In this age of information overload, decision making is not simple, especially if you are the kind who trawls the internet for reviews. Should I vacation in Goa or Rajasthan? Should I buy an iPhone4S or a Samsung Galalxy S3? Searching for a recommendation on expert websites only lead to, at the best, a mixed opinion. Our friends’ opinions also matter a great deal when we make such decisions. Innovatively encapsulating information available on the net, the team of city-based start-up firm DecideQuick has come up with a free web app that makes decision making, well, simpler. This cloud-based social decision-making platform uses social media (such as Facebook, Twitter and blogs) and the wisdom of the crowd to help users make informed decisions – at the click of a button.
The app is the brainchild of three young entrepreneurs and friends Shameer Thaha, Karthik Sundarajoo and Jayasooryan K.V. Says Shameer, chief executive officer of DecideQuick: “The idea for such a social media solution came to me while trying to decide on a place for a family vacation – Bali, Indonesia, or Phuket, Thailand? I asked my friends, I researched online... Not only was it very time consuming and difficult to process because of all the information available, but it also left me more uncertain than ever. Eventually, I settled on Bali but I realised that everyone goes through similar dilemmas and that led us to exploring the process that internet users take while trying to make an informed decision. The idea took off from there and we spent a year in research and development.” The company was incubated at Kochi-based Start-Up Village.
DecideQuick works on what the team calls “sentiment analysis” and gives recommendations to a particular query based on the “experiences” of those connected to that individual’s social network. All you have to do is link your social network page to the app and start asking questions (in English). “We operate in the big data analysis space. What’s unique about the app is that it does an analysis of the sentiments/pulse of those connected to the particular user’s social network. Whereas earlier one would spend hours on end looking into the merits and demerits of, say, a Maruti Alto vs. a Hyundai Santro, this app whittles down the research to 60 seconds. There’s also an option to get a second opinion from the crowd,” explains Shameer.
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The beta version of DecideQuick was launched in January this year. The trio claim that their app has now helped solve more than 20,000 queries. “We get some 300 queries everyday. Around 70 per cent of the queries are related to electronic goods, automobiles, travel, dining and education,” adds Shameer. While Shameer and Jayasooryan, a product specialist, are graduates of Marian College of Engineering, Kazhakoottam, Karthik, the chief marketing officer, holds an engineering degree in from Temasek Polytechnic, Singapore. All three are management graduates. Shameer and Karthik are also co-founders of CGWerks, a creative visualisation start-up that does content creation for the real estate market.
By the way, after analysing hundreds of comments, tweets and blog posts on my apparently vast social network, looks like I’ll be using my new S3 in royal Rajasthan! Check out >www.decidequick.com