layout: post title: Just signed up for Spud created: 1076396280 categories:

• Vancouver

Small Potatoes Urban Delivery that is. Local Vancouver online grocery delivery (hmm...that doesn't sound right, but you get what I mean).

We're getting ~$15 worth of produce every week, and then a bunch of stuff every other week. First delivery is this Wednesday. Not quite sure how they're going to get into the building -- details are bit weak on that.

I always wanted to try this in Ottawa, but none of the options were any good. Maybe I'm overly picky because I did a project on this in university, where we analyzed the needs of people and rated different options. The Spud interface is still not great. Kate's comment was "I'm glad that they don't give you too many choices". I think this is a key phrase: pick some best-in-class products, don't overwhelm your customers.

But, the site is slow and the design is mediocre at best. Of course, these types of operations don't tend to have the cash to spend on a big site overhaul -- I'd love to have the kind of (financial) freedom to do this as a freebie. A blogging or community feature would be cool as well -- customers could post profiles and (most importantly) content like blog posts that are recipes or reviews of various products. You could design-a-meal or even design-a-diet, sharing it with others and having them comment. All the food/product references would automagically link to catalog items, and you could "click to add recipe" to have it in your next order, along with a print-out of the recipe.

I'm hoping for a lottery windfall -- then I'll have the resources to launch half a dozen of these web ideas I have percolating!