Design thoughts - back end / front (app) end - max data input ease/effort, max system process power

[Richard Ferrers, Melb]

Just had a thought after Sat am shopping.

Goals:
- get most data in
- with minimum human effort
- maximum system effort

Thought: OCR - optical character recognition

Data Input Use Case:
1. Consumer shops, gets docket receipt
2. Photographs receipt, including location, date, time, product
description, product price, total
3. User emails or MMS photo to price_check@price_check.com

Data Processing Use Case:
1. System receives image file of docket receipt by email or mms
2. OCR software converts image to field data, including sender's email
address/mms user as account details
3. If user puts "anonymous" in subject, then no sender information is
stored, or in body of mms message
4. System records purchases against user, and in master shopping list,
by product, location, time, price
4. OCR exception file created for manual review
5. Manual reviewer examines exception file, and hand codes or deletes
file from exception file list
6. Reporting: Discounts found from Normal prices, by store, by Nearby

Data Output Use Case 1 Making a Shopping List:
1. Price Watch App records all your grocery purchases over time, using
email address or phone number (MMS) as ID
2. User selects preferred supermarket
3. User checks required products from previous products
4. User checks further required products from master list
5. System estimates provided prices from master list
6. User accepts / rejects total
7. If user rejects, then can request price comparison from nearby
supermarkets eg within 500m (Walking distance), within 10 minutes
driving distance, of preferred supermarket.

(looks like Use Case 1 is mostly covered by Application Screen Flow.
Yay!)


Data Output Use Case 2 Going Shopping:
1. Consumer goes shopping
2. Calls up grocery prices
3. Examines specials in usual shopping area, within certain distance
4. Examines usual prices, special discounts.
5. shops - goto data input use case

(looks like Use Case 2 is mostly covered by Application Screen Flow.
Yay!).

Hope this is helpful.
Richard
ps Will attach photo of docket for sample input.....

[Rob Manson]

Hi Richard,

thanks for your contribution...and sorry for the slow reply...having
some network issues at the moment 8(

I think this is an option worth exploring...however we have also been
able to source good local price data from some online applications
recently which may be easier.

OCR then may be a good secondary data validation strategy.

I'm about to upload some of the PC based wireframes so would be
interested in your feedback on them too.


roBman

[Kevin C]

Just joined the group so this has probably been discussed before.

Why not talk to Woollies about something that might help them. They
have their everyday rewards system. I am not sure if they use this to
track my purchases but if they do then I should be informed and they
should give me the right to see the results. That is they should make
it available to the individual so they can keep track of their own
purchases. I personally would find it very useful and I would continue
to use Woolies simply to get access to it and to have the record. If
they are keeping it then we as consumers have a right under the
privacy act to see the information.

If they are not using it because of privacy considerations then they
might like to do it. I would give them the right to collect and
collate my purchases as long as they give me the information
electronically.

Once they give me the right to have the information then I can pass it
on to others including Price Watch.

[Kat Szuminska]

Dear Kevin

I have no doubt that supermarkets collect and collate your purchase
information, that's what these schemes are about, so they can market
to you better. What a great idea to ask them for it! There's all sorts
of ways they could release the information to you which could be very
interesting. I'm not personally across the legislation in this area,
but maybe you could start with http://www.privacy.gov.au/

Kat

[Rob Manson]

Hi Kat/Kevin,

that's an interesting discussion.

Perhaps we could create a simple form that made it easy for you to send
the correctly formatted request to the rewards programs requesting the
information they hold about you.

Thoughts?


roBman

[Luke]

Just found this app maybe we could use something similar

http://www.pic2shop.com/

There is no australian option out yet but looks promising

On Aug 23, 12:44 pm, Rob Manson <roB...@MOBusiness.com.au> wrote:
> Hi Kat/Kevin,
>
> that's an interesting discussion.
>
> Perhaps we could create a simple form that made it easy for you to send
> the correctly formatted request to the rewards programs requesting the
> information they hold about you.
>
> Thoughts?
>
> roBman
>
> On Sun, 2009-08-23 at 12:36 +1000, Kat Szuminska wrote:
> > Dear Kevin
>
> > I have no doubt that supermarkets collect and collate your purchase  
> > information, that's what these schemes are about, so they can market  
> > to you better. What a great idea to ask them for it! There's all sorts  
> > of ways they could release the information to you which could be very  
> > interesting.  I'm not personally across the legislation in this area,  

> > but maybe you could start withhttp://www.privacy.gov.au/