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January - 2001
Ihousing Magazine Web Site Review

ihousing Magazine, a Hanley-Wood Publication, featured a review of General Builders Supply's web site in their debut "Winter 2001" quarterly issue (picture at left). The article, featured in the "web master" column by Max. "Max is a virtual software agent that mimics the way an average person moves through a web site. He's a patented technology of WebCriteria (www.webcriteria.com), a Portland, Ore., company that helps measure web site-user experience." Below is the text from the full article published in the magazine.

Simplicity pays off for a supplier.

One of Max's rules of thumb is that the more time and effort it takes visitors to find what they need on your Web site, the more likely they are to abandon it for a competitor's site. That's why he likes to compare the time and effort needed to complete a common task on two or more sites. When General Builders Supply in Oklahoma City, Okla., asked Max to review its site, we decided to send him looking for 2 3/4" crown molding. We had him "look" for the molding on General Builders' site and on a real but unnamed millwork supply company's site. In terms of usability, Max found little to criticize in General Builders' site.

General Builders' Home Page:

The site's designers seem to understand the benefits of simplicity. The home page loads quickly and is easy to navigate. It helps users find what they need with limited effort. The bold navigation bar at the top of the page makes it easy to find the molding catalog link. This bar repeats on all subsequent pages making it easy to jump from one part of the site to another.

General Builders' molding catalog:

The molding catalog's opening page is short and well-designed; it has only two well-compressed graphics and minimal links. The page is easy to read, which simplifies the selection process. The molding profile links on the left take the visitors deeper into this part of the site and are repeated on subsequent pages.

General Builders' crown molding selections:

Some sites' catalog listings include lots of slow-loading graphics. These speed bumps often frustrate visitors and make them leave quickly. General Builders displays its crown molding selections as a simple list, which helps users get through it quickly.

General Builders' 2 3/4" crown molding:

Once a user selects a specific molding size, a well-compressed, quick-loading graphic appears. This is desirable if you know what you're looking for, but it may make it harder to compare different profiles. Various molding profiles don't pop up on the screen at the same time.

Comparisons:

The charts below show what it's like to look for 2 3/4 inch molding on General Builders Supply's site and on the site of a real but unnamed millwork supply we'll call Supplier X.

Max took only 1 minute and 6 seconds to find the molding on General Builders' site. Large graphics on the competitor's site more than double task time to 2 minutes and 23 seconds. Supplier X also makes users scan through text paragraphs prior to find desired links, and makes them sort through multiple product profiles to find the ones they want.

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