Articles, Retail Design, Service Design, Web

I was recently trying to do some research on headphones.  There are hundreds of models out there and I quickly found that most companies do a very poor job differentiating one of their models from the next, much less differentiating their products from their competitors’.  I was particularly frustrated when I tried using Panasonic’s “compare headphones” feature.   I selected a few of their earbud products, clicked the “Compare” link, and got this error message:

“Sorry, but the models you have chosen have different attributes and cannot be compared.  Please change your selection and try again.”

My first thought was, “Seriously?  Of course they have different attributes… That’s why I wanted to compare them!”  Don’t get me wrong, I understand the challenge—the comparison table doesn’t really work if the products don’t have any similar attributes to compare, but come on!  It’s not like I’m trying to compare a DVD player to a washing machine.  These were all products listed under the same category and it would be perfectly reasonable for a consumer to be deciding between these options.

My second thought was, “OK, the error message provides no help whatsoever in helping me fix the issue.”  Ideally, the message would tell me which of the products are comparable with each other.  If you’re not going to let me compare all of my options, would it be too hard to tell me which products you’re going to allow me to compare?

All that said, the biggest missed opportunity here is a feature that guides prospective purchasers to a product that’s best for them.  One quote I hear all the time in usability tests: “Why doesn’t it just tell me what to do!?”  With a little bit of consumer research, we could identify the key factors influencing their audience’s buying decision and build a tool that helps guide users to one (or a few) option(s) that would best meet their needs.  The tool wouldn’t be used by everyone, but it would certainly be appreciated by folks who are looking for a recommendation that’s relevant to them.

There is no value in overwhelming users with choices, and then not providing help to narrow the list.

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