Update on Rush Functionality

Hi everyone.  Thanks for all the feedback on our new Rush functionality!  As I mentioned a few times before we launched, Rushes are going to require some tinkering over time.  I thought I would share some of our top findings which are based on stats, live feedback in the Rush chats, reviews of forum threads, and user testing with 'new to Bonanza' users.  Here's a quick snapshot of our top 'take-aways' from the feedback thus far.

1. Chat is buggy - we hear you and believe we have most of the bugs worked out.  Chat software is notoriously finicky so thanks for your patience.  Also, we are bringing the avatars back to booth chat soon.  

2.  The Rush notification at the top is too prominent - I understand some are concerned that the global Rush notification is perceived as too strong and taking users away from their items or booths during a Rush.  We hear you.  And while we are not going to remove the feature entirely, as we want site-wide Rush discoverability, we scaled it down to the smaller version by default last night on every page but the homepage.  It's far less prominent and we feel this is a good compromise.  You can see the smaller version on the live site, or, right below….

3.  Rush Chat is too big and/or it's bad for buyers - I saw this one a lot in the forum, but also observed lots of fun dialogue in the chat itself for those were participating in the Rush.  After watching several user tests with prospective buyers, we found that some users appreciated the chat and found it unique while others were less interested.  So, what to do when the feedback is so mixed?  First, we are going to run more user tests as we really want ‘new to Bonanza’ feedback.  It’s so important to improving the product and experience for buyers which I know everyone wants.  Second, we’re going to shrink the size of the chat about 25% to get items higher on the page.  Third, we’re going to look at re-envisioning the log-in requirement so it’s easier for buyers to chat and ask questions.  

4.  Where are the buyers?  At this point we have only held a few Rushes and some are more popular than others.  We will work on fine tuning our social outreach methods and our email subscribers are growing each day.  We expect email to be a big driver for Rush promotion.  We will also work to get all of you better promotional tools too.

5.  I can't attend the Rush due to its time slot - there really is no great answer for time-limited sales.  However, as you may have already noticed we have different Rush time slots this week.  Our first few were early morning.  Our next few are mid-day and afternoon. We will keep experimenting.  We scheduled the first few during office hours so we could address issues as they come.  Given our live bug fixes this turned out to be a good move.

6.  I can't find my items in the Rush - you have to sign up for a Rush the night before the Rush is scheduled at the latest.  If you sign-up the day of the Rush your items won't be included until that Rush is repeated.  We need to 'index' (aka ‘crawl’) all the items in a Rush before it starts and this takes some time.  We will update the Rush signup page so this is much clearer.  

That said, we did add one feature to make it easier to find your items.  Click on your username in the chat and the link that says “show username’s items.“  The page will reload showing only that user’s items.  Click the ‘x’ in the search bar to remove the filter.  

Those are the highlights for now.  We will continue to monitor Rushes and make changes of course, but I wanted to let you know we are listening!  

One last note, our Rush functionality is getting noticed.  You can read press coverage on Auction Bytes and on Seattle's top startup and technology blog - Techflash (linked below).  

- Alex