue. Seeing as the score of the business will be provided on an average score, an out of place 5 star rating among a see of 2 star ratings shouldnt cause too much of an issue - but yes, something that should be controlled if we can.
In terms of the suggestion for the specifics rating system - amen to that sister.
As Brendan said, we have had a quick think about businesses exploiting the system - and have semi decided (for demo purposes) that it shouldn't be too big of a deal because it's based on averages...
Something I was thinking (and mentioned to Brendan) was that maybe we could somehow check IP addresses. Maybe if one person is voting a particular business really good and all it's competitors terrible maybe that's a sign that a business is exploiting? That was just a quick suggestion but by no means flawless or even usable...
Anyway thanks for the comment :)
Hi Guys,
Reading through you conversation it was hard to work out which bit were referring to us (welovelocal) and which bit weren't, but it looks like you're on your way to creating a local site in Australia so I thought I'd share some pointers.
You're spot on about reviews being the most important element of the future of local sites. We only launched 10 weeks ago so we've yet to hit the much touted 'critical mass,' and so we'd be shooting ourselves in the foot if we didn't publish business data that would be of use. That said if you are just looking for reviews, you can filter by ratings.
welovelocal is a better site if you get involved, write reviews, make friends etc. However there a tons of people out there who just want a phone number, and we feel providing a good service for them is a must.
Finally we think it is only a matter of time until small business owners realise the full potential of the local web, and when they do we want to be in a position well suited to helping them.
Good luck with the project, make sure you drop us a link when you're done.
Dan, welovelocal.com
Dan,
If it's possible, I'd like to have a chat with you about the thought process that went behind creating http://welovelocal.com/ and some other concepts.
I'm about to look for an email address on your site, but if I can't find one could you please drop me a line at coopisjerk(at)gmail(dot)com - I'm stoked that you were able to find out about our idea, and both Brendan and I really like what your site has to offer. So it would be great if we were able to ask you some questions :)
Thanks.
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