Posts Tagged ‘community’ Blog Index

Yesterday, I launched App of the Day, a website that features a community-nominated iPhone and iPod touch app everyday. I decided to use Rypple to help me get anonymous feedback from visitors to the site.

With over 85,000 iPhone and iPod touch applications in the App Store today, it can be somewhat taxing to separate the well-built and useful apps from other lesser ones clogging up the storefront. App of the Day solves this problem by promoting community-nominated, high-quality iPhone and iPod touch applications.

Members of the site may nominate one app per day, and are able to discuss those that have already been showcased.

In the footer, I added a Rypple Feedback link, as I wanted to see what visitors thought about App of the Day.

So far, I’ve gotten a lot of insightful, and useful feedback using Rypple. Here are some of the things users have said:

Can I either follow this in Twitter or have an RSS feed?

This comment made me consider how people will use App of the Day. I built an RSS feed, but other than the RSS link in the Firefox and Safari address bars, it is not mentioned anywhere on the site. I plan to correct this in the next few days with an update.

Format the site for viewing on the iPhone.

Considering App of the Day is an iPhone site, it makes sense to have an iPhone formatted page, but I completely overlooked it.

Overall I’m really excited to read, and take action on the Feedback that I receive in the coming days using Rypple. I’d really appreciate if you could give me Feedback on App of the Day at rypple.com/appoftheday/improve.

Tags: app of the day, app store, community, Features, Feedback, feedback is fundamental, iphone, jordan satok, learning, Rypple, website

Marketing

28661 commenthttp%3A%2F%2Frypple.com%2Fblog%2Fusing-rypple-for-feedback-on-my-new-website%2FUsing+Rypple+for+Feedback+on+my+New+Website2009-10-19+20%3A53%3A19Jordan+Satokhttp%3A%2F%2Frypple.com%2F%3Fp%3D2866

A little while a go our friend and social media guru, Joshua Porter, helped break the news about how adding a photo to your Rypple profile can increase your response rates by 15-20%. Amazing how a small photo carefully placed on an email request can create enough of a personal connection to motivate someone to give you feedback! The social web is pretty cool, eh? (yes, I’m Canadian)

Ok, so fast forward a few months later and I’m sitting with Tim Yull talking about Rypple Enterprise when he asks me:

“Since Rypple Enterprise customers have the ability to ‘brand’ the service by uploading their logo and changing the color scheme, does doing so impact user engagement at their company?

Good question Tim! (kinda wish I knew the answer to that one…)

Once back at the Rypple lab we ran some stats and lo and behold, yet another amazing result…

Organizations running Rypple Enterprise who branded Rypple with their corporate logo and colors saw a 22% increase in response rates over those who had not!

Again, the social connection created by identifying with one’s own organization, motivates people to engage. Very cool!

We love learning from our user community, so if any of you have any questions or statistical insights you’re curious about, don’t hesitate to reach out!

(As an aside, if you’re the administrator of a Rypple Team or Enterprise account and want to upload your logo, click HERE – requires login)

Tags: community, engagement, Feedback, feedback is fundamental, lessons, peer review, Performance Reviews, personal review, process, product, Questions, response rates, Rypple, Rypple Enterprise, social, Workplace

Product & Community

22970 commentshttp%3A%2F%2Frypple.com%2Fblog%2Fuploading-your-logo%2FUploading+your+logo+increases+response+rates2009-09-21+14%3A30%3A23David+Priemerhttp%3A%2F%2Frypple.com%2F%3Fp%3D2297

There are three new things that you need to know about this week. A sweet redesigned homepage, a new way to import your contacts, and groups.

We think the new homepage looks great! We’ve added some new content, like the ‘What is Rypple’ guide, a great resource to help you and your team get started.  Don’t forget to check out the videos made by some of our top users.

We’ve added new import capabilities. When you’re creating a feedback request you may want to ask an adviser who is not already one of your Rypple contacts. You don’t know their email off the top of your head, but it’s in your email contacts. Instead of abandoning your request, or not asking that person, you can import all your contacts right from your feedback request.

Rypple groups will help you achieve your goals. Group your advisers around a goal you want to accomplish. Or divide your groups into categories such as; Advisers, mentors, colleagues, friends, customers, clients, family, etc… Making a group is a great way to complete your goals and organize your advisers.

Stay tuned for next week notes!

Tags: agile, business development, community, constructive feedback, customer outreach, decision support, learning, personal review, Questions, Release Notes, self-improvement, startup, User Experience

Community Marketing

17360 commentshttp%3A%2F%2Frypple.com%2Fblog%2Fwhats-new-this-week-at-rypple%2FWhat%27s+New+This+Week+at+Rypple2009-08-28+20%3A50%3A16Nathaniel+Rottenberghttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.rypple.com%2F%3Fp%3D1736

Recently we began sending out Rypple branded Flip Video Cameras to some of our users. They made videos talking about how they are using Rypple with their companies.

The videos are also available on rypple.com/buzz, where you can also learn more about the individuals and companies featured in the videos.

Jenny Blake, the Senior Strategist of Training and Development at Google, and a GenY blogger made two videos talking about how she uses Rypple, both in her professional work at Google, and for her blog, Life After College.

John Kelleher, the CEO at R.J. McCarthy, made a video talking about how Rypple has virally moved through his organization.

Shawn Chance, the Client Services Manager at NEWAD Media, made a video talking about how they used Rypple within their organization.

Marg Campbell, the Executive Director at Delisle Youth Services, made a video talking about how she is using Rypple with her company, and why Rypple is better than traditional surveys.

Eric Cole, Vice President of Operations at Original Bread, Inc., a franchisee of Panera Bread, made a video about the feedback he has received from employees using Rypple.

We will be posting more videos to rypple.com/buzz over the next few weeks.

Tags: blogger, business development, buzz, community, customer outreach, Delisle Youth Services, Development, eric cole, Feedback, feedback is fundamental, gen y, Google, honest feedback, jenny blake, john kelleher, jordan satok, learning, life after college, marg campbell, NEWAD Media, Panera Bread, peer review, People, Performance Reviews, personal review, professional development, quick polls, RJ McCarthy, Rypple, RyppleTV, self-improvement, shawn chance, startup, team, team review, usability, User Experience, Workplace

Marketing

15110 commentshttp%3A%2F%2Frypple.com%2Fblog%2Fintroducing-ryppletv%2FIntroducing+RyppleTV2009-08-11+18%3A53%3A12Jordan+Satokhttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.dev2catalyze.com%2F%3Fp%3D1511

New and improved this week:

• To keep up with our good friends on the GWT team at Google, we’ve upgraded from GWT 1.5 to 1.7. This will improve the performance of Rypple and give us greater cross-browser support.
• We’ve improved the load time of the non-logged in adviser and public URL response pages. When we say FAST, honest, feedback, we really mean it. This means the people answering your Rypples will have a really snappy experience.
• The types of feedback you can give are now clearer than ever:
  • Freeform: the old Advice box has now become a free-for-all of feedback. It’s completely up to you: say what’s on your mind in whatever format you’d like to use.
  • Like/Improve: the previously-ambiguously-named Feedback tab gives you the structured to tell your advisers what you liked and what you thought needed improvement.
  • Start/Stop/Continue: the ex-Coaching tab, which made a very recent appearance in Rypple gives you three fields to tell your advisers what they should start, stop, and continue doing.

• The Leaderboard is a great tool to help you decide who to ask. Check out who has asked the most questions, and who has been the most helpful in all of Rypple, at your company, and now by your domain. You’ll find the Leaderboard in the sidebar of your Home page.

• If you’re stuck thinking of a question to ask, the Suggested Questions community is the place to be. Search through questions added by other people with the same domain as you, vote the best ones up to the top, and ask any of the questions with a single click. Check out what your teammates are asking!

• Tag your TouchBase objectives with skills. This will help you know what type of questions to ask so you can get the proper feedback to complete your objectives.

Stay tuned for next weeks notes! Same time, same place.

Tags: Coaching, community, customer outreach, decision support, Feedback, feedback is fundamental, freeform, GWT, leaderboard, like/improve, peer review, performance, personal review, professional development, quick polls, Release Notes, Rypple, speed, start/stop/continue, suggested questions, team review, touchbase

Community Marketing

12890 commentshttp%3A%2F%2Frypple.com%2Fblog%2Fweekly-release-notes-july-29-2009%2FWeekly+release+notes%3A+July+29%2C+20092009-07-31+00%3A49%3A37Nathaniel+Rottenberghttp%3A%2F%2Fblog.rypple.com%2F%3Fp%3D1289

Tags: business development, business performance, community, customer outreach, david stein, decision support, Feedback, feedback is fundamental, future, lessons, listen, meaningful results, peer review, People, personal review, product, quick and easy, Rypple, service, team, team review, use

David Stein is a co-CEO of Rypple. David was one of the founders and the Executive Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer of Workbrain. He is a recognized HCM strategist and has helped some of the biggest companies in the world to get the most out of their people.

11280 commentshttp%3A%2F%2Frypple.com%2Fblog%2Fturn-the-future-into-the-past%2FTurn+the+Future+Into+the+Past2009-07-14+17%3A56%3A07David+Steinhttp%3A%2F%2Fblog.rypple.com%2F%3Fp%3D1128

I recently joined the Rypple team, responsible for business development. I’m originally from Toronto and, after more than a decade abroad helping to grow a startup to over $100 million, I wanted to come back and do the same here. I’ve lived in the USA (Boston), the UK (Cambridge and London), and have done business around the world. There is a ton of potential in Canada for innovation and I’m excited to be part of a transformative startup here. We need more.

Why did I join Rypple?

• The people. This is a talented, motivated team of individuals who get things done.
• The product. Rypple is changing the way people interact in the workplace – making it easier (and more fun) than ever to get feedback from peers, bosses, clients, etc., to help refine skills, customer service, etc.
• The community. Rypple has incredibly active and informed users and advisers!

The top lessons I’ve learned over the years that I will apply at Rypple are:

• Listen. Actively engage end-users, analysts, reporters, friends, etc., as they all can help inform and validate your strategy.
• Choose wisely. When you’re passionate about a problem it’s easy to build up a backlog of ideas that could consume you forever. It’s ok to do a lot but stay focused on what matters to customers and partners and you’ll win.
• Embrace change. Make sure you’re equipped with the product, tools, and work ethic to take full advantage of new opportunities and overcome challenges.
• Play to win. This one is self-explanatory.

What I’ve learned so far on the job at Rypple:

• Companies of all types and sizes thrive on feedback. Feedback is fundamental.
• Rypple is easier than expected to sell (you can try before you buy!).
• Rypple’s customer service is second to none and that goes a long way.

Tags: business development, choose wisely, community, customer outreach, decision support, embrace change, Feedback, feedback is fundamental, jesse goldman, lessons, listen, peer review, People, personal review, play to win, product, quick polls, Rypple, team, team review

Business Development

11050 commentshttp%3A%2F%2Frypple.com%2Fblog%2Fintroducing-jesse%2FIntroducing+Jesse2009-07-09+19%3A09%3A51Jesse+Goldmanhttp%3A%2F%2Fblog.rypple.com%2F%3Fp%3D1105

Hello everybody, I’m Nathaniel – and I’m new to the Rypple team.  I recently graduated from Queens University in Kingston, Ontario, and I’m here to help the growing Rypple community.

This means a few things.  First, I’m going to be talking with our users and fans on all sorts of social media.  I’ll spend my time listening carefully to what you – the community – want to get out of Rypple and how we can improve.  And, I’ll be facilitating some useful online discussion about topics near to our hearts: feedback.  We’ll bring in experts, of course, but we really want to engage you – our users – in a dialog about feedback.  One of my first projects is working with Jay Goldman on Rypple Facebook community.  We’ll be launching this soon – and I’ll blog more about it later.

For now, I’m really excited to learn from everyone here at Rypple.  The people are super-smart and its seems they all have something to teach me.  I’m eager to help out everywhere and anywhere I can.  This is a whole new experience for me, so I’ve named this week:  My Week O’ Firsts!  For example:

• I started my first post-university job,
• I moved to a new city (Toronto),
• This is, in fact, my first blog.

With the Week O’ Firsts in mind – where better to start than at Rypple, a company dedicated to helping people to get the useful and specific feedback?  At the end of my first week I plan to Rypple the team to find out how I’m doing and what I can improve on.  After all, a little feedback goes a long way!  I’ll blog a bit about my first experiences – and hopefully you can let me know if yours was similar.

If you’d like to get in touch with me about any subject, feel free to leave a comment on this post and I’ll get back to you!

Tags: community, facebook, Feedback, jay goldman

Community Marketing

4770 commentshttp%3A%2F%2Frypple.com%2Fblog%2Fmy-week-ofirsts%2FMy+Week+O%27Firsts+2009-02-10+16%3A47%3A49Nathaniel+Rottenberghttp%3A%2F%2Fblog.rypple.com%2F%3Fp%3D477

Hi. Welcome to another post categorized under “development.” Please stay tuned to this category to find out more about what happens in product development. We might just dish out some juicy info so come back often.

James, Austin and I attended the 4th Facebook Developer Garage in Toronto. Toronto has one of the biggest Facebook (FB) user bases, so it is no surprise that FB Developer Garage in Toronto is the biggest in the world. The event opened with a keynote from Rebecca Sawyer of Facebook on basic marketing strategy using targeted ads in FB. This was followed by a quick showcase of the improved FB profile page. The new version allows for more self-expression and is much cleaner – I truly welcome it as an improvement. The second portion of the event consisted of sponsored talks about FB apps.

The FB API has really taken off. In the year since the initial release FB has added 400K+ developers and 30K+ apps (which is several times more than they expected). This fact, coupled with FB’s popularity in Toronto, has encouraged us to consider adding a FB app for Snowflake. So, we went to FB Developer Garage to learn more about FB dev community and opportunities from the very guys who are involved in it. Here are some of the key takeaways that we noted:

• Don’t overwhelm FB app users with too much event information from their friends (FB itself 3-5% only)
• FB ads allow targeting based on users’ profile settings
• FB is evolving into a social network where most people come for entertainment several times a day
• A lot of viral apps are simple games or fun concepts that engage user’s friends
• Giving points for participation drives virality
• Competition amongst friends leads to addictive behavior which is so powerful that it can lead to monetization of virtual goods
• Many FB apps first focus on building a large and active community that can eventually be monetized

Ok – that’s what we learned last night. More to follow…

Tags: community, facebook, product

Development, author of onebookaweek.com

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