tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-55858524749845208322024-02-20T05:45:34.715-08:00Building My Own Food AppAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06811527512628719965noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5585852474984520832.post-41232792904160453262012-11-18T23:22:00.000-08:002012-11-18T23:22:09.443-08:00Yelp has messy desk syndrome.<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I am developing the ultimate food-finding killer app. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As a result I have become a food app snob. Not a food snob, mind you. I'll still eat anything.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I have checked out dishes on <a href="http://www.foodspotting.com/find/in/Bothell-WA-USA">Foodspotting</a>, checked in through <a href="https://foursquare.com/">Foursquare</a>, bought deals on <a href="http://www.groupon.com/browse/seattle">Groupon</a>, found discounts on (Seattle Weekly) <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/app/happy-hours/id303814652">Happy Hours</a>, and largely ignored (Yellow Pages) <a href="http://www.yellowpages.com/products">YPmobile</a>. (Hey I'm honest.)</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcwxYBpl6v_7yYnCcPy-Ab1gBwGW7eea53IoiJL0D6UzHC3hjhbU_l5q6e2mBB5fsUDDLSyMDS1tzKPPiuUThN8A54uuQtuf0HYMxYoHapRe4SZDzEr_1Qts_SvXWPDZestHgHhmvLZMw/s1600/IMG_6716.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcwxYBpl6v_7yYnCcPy-Ab1gBwGW7eea53IoiJL0D6UzHC3hjhbU_l5q6e2mBB5fsUDDLSyMDS1tzKPPiuUThN8A54uuQtuf0HYMxYoHapRe4SZDzEr_1Qts_SvXWPDZestHgHhmvLZMw/s320/IMG_6716.jpg" width="212" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Foursquare</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Foodspotting</td></tr>
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<a href="http://www.yelp.com/yelpmobile" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Yelp</a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">is Goliath. It's the app to beat-- and it's huge. A huge company. And a
huge user interface. Bad mouthing Yelp has become a hobby of mine.</span><span class="apple-converted-space" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">I have said in my previous post that
"no one likes Yelp but everyone uses it" and I have been finding out
why this is the case. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In my own user research, I have found that people really like having options. While they say they like simplicity, simplify until you lack features and your user base will disappear. They will return to the other app that is not designed nearly as swanky but has all of the filters, categories, content, and deals they are looking for. Complexity is necessary in a be-all end-all app. There is no cross-referencing of other apps to find the best burger or the best deal, within walking distance, that is open now, in this hungry world of impulsiveness.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiw5Nnojph3LdrwM3eSMxuse449fvG0twrjD2n2X_XR4WNSN0cIG_zFusZ6wTvkGgP8V0YXhBzsBG92eY_JupdqmLcs5dlW-hLoZ7rURlMXfcqRL1D4a8aqTVAJ4SJXPbrEu7JkHS7FVWk/s1600/Living+w+Complexity.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiw5Nnojph3LdrwM3eSMxuse449fvG0twrjD2n2X_XR4WNSN0cIG_zFusZ6wTvkGgP8V0YXhBzsBG92eY_JupdqmLcs5dlW-hLoZ7rURlMXfcqRL1D4a8aqTVAJ4SJXPbrEu7JkHS7FVWk/s200/Living+w+Complexity.JPG" width="137" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Complexity is the essence of what is to be human. Don Norman's book, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Living-Complexity-Donald-Norman/dp/0262014866">Living with Complexity</a>, perfectly answers why the imperfect app has been the perennial purveyor of reporting reviews and leading customers to cuisines.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The apps Foursquare and Foodspotting are nicely minimal and accomplish their respective tasks of linking you to your friends and offering up the best crowd sourced dishes, but come up short because of minor elements that are missing including "Open Now", price range, and a clunky map. If the user says they want an app to be simple, they are lying. "If we build simple devices, people won't buy them," says Don Norman.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Saying that Yelp has messy desk syndrome is actually a form of compliment... </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="text-align: start;">I am a fan of Al Gore, and look at his messy desk. Mr. Gore is an organized person and/but/therefore his desk reflects the complexity of his life.</span><span style="text-align: start;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I couldn't resist, but politics aside... </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Norman leads us to understand that like Al Gore's desk, technology is complex as well and for good reason. People are asking for it. They want things that do more. The app I am building needs to do as much or more of the vital functions than its predecessors. One vital omission and it is toast. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYlXaD4UIMjKqCGbJE40KNVOWnP9wNmOD0zmcFygugKbI2x5sySkZIyiPAptaIwkh24A82EFzzWsmTSQQ4ShjwwKzjtJeHS6Todcb41pl3fFy5T1X_sfS7Xg0UK1zHPkVYIaKvzWBDcMY/s1600/iphone-4-ipod-touch-4thgen.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="217" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYlXaD4UIMjKqCGbJE40KNVOWnP9wNmOD0zmcFygugKbI2x5sySkZIyiPAptaIwkh24A82EFzzWsmTSQQ4ShjwwKzjtJeHS6Todcb41pl3fFy5T1X_sfS7Xg0UK1zHPkVYIaKvzWBDcMY/s320/iphone-4-ipod-touch-4thgen.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Apple is famous for leaving off lots of features that others have included. But where others have launched MP3 players, smart phones, and tablets and failed, Apple has prevailed well after those products first hit the market and died. The difference lies within A) what was chosen to be added-- the complexity, and B) what was chosen to be subtracted-- we shall call it design. To spell it out, the complexity added was iTunes and the app store. The design is the simple hardware design ethos that only shows the minimal number of buttons needed. All other UI lives on the screen.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">An important distinction-- what is complex is often confused with being complicated. It can be true that something can be both, but it is not the general rule. Something complex can also be incredibly enjoyable to use. It can even be simple. The inner workings, whether they be gears or algorithms, need not be exposed to the end user. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjorDjAaxi0p3USzFzcqptVFjWHCO2SycupYLun9sQRsSo08q6g_VOzaIivrB-dTWU1d0wUkcI0tibsRzsJ8QW9aJhzXgFKtI1T93rRnG0IBTMtBvgYtugnLI3cFce05XRJyoZ3txnkaaY/s1600/Esp1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjorDjAaxi0p3USzFzcqptVFjWHCO2SycupYLun9sQRsSo08q6g_VOzaIivrB-dTWU1d0wUkcI0tibsRzsJ8QW9aJhzXgFKtI1T93rRnG0IBTMtBvgYtugnLI3cFce05XRJyoZ3txnkaaY/s200/Esp1.JPG" width="141" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjETpWJPy3tvWHKe4OfO7mJK0EpSyDxmwfmgjI1HOlVYOW_WdViwvvu-bEdUh5rMRdFbpe6h2MOHzHshOVRphiLtufoz73zGRffeJOlpyy0WSsvAw9nbniChV00kZSwrL94pJfy0WLwFvY/s1600/Esp3.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjETpWJPy3tvWHKe4OfO7mJK0EpSyDxmwfmgjI1HOlVYOW_WdViwvvu-bEdUh5rMRdFbpe6h2MOHzHshOVRphiLtufoz73zGRffeJOlpyy0WSsvAw9nbniChV00kZSwrL94pJfy0WLwFvY/s200/Esp3.JPG" width="158" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6AzcF9z-NvuT60zsLcDhjfSSTRp1iFEspxvwKN2NA6Wl8WFigcYJYXINe4SJZsr-luif6l8pXEi-5lGUBVcRJLIeVqL5KA-zdTQpgEpg0cW9DFUsi1B8YbqEdmM3TvcCavFxeY7Cv3SY/s1600/Esp2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6AzcF9z-NvuT60zsLcDhjfSSTRp1iFEspxvwKN2NA6Wl8WFigcYJYXINe4SJZsr-luif6l8pXEi-5lGUBVcRJLIeVqL5KA-zdTQpgEpg0cW9DFUsi1B8YbqEdmM3TvcCavFxeY7Cv3SY/s200/Esp2.JPG" width="185" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A great example Don Norman shows off in <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=flRuSn0df8Q">his talk at Stanford</a> is the difference between 3 espresso machines. One is truly an influence to steam punk. It has brass valves that have to be skillfully worked to produce a cup of espresso. The second machine needs to be filled with water and coffee, a press of the button, and periodic cleaning. The third is the easiest with loading a module in and pushing the button. The complexities are the same. The complexity is just loaded differently. The easiest machine for the user is the hardest (read: most complex) for the manufacturer.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I'd say that Yelp was most like the second machine before their latest app release. They are a lot easier and even more useful now. They could still push to be more like Machine 3. But for now, that's where I am aiming...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I am still wrestling with changing the paradigm of how people think of what they will eat next. Typically the first thought when hungry is?-- What do I want to eat? Should I go out to eat? Then thought by category-- Mexican, burgers, Thai, Pizza? Arrive at the restaurant and read the menu. Transfer thoughts from your left brain to your right brain to picture the dish. If there are other considerations like specials, price, ingredients to watch out for, then process those and order. Still not sure? Ask what's popular or recommended. Quite a process-- one we take for granted.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If the process is reversed-- Apply filters for price, specials, ingredients. Look at pictures of food closest to your location that are recommended by others. Spot something tasty. Go to the restaurant and eat it.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Much like choosing your very own next meal, it can be either as simple as walking to the cafeteria and eating the same sandwich every day, or there can happily be many factors influencing the decision, especially for a foodie. Perhaps now both can take the same amount of effort. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Allow me to demonstrate the power of pictures:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I rest my case.</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06811527512628719965noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5585852474984520832.post-86204165896894360382012-11-04T17:26:00.001-08:002012-11-18T17:58:15.766-08:00Yelping about Yelp<br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">No one likes <a href="http://www.yelp.com/">Yelp</a>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwYdQhm8GQQCFmC5eOyDNqeraFLKdddKlVv4ZvsIDScfKX5XkAnnGCJutyNZ_ehomBeTJjOYDRPApP8wU801Fmf-2r8SsCW78soAwtyQ-SdYkW3FCbNrKWZToPGc14K-Zpys3a2QJmvKU/s1600/Yelp1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwYdQhm8GQQCFmC5eOyDNqeraFLKdddKlVv4ZvsIDScfKX5XkAnnGCJutyNZ_ehomBeTJjOYDRPApP8wU801Fmf-2r8SsCW78soAwtyQ-SdYkW3FCbNrKWZToPGc14K-Zpys3a2QJmvKU/s320/Yelp1.JPG" width="227" /></a><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But everyone uses Yelp. It’s usually the first site you turn
to for finding a restaurant.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If you are not already familiar with Yelp, the crowd
sourcing, review-based site has been one of the web’s venerable longtime establishments.
Their local reviews are brimming with massive amounts of opinions, way too much
data to sort by yourself, so the Yelp machine sorts the most appropriate
reviews for you. Relevant, recent, and trusted reviews float to the top, so you
read as many reviews as you feel comfortable with. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwAncwVTesh2dXZ5ORBq7g6S2eEcjVPFznI23UhWwrV7FPiNgR1N2EVMn1bHKEkWJMVT0i5YK0J_XGEmEaqz2RPbv3eqxoiEhyphenhyphenwQpCOo2kHKuwrvEuT5ln_d-51T_3zn1OVvny8yDSHMU/s1600/hungry.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="120" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwAncwVTesh2dXZ5ORBq7g6S2eEcjVPFznI23UhWwrV7FPiNgR1N2EVMn1bHKEkWJMVT0i5YK0J_XGEmEaqz2RPbv3eqxoiEhyphenhyphenwQpCOo2kHKuwrvEuT5ln_d-51T_3zn1OVvny8yDSHMU/s200/hungry.gif" width="200" /></a><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In a polling of 20 people, everyone had used Yelp in some
form or another, whether on the web or via mobile app. Often when looking for a
restaurant, the hunger pangs were already starting to kick in for all but 1 of
the 20 polled. Therein lies the problem. With so much data to sift through, how
do you quickly and effectively find your next meal? <span style="background-color: white;">In the age-old problem that everyone has several times
per day, the question of “what to eat” has been a source of enjoyment,
frustration, disappointment, and an occasional pleasant surprise that many
businesses have tried to answer for as long as there have been restaurants.</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-yYl4SqJnSh0xfMHkyr4a2WlepaKo6rCMmpkY_WC5rVlubR683O2W2T3459T0uFyKwZQ6_17Fu-MutbSdF1b7GF59Om_gllSelyyOC9BH43_FwEUw4NqPtvPXzsrOL-tt_Vnuu1LYOoI/s1600/yelp-thumb-520x404.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="248" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-yYl4SqJnSh0xfMHkyr4a2WlepaKo6rCMmpkY_WC5rVlubR683O2W2T3459T0uFyKwZQ6_17Fu-MutbSdF1b7GF59Om_gllSelyyOC9BH43_FwEUw4NqPtvPXzsrOL-tt_Vnuu1LYOoI/s320/yelp-thumb-520x404.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Yelp is based on the basic tenet of trusting real people’s reviews. This is what helps the site’s clout as much as it hurts the user experience. There are so many features, information points, and several ways to filter the reviews, that it’s both overwhelming and ineffective. Do you trust one review or five? What about the negative reviews to round out the mix? But then the negative review starts casting doubt on the restaurant in question. And then the reviews—can you trust them? Well, Yelp sorts them, right?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Crowd sourced reviews are arguably the most unbiased way of obtaining
real opinions, trustworthy qualitative data from the common man or woman. But
the way the data is sorted can actually create incredible bias, because… there
is no such thing as (*ahem) a free lunch. Let me explain. Realize that these
are restaurants (which are businesses) interacting with Yelp (a business too (now
listed on the public stock exchange)). Money changes hands so that Yelp’s more
than </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yelp,_Inc." style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">900</a><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> employees can
put food on the table (*ahem again). Every profitable business needs a business
model.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6k89Lo3b5B7ago7OrClO1AtSXqI615SecsXiUjx2G0Hk6syQQAsUjKWzODgLeg13Ddh2BWCkXkIKLw01FYcd81K7wwrJRNtiOvtIJqkI_lmmrVwDq-il-yzpkCIi394QiYivlJ7kxnac/s1600/Fior+d'Italia.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="187" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6k89Lo3b5B7ago7OrClO1AtSXqI615SecsXiUjx2G0Hk6syQQAsUjKWzODgLeg13Ddh2BWCkXkIKLw01FYcd81K7wwrJRNtiOvtIJqkI_lmmrVwDq-il-yzpkCIi394QiYivlJ7kxnac/s320/Fior+d'Italia.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One of those businesses, 125-year old restaurant Fior d’
Italia, known for its great food and service, did not see the need to use Yelp.
It had an established clientele and refused to advertise on the site. The owner’s
<a href="http://www.sfgate.com/opinion/openforum/article/A-1-star-unfiltered-user-review-of-Yelp-3387200.php">complaint</a>
of Yelp was that Fior had <span style="line-height: 115%;">218 posted reviews
averaging 2 1/2 stars, with many terrible one-star reviews showing</span>.
Unseen were the “filtered reviews” that would average out to more than four
stars. The only way Yelp staff could ‘help us’ was if Fior would advertise with
them.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">How does a customer cut out the bias? Can a diner trust the data or
not?</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRJQ_ddGTTx7Za-xa4x1rJN8YLY3y_YV0prf4dBLcZ82xBLflSrrmIeokG8MojsNqSpU7O9Q2MtRolBIUCkFpJQZS4DDkIEPSakKoAJKbWzY4UgVXM7pCDXNiNRmbsq4de9uCeVHM6ijs/s1600/Angry_Computer.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRJQ_ddGTTx7Za-xa4x1rJN8YLY3y_YV0prf4dBLcZ82xBLflSrrmIeokG8MojsNqSpU7O9Q2MtRolBIUCkFpJQZS4DDkIEPSakKoAJKbWzY4UgVXM7pCDXNiNRmbsq4de9uCeVHM6ijs/s200/Angry_Computer.jpg" width="132" /></a><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In the end, a diner just wants to eat something—something
tasty. That’s all. Well make that somewhere close. And cheap—but not too cheap
because then it might not be worth eating. Instantly gratifying thoughts turned
into action are what will win in the realm of “then and there”, a market that <a href="http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/11_13/b4221070014682.htm#p4">Groupon Now</a> and others have gone after-- the local market worth multiple billions of
dollars.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Funded by a grant from Google, a study turned web site
called <a href="http://revminer.com/" target="_blank">RevMiner</a>
(the name a combination of Review + Miner) attempts to solve for the
inefficiency of the massive Yelp data into manageable chunks. As an added
beneficial consequence, I think it may have re-democratized the data as well. <a href="http://jeffhuang.com/">Jeff Huang</a>, a PHD candidate at the University of Washington, set out to improve the experience of the smart phone app. In the research article, <a href="http://jeffhuang.com/revminer_uist2012_preprint.pdf">RevMiner: An Extractive Interface for Navigating Reviews on a Smartphone</a>,"</span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> h</span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">e
first identifies the problem as a struggle to fit content from the big PC screen
onto the smartphone touchscreen.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The mechanics within RevMiner use algorithms to summarize
reviewer opinions using Natural Language Processing (NLP) into attributes (words
that embody the restaurant). If you need a reason why those keywords were used,
then a quick hover over the attribute would explain itself. It is a clever way
of taking all of the Yelp reviews and making them available at a glance. It’s
all of a sudden easy to see what is largely being said about the restaurant
with key words. Further still, color coding is used to make the association of
what is “good” versus what is “bad” instantly recognizable. With this app, now
the qualitative data is suddenly searchable, browsable, and graphical. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So RevMiner is much faster in usability than Yelp. And there’s
real beauty in that the Review Mining machine removes bias from the order
position of the reviews. This truly is unbiased data at its most lucid, yes?</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9xuqGlspW-2kbgarn2HcisLOwgRTkYS3kP1H2vDe0qwcGHTVuUaFFuvvl5ipZ5k9FqlPcfnQ_0keJQvHRn7kXKNvfWVPF2e81o5iTfl04_ZsX5lwQpXhpoLy56x-tL1FNG2k97dM7K_0/s1600/Rev7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="378" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9xuqGlspW-2kbgarn2HcisLOwgRTkYS3kP1H2vDe0qwcGHTVuUaFFuvvl5ipZ5k9FqlPcfnQ_0keJQvHRn7kXKNvfWVPF2e81o5iTfl04_ZsX5lwQpXhpoLy56x-tL1FNG2k97dM7K_0/s640/Rev7.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Well, no. RevMiner will admit that there are shortcomings to
transforming reviews into non-contextual words. Words have a different meaning when written in a review than when presented in a query. Someone may query the word “cheap” looking for food that is low priced in absolute terms, but within the context of the review, "cheap" was used to describe a good value compared to their expectations. "</span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Few people will remark that McDonald’s was cheap, but people will declare cheap over a $30 3-course special at an exclusive establishment."</span><br />
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<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5585852474984520832" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5585852474984520832" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5585852474984520832" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><br /></a><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5585852474984520832" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><br /></a><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5585852474984520832" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><br /></a><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5585852474984520832" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><br /></a><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Similarly, the word “good” </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">equates to barely positive</span><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">. A review might say
the food was good, but either the service or atmosphere sucked! I noticed that I actually take this into
consideration when I see a Yelp endorsement sticker on the outside of a business.
Truly I do not know what to expect and </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I walk in fully knowing that the atmosphere is a tossup. I attended a Yelp elite event as a +1 (accompanying my legit Yelper friend and taking advantage of the free hors d’oeuvres). The event was held at a total dive bar, well-loved on Yelp. Indeed, t</span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">he typical <a href="http://blogs.laweekly.com/squidink/2010/10/top_five_most_annoying_yelper.php">Yelper likes getting a lot for a little</a> (perhaps similar to a Groupon customer?). "They love us on Yelp" is an award that must take context into consideration.</span><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> The Yelp star rating system has a meaning in itself.</span><br />
<img border="0" height="252" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnZwC1eOBd1FS6zTRm-DK9BjQN37CFFOx5oKE-pZNI4oixqKXvyJ_4vbpOSixZ9lMhIuuns6ufiOh6034r-k0OciCKqCwXscKhaHjQVtGdzX37R6tPoUpL5EH8jxXHFhj8KUbzVsN4Dgs/s640/Rev4.JPG" width="640" /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So there are some self-proclaimed limitations of the
RevMiner app. Qualitative reviews that are transformed them into
quantitative data is not a perfect carryover. Perhaps what the RevMiner study calls out best are inefficiencies
in the Yelp model. In answering the customer's main question "What do I want to
eat?," RevMiner solves for efficiency but may lack the effectiveness that Yelp’s
opinions bring. Within the study, there are several iterations including using
different priorities, word clouds, and color bars for ratings based on key
words. All were tested against Yelp to find what the user preferred. In general
use, participants preferred RevMiner in 45% of cases, whereas Yelp was
preferred 30%. In performing a conjunctive query (using more than one
attribute), RevMiner earned 62% versus Yelp’s 27% preference. So there is something there. Perhaps the two can meet in the middle. Perhaps Yelp can be streamlined, RevMiner more engaging, to solve the question we all ask ourselves multiple times per day, every day, "What do I want to eat?"</span><br />
<o:p></o:p><br />
<span id="goog_535057892"></span><span id="goog_535057893"></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06811527512628719965noreply@blogger.com0