IBM
3 clicks to start the buying process.
Selection / Customization process
Product Clarity: High.
Price Clarity: Good. Components were priced relatively and updated instantly on basic customization pages, though on the first page only of the “Let me build it” sections (the choose processor etc. page) many components were unpriced and no total price was continuously updated.
Speed: Pretty Fast. The “Let me build it” could bog down to minutes of waiting.
Range / Power: Moderate.
Notes
One can go from IBM.com to Products & Services to Desktops to choosing which series of computers you want. IBM has greatly improved: they used to have a confusing array of models and no customization; now they have an almost straightforward set of models and a bit of customization available on each one. On the customization page (very limited options, the plus/minus $x format) a frame to the left side instantly updated the current price. The big deal is that for each series IBM had a “Let me build it!” option. Ultimately a lot of customization is possible, although you have to start in the right places to have the choices you want.
The customization pages had minimal awkwardness— such as “Networking and Communications” and “Additional Networking and Communications” with the same drop-down list of four options for each. The problem with this, which I hope to avoid, is that it is in fact possible to have more than two of such additional options.
The product information given in a pop-up window when the user clicks “Help me decide” was invariably useless, with the partial exception of their sales pitch on getting more memory.
Problems
- IBM’s pages (or most of them), do not shrink to fit smaller browser windows (monitors smaller than 800 X 600, browsers with sidebars open).
Good Features
- Prices are prominent.
- Customization is straightforward relative to other sites and quite broad.