WonderLab Update - end of October

A couple of weeks ago I shared some behind-the-scenes information about our developing lab.

In summary: reviews were consistently telling us the quality of our images is great but the 3-week turnaround is too long. I wrote about the plans we were putting in place to significantly reduce the turnaround as well as improve communication; and I promised I'd be back to let you know when I had a meaningful update.

And I do!

But once again I'll step aside to let a customer review speak for itself:

What's Changed?

1. Our turnaround on colour developing is down to 4 working days from receiving the film to sending edited scans
2. Our turnaround on B&W developing is down to 7 working days from receiving the film to sending edited scans. NB: this also includes mixed orders that have colour rolls with B&W, as we upload orders together
3. The quality of our scans has not changed! We continue to receive 5* reviews from folks enjoying the results from their photography

Clearly there is still work to do (see next section) but this is a massive improvement on where we were at the start of October, and all thanks to a monumental effort from the team. Double shifts, long hours, folks chipping in from the warehouse and office - to make sure that the work was done, and done well.

Alex and Emily during a lighter moment 😅 Shot on Portra 800

What's next?

1. We still have work to do on turnaround: B&W is not where I want it to be, and I need us to show that we can comfortably sustain these numbers over the coming weeks
2. We're building new capability that will allow you to log into your 'My Photos' area on the website to see exactly where each of your rolls is in the process - LIVE! Think the Domino's app spinning wheel...but less fancy 🍕

That last one isn't online yet (it needs some extra software investment and quite a bit of testing) but I'm excited for how it'll help you check-in on the progress of your films whenever you wish.

There is also another top-secret project in the works, which will drastically expand the services we can offer to you through the lab. I can't say more about it now, but there should be news in November...

Watch this space!