Fecking Recturds or Inspired Genii? (The dooyoo Redesign)

Member Name: marandina

Product:	The dooyoo Redesign
Date:	18/09/02 (111 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: See op

Disadvantages: See op

Well, here's an opinion I hadn't planned but seeing as I can't get the category I want it'll have to do for now (how ironic?)

Hmmmm....well....the new Dooyoo platform has been with us for a few weeks now and it's been an unqualified success story....or...erm...maybe not. Maybe it's worth looking at why the need to change at all followed by what's gone wrong.

OK - why change? Well, the old Dooyoo was dated to say the least. New members found the main portal unnecessarily complicated and...well...ugly. The thing is, you see, modern businesses have to adapt or cease to be. There was a time when Swiss watch manufacturers scoffed at the notion of LCD watches. A few years later the watch industry had been turned on its head with Swiss watch manufacturers relegated to a bit part player from producing virtually all watches made. For those that don't know, this is called a paradigm where complacency leads to wholesale change. There will be numerous other examples but the online industry is subject to faster and more radical change than most. So Dooyoo, who already hold a competitive advantage over it's main rivals including Ciao have decided to go for a window of opportunity and capitalise on that advantage through the launch of Aurora.

Dooyoo derives its income stream from the various outlets supporting online purchases. Hopefully, having read a few reviews, the customer will make an informed purchase via a Dooyoo affiliate. I'm surprised that Dooyoo doesn't use its member base for surveys in the same way that Ciao does but maybe it hasn't thought of it. Where a business exists that is consumer-orientated it simply must continue to improve or face the consequences.

Now, problem is that new technology has a habit of going wrong. I've experienced this with my own company recently on several occasions. The lust for market share leads to a new technology launch that is flawed but the company
is willing to accept the wailing and gnashing of its employees teeth to steal a march on the competition. The pros outweigh the cons. After all, businesses are there to make money.

To my mind, the new Dooyoo looks a whole lot better than the old one. It seems to have the consumer in mind with an easier to navigate main portal, a seemingly organised cross-referencing method and some nice touches with the guided tour and so on. The text looks better and rating opinions is a whole lot clearer. On the whole, the motives are good, the need to change is spot on and the new premise is relatively secure.

So, what's gone wrong? Crucial to any endeavour is communication. Here, Dooyoo seem all at sea. With any new technology, a key component of the change strategy is to communicate why the changes are taking place, how they are taking place and then train the dag nabit workforce. Many of these most basic of facets have gone awry. The very people that form the community of Dooyoo have been alienated by this strange lack of ability to talk to members.

A curious sub-aspect is the role of guides. Community Guides are not formal employees of the company yet seem to expect to be privy to highly sensitive commercial information. After all, how many businesses would advise customers that they were about to launch a new technological platform? Often, these processes are shrouded in secrecy so I'm not that surprised that guides (lovely though most are) don't get replies to the best intentioned of e-mail or are excluded from testing. In saying this, it's a bizarre aspect of Dooyoo that it creates a formal expectation for members to test for bugs when this is bound to cause a backlash of consternation. Not surprisingly, folks don't really appreciate being asked to do something for nothing and especially when it totally disrupts their online raison d'etre.

What is clear is that members get very passionate about the site to the po
int where they forget that maybe, they aren't as ensconced in the internal changes and politics that they think they should be. Not withstanding, Community Guides are the public face of sites like Dooyoo and should have some input into how the site is run even if it is only on an ad-hoc consultancy basis. After all, they don't get paid a bean for their time and can be taken for granted all too easily.

This hunger for inclusion and direct contact with the movers and shakers at the very top of the tree seems to be an unusual aspect of the Internet. I suppose it stems from the ease with which an e-mail can be sent to just about anybody including even Bill Gates. I mean, would Barclays Online contact every customer and go through every technical amendment and change prior to a revamp of their site? They may well highlight new features and benefits but probably not much more.

Members have felt that the inability to request payment along with the lack of adding new categories somewhat insidious. This does seem a bit remiss but the category issue is simply explained by the fact that the consolidation of Dooyoo staffing means that the product manager (Katie Bingham) has had to do that along with all the other duties she under takes. I've suggested that members get involved some how to take the pressure of her but that remains to be seen. As far as requesting payment then your guess is as good as mine but when folks don't get paid then they tend to get annoyed.

Where do we go from here? This situation did exist on Ciao at the beginning of the year. The site became a ghost town after the tub-thumping surrounding the swingeing cuts in payments. Ironically, Ciao has seen an influx of even the staunchest of Dooyoo members. It's at this juncture that members should look at the reasons they post at all. If those reasons are financial then there are far better money-making concerns than either of these sites. Ciao pays a measly 1p per
read and only in a limited number of categories. That's fine if you don't mind reading about crisps and beauty products. There's the Premium Fund, which doles out £15 & £20 prizes monthly. However, there ain't many so they can be as rare as rocking horse shit and one aspect that annoys me about Ciao is that certain members can pretty much guarantee an award based on their profile. For all its critics, the crown system reaches more members than ever the comparable diamond system on Ciao does.

I'm not sure whether Dooyoo is ailing or just rank poor communicators. It's extremely disappointing that certain members feel disaffected including high profile community guides. I suspect that, even now, despite their harsh (but entertaining) words, a number of folks are hoping that things get better quickly so that this whole episode can be resigned to history. I can't help feeling that this isn't the end for Dooyoo and that it will recover in the same way that the inferior Ciao did. Of course, what do I know and it may close down tomorrow? I suppose if was going to ask for anything it would be for people to remain objective and support a site that has supported them well in the past. Hey, it really wouldn't be the same if the site weren't around any more although a lot of us would probably just end up kicking our heels on the wonderful Tooyoo (I can't imagine an eternity talking inanities with Iain Wear but it could happen, lol).

I know it's difficult but please bare with it? I know this will sound trite to many but these things tend to be cyclical and it will be interesting to see where we are in 6 months time.

For those hardy souls still reading and rating..well...thanks for reading.

Marandina

This should be rated 3 stars but I can't stay all night trying to amend this op...Grrrrrrrr

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