helps you find the perfect gadget. ver. 1.8.7

If you've been following along, you know we have been shuffling some things around to make room for presenting product models (i.e. various configuration of a product).

Product models are variations of a product that are significant enough to document but aren't fundamentally different enough to take up a slot in our results. Verizon iPhone is a good example of a product that has its various models entered. Just look for the drop down to the right of the name.

In the above example, the results are sorted by Review Score. Since the 4 Verizon models have the same review score, we combine them into one result, with the ability to toggle between the models. If the products were ordered by price instead, the models would be split out separately since they each have a distinct price in this case.

There are still a couple of weak spots we're ironing out with the design and we are in the process of updating the product catalog to take advantage of this new feature. This step forward will allow us to represent the product landscape more accurately as well as add products at a faster pace.

One of the harder UI problems we're trying to solve is how to present product configurations on our site.

For example, there are 8 different types of iPhone 4's (Verizon 32GB White, Verizon 32GB Black, Verizon 16GB Black, Verizon 16GB White, AT&T 32GB White, AT&T 32GB Black, AT&T 16GB White, AT&T 16GB White).

If you use the smartphone compass and your best match is the iPhone 4, we don't want your top 8 results to be all iPhones. It's a noisy and somewhat uninteresting result. At the same time, we shouldn't hide the fact that there are multiple versions of the iPhone available. Balancing information density and usability is always a delicate balance.

Our product detail pages were already buckling in some areas from all the information they were tasked with presenting, so we needed to lighten the load on the current UI before burdening it with more information. Not to mention, the information hierarchy was somewhat anemic, which was important to address if we are to add another layer to the product pages. The results are below.

Before:

After:

We also updated our reviews pages (see the Canon S95 reviews).

We have been lucky enough to build a product that resonates with people. Most users find it genuinely useful and we would love to share our work with even more people.

This is why we're launching the Measy Site Widget - a very simple way to add our rich, product-finding functionality to any site. We gave the widget a test drive on dozens of sites this past holiday season and now we're opening up the feature to any site owner.

To get your own widgets, visit our widget page for instructions. You can also take a peak at the widget in action.

We'll be adding more features to the widget soon, but if you have any trouble installing it, have any questions or special requirements, give us a shout and we'll help you out.

We've spent a lot of time working on improving the quality of our data, expanding our catalog, making the site faster and integrating Measy with new partners.

Thanks to all the heavy lifting we have been doing in the background, we are finally able to introduce some great new features:

Grid View

The challenge of shopping for electronics is that the amount of information can both be overwhelming and inadequate at the same time. The new grid view tries to balance these conflicting needs by presenting an information-dense interface with the most important product features highlighted, cushioned by plenty of white space for a pleasurable browsing experience.

Try it out with Digital Cameras.

Real-time filtering

When people research electronics to buy, they spend many hours researching products online. While our Compass product does a great job of finding the perfect product in a jiffy, a lot of people still like to confirm their results by digging deeper. We want to accommodate those looking to research further by letting one slice and dice their results easier than ever before. All that work on improving our site speed was not in vain, as now you can filter and sort products in real-time. Fun!

Play with the filters for HDTVs.

Improved Product Pages

We've done a lot of incremental updates to the product pages and this release is no exception. We've cleaned up how we present product specifications to be more readable and we integrated our product details more closely with the grid view - so you can jump from detail product information to high-level filtering without losing your spot.

Check out the HTC Thunderbolt product page.

Feedback

We think we have some good ideas on how we can make Measy even better, but it's important we hear from you. What would you improve? Let us know, or leave a comment below.

This is a series of blog posts about moving into my new apartment and my search to find great products to fill it with. Check out my older blog posts: coffee makers, portable wireless printers, home soda makers and toasters!

My apartment is only a few hundred square-feet, so I didn’t really stress over which wireless router to buy. I was in a rush and just wanted to get my Internet running.

After hastily making a purchase, I realized I may have made a big mistake in taking the salesperson’s unfiltered advice. I decided to run a test: go to a few leading electronics stores, ask for a recommendation on a cheap router for a small apartment, and compare the results with expert reviews I found on the web.

Best Buy

A saleswoman admitted she didn’t know a ton about wireless routers, and didn’t suggest asking someone more knowledgeable on the subject. She recommended the Netgear Wireless G WGR614 ($34.99). Online reviews have praised the product for it’s easy set up and continuous connectivity.

B & H Photo

An employee at recommended the Linksys WRT120N ($43.54). Although some reviewers have no issues with the Linksys router, many complain of difficult setup and issues with customer service.

Radio Shack

A saleswoman recommended the Netgear N150 WNR1000 ($44.00). Some reviewers found that the range on the router was unreliable, but many thought that the router's signal was strong enough to completely cover whole houses.

What my online research recommended

I did some research for my previous blog post, and found that the D-Link DIR-615 Wireless N Router was the best inexpensive, entry level router with easy set up. None of the routers recommended by the salespeople showed up in my findings.

They look more helpful than they really are.
The Conclusion

CNET Blogger Sharon Vaknin summed up her experience working for Best Buy in "7 Things Electronics Salespeople Won't Tell You:"

"Salespeople are not necessarily experts in the products sold in their departments, even if they are expert salespeople. Though many express a strong interest in the products they sell, your time spent at a retail store fishing for information about a future TV purchase could be better spent online researching the products yourself."

I ended up with the Linksys WRT120N that B&H recommended. I followed all of the instructions on the CD, but had no wireless connection.

I called Linksys and, like many reviewers mention, the customer services representatives didn't try to help me at all. Instead I was told to return the router. I played around with the connectivity options on my computer and eventually solved the problem myself.

The point is that setup requires some expertise. Given that my most important requirement was ease, this recommendation was a bit off.

At the end of the test, I don't believe important electronics decision should be left up to salespeople who may or may not be trained enough to suggest reliable gadgets.