Name: "Foodie" or "Foodle"
Target Users: Singles, university students, urban socialites
Information:
Problem: This problem came to me whilst eating out at a cafe, upon sitting down and a menu placed immediately infront of me. I noticed the cafe next door looked much more appealing in terms of atmosphere and much more popular with patrons. Having an inquisitive mind, I asked myself why? Took to google looking for answers before making my order in search of reviews of the cafe I had sat down in. Searching and finding convenient reviews for establishments was difficult, most apps seemed limited in searching and/or reviewing. Anyway... long story short... we should have went next door.... but that got me thinking about why it was so difficult to find this information? An APP IDEA!!!
The Gap:
The problem I face was not finding the cafe, or even the reviews through Google. It was the quality of the reviews and any active participation by the business to do anything with the reviews. I immediately identified what I called the user experience loop breakdown. I could not get reliable reviews, and the business could do nothing with trolling bad reviews which were obviously incorrect presumably by competing cafe owners?
Solution:
My app idea wasn't new by any standard. Mobile search and review
applications are plentiful. But my idea for the user experience gap was.
For an application to be useful (and hence used), it has to provide either entertainment or useful gain to the user. In this case, I wanted to know why the cafe next door was more popular? What were the reviews? Could the reviewing system be trusted? Google reviews are fine except when making decisions based on annonymous feedback.
It is open to abuse and corruption if not moderated. Most
businesses do not have the time or knowledge that these reviews are
happening, thus they can not
respond to any complaint or service requests.
So how do I get people to take the time to give honest reviews and be accountable for them? By giving them more of what they want in return for repeat business? An app that would allow users to link reviews to
facebook/twitter/instagram accounts and give a 'face' to the reviews
being made.
How does the user benefit from this?
Consider a loyalty card scheme which rewards customers for repeat business, then mix it with the review scheme from ebay where you can easily assess the authenticity of a persons comments\feedback by the number of purchases or sales they have made? = Now you have a system where the user will receive discounts for honest reviews when eating out. The reward program
How does the business benefit from this?
When a review is made, the cafe or restaurant website can be entered for businesses not already in a Google database, the 'contact us' information is extracted and used to send a personalized email with a 'join this app' link to become part of the community and respond to the complaint or positive review.
The business can now offer additional reward loyalty credits for a customer to return and try the cafe/restaurant again and update the review if previously unsatisfied? The incentive program
How does the developer benefit from this?
The developer may through the use of push notifications, suggested advertising or direct paid advertising increase revenue through and with business. Almost like the Yellow Pages concept, a business wishing to post to the news page or direct access to users email to push advertising at a cost.
The money maker program
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