I have kept track of a few things since I joined Qype, and now we are launching in the UK, here is a little bit of history about how we got there.

New design – official launch (22^nd May 2007)

After long hours from the team to improve the functionalities and look & feel of our site, that’s it, we are ready to go live.

It’s always slightly nerve racking to release a new design; although we all love it internally, and the usability testing was positive, we don’t really know for certain how the Qypers out there will react.

The site is clearer, cleaner, with easier navigation and more intuitive way to connect with other people; we have also added a few features like the top 5 in each city – and the review of the week which highlights a particularly interesting or well written contribution from one of our users.

We have also made some big changes to the personal profile section, allowing people to tell others a little bit more about themselves: what they like and don’t like, their favourite books and pieces of music; all the stuff that is important when you want to check out what kind of Qyper you are looking at.

We’re tracking all feedback and comments to see how it’s going. And it’s also very possible that we have missed a few things. So don’t be shy.

Wells and Thurrock gone missing… (4^th May 2007)

For some obscure reason, we are missing a few places in the UK on our database. The team is investigating, but at the moment I am unable to review some places I like, including the fabulous cathedral in Wells, or the Ilva store in Thurrock. (notice how one is cultural and virtuous, and the other rather indulgent & materialistic…)

If there is a common denominator between these two places, it is still escaping us.

Otherwise the design is progressing (almost) as planned. We have had to adjust the colours since what looks great on Mac can turn rather sickly on PC screens. I am a little worried to be the only female looking at our colour scheme, since men are much more prone to being colour blind. The two colours that are most difficult for colour-blind people are red and green….and of course these are our corporate livery.

Nico, our chief designer, is showing great patience to accommodate all the tweaks. He’s doing yoga in the background right now.

 

What is the essence of a person? (30 April 2007)

One of the key principles of Qype is to allow Qypers to see each other’s profile; that way you get an idea of the kind of person who is posting reviews, and whether or not they are people whose advice you would trust, or run a mile in the opposite direction.

Interesting discussion around the office re. which questions should be asked to give insights around personality.

I was angling for questions around ‘favourite book’ (has to be Perfume), ‘what did you do last summer?’ (can’t remember that far back, bit of a goldfish) and ‘what did you want to become when you were 8 years old’ (an astronaut). Jens, Nico and Arthur were keener to find out people’s gender, their age and marital status…

I don’t know about you, but after I reached 30 – yes ok that was a while back – I became increasingly bashful about the real number of candles on my little yearly cake. It’s nobody’s business, it does not define me since I squarely stay at around 29.5 and unless it’s Internal Revenue or airline security asking, I really don’t want to tell.

Back to UK site; now the address data is in, the speed with which reviews can be entered has exponentially soared. We will stay in Beta until the new design is ready, which wont be too long now. These things are like good wine, can’t be rushed.

 

Trials and tribulations of the pre-launch phase (27th April 2007)

We are now the throes of the pre-launch for the UK. Some days it feels like the launch day is so round the corner we can smell it, some days it’s more ‘back to the future’.

This week I went over to Hamburg to work with the guys on the deployment of the UK address data and the new design. The UK address data is rather critical to our launch because until it is set up on the site, each address has to be entered manually.

I never realised that the BT data was so disorganised; it’s one of those cases where the German sense of logic and order is baffled by the British lack of rigour (and we have not tackled France yet, that should be fun).

We are deploying the data this week, and although the site will still be in Beta phase and closed to the public, it will be a hell of a lot easier to add reviews from now on.

 

First (micro) Qype meeting in London (April 18^th, 2007)

Highlight of the (working) week was our Qype dinner in London. We met in our favourite haunt, Addie’s Thai Cafe in Earl’s Court, to review progress, and for a serious bonding session. Stephan (our CEO) was around, as well as our eminence grise Konstantin, and we invited our most active UK Qyper and Beta tester, David to get his views on the site.

Great food, great company, and just enough of business talk to feel it wasn’t just a group of friends getting together.

 

Leprechauns & popcorn (April 10^th 2007)

Working with a German team on design has also its challenges…starting with a different sensitivity to colour and tone of voice.

We spent enough time discussing greens that I am starting to see leprechauns everywhere.

Many moons ago I was working in the fashion business and it was a source of puzzlement to discover that Germany was about the only country in Europe where colour trends followed different rules. Enough said. The guys have a good sense of humour and we are able to adjust the design to match more Anglo-Saxon taste buds.

Tone of voice is possibly even more difficult; Qype has to have a personality. Of course we are a platform for our users, and the important bit on the site is what those users write and how they communicate with each other, but it’s a bit like going to the movies: the critical part is what is being shown on the screen, but that does not mean you would not want a comfortable seat, warm popcorn and gorgeous looking ushers..(ok that last bit was just me).

To illustrate how even the most mundane communication can be turned into something interesting with a bit of wit, I brought an Innocent smoothie to the office to read the label. I love the part about the unexpected ingredients (like ‘a small church – please forgive us’ amongst the pressed apples and crushed blueberries).

Thank you Innocent, the illustration worked a treat. We are now working on the injection of personality and humour throughout the site. This hopefully will be our warm popcorn.

 

Qype or Qype???? (April 4^th 2007)

We cannot agree internally on the pronunciation of the word Qype in English. Please help!

Is it meant to sound like “quiet” or “kite”?

And yes, I know, we will back to square one when we launch in France…

 

Party time! (28^th March 2007)

Our first anniversary! Qype launched in Germany on 28^th March 2006 so this was a brilliant reason for a serious team bonding exercise.

We celebrated in some style… at 3 different cocktail bars.

Sorry but that is all the information we will reveal; what goes on tour stays on tour.

 

I am in love (26^th March 2007)

(with our German office)

If you are ever in Hamburg, I would urge you to pop into the office. The team likes having visitors, especially the developers – after all they are all human beings like you and I.

The office is right in the centre of the city, in a gorgeous old building, and opposite the Prada store (the team is thoughtful - they don’t let me out with my credit cards).

Real nice atmosphere too (but shame about the dress sense… sorry guys!); good mix of people, and (most of them have) a great sense of humour. I don’t speak German, so thankfully I probably missed a lot of the jokes on my distinctively uncool laptop (clue: it does not have a little fruit logo)

Finding as good an office in London without bringing financial ruin on the company is going to be a challenge. So for now, living room it is!

 

Herring for breakfast.. (19^th March 2007)

Great news from the team today: Qype has just been We just learned that we are one of the winners of the Red Herring 100 Europe Award .

The award ceremony will take place in Cannes on March 25^th. I guess Cannes has a pretty good track record for award ceremony, but somehow I would not have picked the Croisette as the venue for a hip, entrepreneurial, online event…

 

 

Welcome to Qype! (14^th March 2007)
This is my first Qype post, so bear with me; I am bound to improve as I go along. I have just joined the Qype family to look after the launch of the company in the UK. Terribly exciting but rather daunting at the same time. Stephan Uhrenbacher, (founder of Qype) and I used to work together a while back, and we kept in touch. So from a little distance I observed the launch in Germany, and the rise of the company in that market.
Qype DE is now almost one year old, and I think the progress has been great; we have 45,000 reviews on the site, and there has been a real buzz about the company in the press. The UK is going to be the first step in the international expansion of Qype; our ambition is mostly European – mind you that should keep us busy for a while.

These are embryonic times in the UK; I am so far the only person working in London, but with the support of the whole German team who are improving the English site everyday to prepare for the official launch.

Whilst these improvements take place, the site will remain closed to the public. The plan is to launch late spring, but there is a lot to do since we will also re-design the current site to make it more ‘European’.

Incidentally you will no doubt pick up soon enough that I am not a technical person; it took me a while to realise that “Ruby on rails” was not some weird nickname for a Qype employee…

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