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I Need Your Input …

Posted on November 15th, 2008 in Entrepreneur by Fred McKinnon

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Hey Gang,

Happy Saturday (or whenever you get this). I need your input …

I’m making some changes to one of my e-stores over at GetSkinsNow.Com. My buddy Joel is re-designing it, so don’t worry – it will look cool design-wise, as opposed to how it looks now), and then Chris will take Joel’s graphic design and implement it as code.

It’s the shopping category structure where I need your help.

I want to revise the category structure to make it easier to browse and find exactly what you need. My idea is that instead of having very “general” catgories like I have now (ie. iPod, Sansa, Zune, and other MP3), I would have something more specific, such as “Choose By Device”.

If I go that direction, I need to know what you, as a customer, would rather see.

General Device Description, with Sub-Categories for Specific Devices:

Example:

Choose Your Device:
- Apple Ipods
— 4th Gen iPod Nano
— 3rd Gen iPod Nano

- Apple Laptops
— 15″ Inch
——- 15″ Aluminum Unibody
——- 15″ Core Duo/Core 2 Duo

etc.

Or …. would you prefer to NOT have all those subcategories, and have all devices just listed under “Choose Your Device”

Example:

Choose Your Device:
- Apple iPod Nano 4th Gen
- Apple iPod Nano 3rd Gen

etc.

My initial thoughts are that without the various sub-categories, the “choose your device” list could get VERY LONG.

So, what’s your thoughts – as a consumer. Or, is there a better idea?

This mapping process is critical, and it’s a real pain to re-do it, so I really need some good feedback before committing to a plan.

Thanks!
Fred

http://mikeymo1741.blogspot.com Mike

Categories and subcategories. Absolutely.

Mikes last blog post..Saturday Silliness – ROCK THE SOUND
http://steve.gwilt.org/blog/ Steve

depends on how many items are at the bottom of the tree:

(1) If I’ve clicked my way down 3 or 4 levels, I’m not going to be terribly impressed if I only see 1 thing there – that makes it look like your store is mostly empty.

(2) In the event that some items are comparable (from my perspective as the buyer), then putting them in different trees makes it harder to compare them and their prices.

(3) On the other hand, having so many items that I have to scroll down the page should be avoided too, where reasonable.

(4) Possible rule of thumb from above – build out each branch of the category tree down to the point where you’re putting as many items on a 19″ screen as reasonably fit, where logical, without scrolling.

Steves last blog post..The Chair
http://patrickandlydia.com Patrick

I think I’d go for the nested list, but conserve letters as much as possible. If the heading says “Apple iPod,” then you don’t need to repeat it. Hence:

Apple iPod
– Nano
—-4th Generation (tall oval)
—-3rd Generation (stubby)
—-2nd Generation (tall thin)
—-1st Generation (tall thick)
–Classic
—-160GB
—-80GB

(etc…)

Patricks last blog post..Adam visits Central City and Beaver Dam
http://www.fredmckinnon.com Fred F. McKinnon

Steve,
I hear ya – unfortunately, that varies – some products will have lots of products, others may only be 1, or even none.

Patrick – great idea.

For anyone subscribed to comments who’s already been here, and for new people – I’ve added a plugin that could replace the category tree completely – and instead, it’s a popup menu (Choose Device) … it basically pulls from existing categories which I’m renaming, so let me know what you think.

Fred

Fred F. McKinnons last blog post..Sunday Setlist #16 – Worship Service Recaps
http://michelleweger.blogspot.com Michelle Weger

I’m on the “choose your device” train. I think you break it out like this:

-Manufacturer
-Model
-Generation
-Capacity (if it is an influencing factor)

Have your design buddy make little sketch images of each model or take pics of each model so people can see it and go – “yeah, that’s my mp3 device.”

Michelle Wegers last blog post..11-09-2008 Collision
http://michelleweger.blogspot.com Michelle Weger

You could also use some sort of bouillon search instead of or in combination with a drop down menu so that people can enter their device by manufacturer and model. Could be a cleaner way as long as the hierarchy you build into your search data is thorough and clean.

Michelle Wegers last blog post..11-09-2008 Collision

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