Defining the User
My work defining the user was largely attributed to my own experience looking for a good food outlet with reliable reviews. I mentioned this in a previous post where I could not get decent or reliable information on a particular cafe easily, and that information I got was clearly tampered with.
So what did I want in an app like this? Seems like a good starting point, right?
- I wanted reliable reviews. I don't want to be reading annonymous submissions on a google review page where the information could have well been posted by a competitor cafe. The owner of the cafe I was sitting in must have been oblivious that this content about their restaurant was online and unchallenged...
- Not so important to me, but possibly others. Searching for restaurants. If your new to an area or just up for something new...
- News... is there something special happening at a place I go to often?
- Discounts... and I want to know when the specials are on. I never eat anywhere at full price. (I'm cheap that way)
- Menu's... if I look up a place... I really REALLY want to see a menu before being the guy to sit down... the waiter hands me a menu... and after 30 seconds of looking at whats on offer... "nah, I don't like anything on the menu" and getting up infront of other patrons and walking out. If it's not my style.. I want to know that before walking in.
Now I'll be honest. I'm not the foodie kinda of person, in fact my personal taste in food is quite limited and as a child thought that eating dinner was something that got in the way of my play time.
That said however... I am fascinated by those people who LOVE food and claim that food and dining is their life.
Lets take a moment to look at how food has played a role in media, social and digital lifestyles in recent years. It wasn't that long ago, Daytime television would have the Cooking shows and prime time would be the Game Shows. But a very quick look today would show a very different result. Prime time television and big business now heavily favour the My Kitchen Rules, MasterChef's, Bake offs and the likes. Game shows are pushed to space fillers between other prime drama and yet more cooking shows! Heck, even my 3 yro niece stays up late to watch My Kitchen Rules?
When did this happen? When did eating become big business when only a few years earlier, "not eating" and weight loss competitions were the thing to watch....
Social media happened. There was always a market for people who love food. But rarely a voice given to them. Until facebook and instagram that was. The first time I noticed this was when the mass of selfish selfies on my facebook timeline were quickly being overtaken by pictures of someone's dinner...? Really??? ... your dinner?
Photo's of a steak, photo's of a seafood platter, photo's of ...
... well you get the idea... The point is though... People loved food! and people love telling other people about food!
A quick google search found that this wasn't just something people did to annoy me... but it was actually some new craze taking off on the internet!
http://eater.com/archives/2013/06/26/restaurants-encouraging-diners-to-take-photos-of-their-food.php
http://www.buzzfeed.com/mackenziekruvant/food-instagrams-to-follow-in-2014
People follow this kind of thing online... So much so that the terms "Food Porn" and "Food papperazzi" have been coined... Even parodies of this cultural development....
Okay... so I think I have a good grasp on who I may want to target with this... I have a list of my wants and needs... I have a demographic I think will love an app platform especially targeted at them.
How do I think I can get these people to use my app? The Gap!
Give them something that isn't on offer with the service they are already getting! Facebook has the problem that when posting 'Food Porn' online annoys friends who aren't into the food culture. Instagram doesn't have the social breadth that facebook has. And neither allow automatic alert of the businesses being reviewed or take part in the conversation. The food lover doesn't have a real home yet... and everyone likes to feel like they belong!
So what will we do to make the user feel like they belong?
Connect them to others who share the same love of food. A small scale social network where you can follow community reviewer's experiences and try those dining recommendations themselves.
Leave and Comment on reviews. Participate and become known as a respected local, national or even global food critic.
How will we tempt users to contribute to the community and in turn their experience?
Rankings and Rewards... Everyone loves to be recognised for a contribution... almost as much as they love being rewarded for doing so.
Rankings: Lets allow users to gather points. Something that can be acquired and used to show how their reviews can be trusted and something to feel proud of. I came up with the Critic Points (CP) system. A system where by the user gets points for leaving a review, more points for updating reviews, and even more points if people 'like' that review!
Rewards: Everyone loves free stuff... Cafe's and Restaurants already offer discount vouchers and loyalty cards... The Critic Points system is a way for a Businesses to advertise and share discount offers to users directly. But I'll touch on this idea a little more later.
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