Review Catch is a personal project I developed to help small businesses monitor, collect, and respond to customer reviews across multiple platforms from a single dashboard.
Project Goals
The main objectives for Review Catch were:
- Create a unified interface for managing reviews from Google, Facebook, Yelp, and other platforms
- Build automated tools to detect new reviews and notify business owners
- Provide analytics and insights to help businesses improve their online reputation
- Make the platform intuitive enough for non-technical business owners
Technologies Used
- React for the frontend interface
- Node.js with Express for the backend API
- MongoDB for data storage
- AWS Lambda for serverless review monitoring
- Tailwind CSS for styling with a clean, modern interface
- Chart.js for analytics visualization
Design Process
I began with extensive research into the pain points small business owners face when managing online reviews. Many were struggling to stay on top of reviews across multiple platforms, often missing opportunities to engage with customers.
The design process focused on creating a simple, intuitive dashboard that brings all reviews into one place. I used Space Grotesk for typography to maintain a clean, professional appearance while ensuring readability for busy business owners.
Development Highlights
Some technical highlights of the Review Catch platform include:
- Custom API integrations with Google My Business, Facebook, Yelp, and TripAdvisor
- Automated sentiment analysis to categorize reviews and prioritize responses
- Email and SMS notification system for critical reviews requiring immediate attention
- White-label capabilities allowing agencies to offer the service to clients
- Dark/light mode toggle for user preference
Challenges and Solutions
The biggest challenges involved working with diverse review platform APIs, each with their own limitations:
-
Challenge: Some platforms limit API access or don't provide official APIs
Solution: Implemented a combination of official APIs, webhooks, and scheduled data synchronization -
Challenge: Processing and normalizing reviews from different sources
Solution: Created a unified review schema that maps disparate data formats into a consistent structure -
Challenge: Making the interface intuitive for non-technical users
Solution: Conducted usability testing with actual small business owners and refined the UI based on their feedback
Results
Review Catch is now being used by several small businesses and has helped them:
- Increase their response rate to customer reviews by over 80%
- Improve average review ratings by 0.7 stars through better engagement
- Save approximately 5 hours per week in review management time
The project continues to evolve with new features based on user feedback. Future plans include integration with more review platforms and enhanced response suggestion tools using AI.