I got invited by Dan Dukeson to take a look at the Ebuyer beta site that is open to the public and though a work in progress its interesting to see where they are pushing and improving the ‘public face’ of the company. Ebuyer is an international online retailer specialising in computer and consumer electronics whose products could be considered amongst the most competitively priced. In the last few years they have also vastly improved the customer service regarding returns and should be among the first places to look when upgrading your PC or setting up that home cinema.
What really hit me when looking at the beta is the antiquated search system of the current site. The beta search is a real improvement, adding much needed functionality (and’s, not’s etc.) even suggesting what it thinks you mean if you spell something wrong – class. The ability to further refine your search with tabs is really intuitive as well, nice use of Ajax / Dom scripting. Equally as impressive is the advanced search box, though the placement needs work.
From a usability perspective, what occurs to me is the closing of the advanced search if you change your mind. This requires clicking on the cross though the more instinctive choice is to click again on the advanced search button. There are of course accessibility issues with browsers that have JavaScript turned off; the advanced search ceases to function though the tabbed ability to refine your search simply reloads the page rather than instantly allowing more refined choices.
The menu in the header is an added convenience and speeds up browsing and though there is the odd general layout glitch it is to be expected due to this being beta.
After using the beta it reinforces how far behind the existing site is compared to many online retailers such as Play and Amazon and adds weight to the decsision to invest in the redesign.
This is a massive improvement and credit must go to the design team behind it. Developing Ebuyer’s interface only further strengthens their move from a PC enthusiast site to a consumer electronics reseller where usability is a key factor in buying habits.
