A Database is a Valuable Thing to Waste
Note: Unlike other ideas here, this is more vague than most, yet I still think it’s worth sharing in this category.
Databases are powerful, powerful collectives of information, and yet so few people really take full advantage of their power. Two specific opportunities are missed: allowing for searches with multiple parameters, and using them to further customize content for every visitor.
Multiple Searches
What I mean by this is letting people select more than one parameter. The best (worst?) example is oh-too-many hotel and travel websites, where you specify dates of travel and THEN you see the price, and it becomes a guessing game back-and-forth to find the cheapest days to travel. (Some of this is UI as well.) Shopping sites often let you choose price range, for example, but not price range and style, or at least not until you’re actually on the “products by price” page.
This can be confusing for the poor, stupid consumer who’s at your URL holding his/her credit card, but with the proper UI this can work. Computers are powerful beasts, so let’s put their gigahertz to work!
If it’s the database programmers who say “it’s not possible,” they’re most likely lying or not that talented. Doing a search with multiple parameters (i.e. “search for instances of THIS and THAT”) isn’t that hard. Optimizing such searches can take some skill, but that’s why experts are needed, and not someone who’s just “familiar” with MySQL.
The ultimate goal here is to get that consumer to that “perfect” product as quickly and easily as possible, and to make it quicker and easier than going to a store that has the same products (maybe not yours…), or calling your 1-800 and costing you more because now you have to pay for the customer service rep’s salary.
Additional Customization of Content
When I visit Amazon, or get an e-mail from a company I signed up with, I get “Hello Ted,” but not much more. Amazon is pretty good with their recommendations, and even their “Gold Box” sales always have items that at least family with my wish list and recent purchases (although it can get screwy if I bought an odd gift for someone recently). In general though, it seems that most e-mails and websites are the same for everyone, what you see is what I see.
This can easily change once a database is created with additional details. For example, keep my address in mind and send me an e-mail selling winter clothes after my zip code gets hit with a blizzard, or show air conditioners and fans before a heat wave hits. If I say I have a car or children, include links for applicable products, otherwise declutter your menus because I don’t need windshield wipers for my subway commute.
These are obvious possibilities, and a good place to start. The greater possibilities require research and/or guts and assumptions. For example, if a customer buys high-end items on a web site, maybe don’t promote the “two for a dollar” items on the homepage when he/she visits.
Push this further: for older people, pump up your font size; for younger people, promote your Twitter/facebook/myspace/trend-of-the-moment thing; for someone who works for a not-for-profit, maybe throw in a couple a “thanks for what you do” messages; for someone who’s a lawyer, dot ALL your “i”s and eliminate all nasty slang. I’m (somewhat?) kidding in the details, but this is all possible.
Let your users define how they want your site to look: optimized for mobile or desktop browser; link to ALL products or just ones of interest, and so on. It’s all possible, and capable programmers/coders can help make it happen if you work with them.
Like this idea?
It’s yours.
I’ll make more.
Excellent idea Ted! When I started my own business, I used to write notes to myself on sticky notes, note pads (yes, the paper kind) and notebooks which I quickly found out was not useful at all! Trying to find the one note I wrote on where? Shortly thereafter, I started using excel and simple spreadsheets, which has worked out beautifully, so easy to search for something. My next step will be to create some sort of search parameters or queries and/or pivot tables to analyze the data I’ve collected so far. Thanks for posting.