23 January 2012

Updates from 23andMe, Of Interest to Genealogists

     A recent blog post on the 23andMe blog, The Spittoon, will be of interest to genealogists who subscribe to their service. Here's an excerpt:

  Today we’re announcing the creation of the 23andMe Ancestry Ambassadors group, composed of ancestry enthusiasts in the 23andMe Community. 23andMe customer CeCe Moore and Product Manager Mike Macpherson, PhD will lead the new group...
  This group will help guide and influence product development, but will not replace other key sources of feedback we consider when developing a product.  Building a great product requires us to take into account customer interaction on the site, findings from user research, support request emails, Community posts, social media and traditional media responses. The 23andMe Ancestry Ambassadors add another high-quality source of feedback.
  This is a small group, as it must be in order to be fulfill its purpose. It has been a challenge to select this group from among our Community members, because many of you contribute so frequently and thoughtfully. One of the first tasks of the new Ambassadors group will be to explore ways to recognize a larger number of active Community members for their contributions, and to take advantage of this pool of ancestry knowledge.

     This is a good sign for customers of 23andMe who are primarily interested in Genealogy. Previously, there has been an overwhelming bias towards the Health related aspects of the company. When there was an uproar last month regarding policy and price changes, it seemed to wake 23andMe up to just how many of their customers where interested only/mainly in genealogy. Having spoken personally to customer support and and product mangers at the company, I was surprised to realize that many of the managers seem to have no genealogy experience at all. They seem to have recognized that they haven't connected with their customers and are reaching out to find out what they can do to make their product better. I see this as a step in the right direction, though I hope the Ancestry Ambassadors are being compensated in some way.

1 comment:

Ruby Craft said...

Looks like they are trying to be more responsive.

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