Plebble.com site developments...

We've been working hard at improving Plebble.com and we've just uploaded some new site developments. Here is what we've done:

Aggregating content
The biggest addition is that we are now aggregating content from third party sites. This fits with what we are, ‘a people powered customer service comparison and feedback site’. If you take a look at the business listing pages (see Orange example) under what we call the CommentStream™ you will notice four tabs. The second tab is ‘Other views’. This is where we aggregate third party reviews. We display an extract of the content and links to the source. We also pull in the ranking given and transform it into our Plebble-rating™ algorithm.

Why have we done this? Simply because aggregating gives consumers’ greater consensus views on businesses. Not only is it providing more data, it is also providing this from a variety of different sources, making the plebble-rating™ more reliable. Obviously, the more Plebble users rate and the more we aggregate content, the more robust this becomes.

Spread graph
On the business listing page, we have added a ratings spread graph. This simple graph shows how consistent a business is with its customer service. Look at the banking sector for example. First Direct, the top performing bank, has the columns dominating on the right (+5). It shows that you can expect consistently good service from them. This compares to Abbey dominating on the left towards -5.

Comment on comment
Comment on comment lets users comment on individual ratings and build a discussion around them. This helps create more dialogue between users. This functionality is replicated across comments on ratings, news and advice articles.

Nicknames/anonymous identity
From the outset of Plebble we decided to make all our users identity anonymous. This is simply because we want Plebble users to express themselves freely without outside influence. We stand by this, however we think people should have a choice. Under the updated site, users can choose to remain anonymous or leave their nickname. Having nicknames with the comment-on-comment functionality gives users more opportunity to interact with each other.

Sign up / Login process
We have integrated a standard username and password sign in process. Historically we opted for a symbol ID verification process where ratings are simply verified through a valid email address and a symbol. It has worked beautifully to date, making it easy for users to verify ratings and not have the hassle of trying to remember a password. So why have we abandoned it? Simply because now we have more places that consumers can leave content and interact with the site it makes more sense to have a sign in process up front and then let consumers contribute freely. Rather than verifying through symbol ID and email address for every contribution. We are sorry to see the symbol ID’s go, but the site has to evolve!

Other changes and future developments
There are lots of other little additions and design changes. Please let us know what you think about the updated site, by contacting us through info@plebble.com. We have many little developments planned in the pipeline, such as adding sector comparisons to the Analysis sections. If you have any thoughts on what you would like to see on Plebble, then please contact us with your ideas.