An excerpt from the final comparative analysis report.

Contextual Navigation

Contextual links are great for allowing users to do comparison shopping and coordination shopping. Comparison shopping allows users to find more information on the product they are interested in and to learn which item will suit their needs the best. Coordination shopping shows customers related products they hadn't considered before. Related information can be based on user preference or buying habits, which makes the links more meaningful. See the Shopping Process section later in this report (page 25) for more on comparison and coordination shopping.

Client Implementation Best Implementation Poor Implementation
  • Client does a good job at linking to items from the same product line that have related functions (e.g., pants have links to a matching shirt
  • There is poor linking between the products and the "<label>" area of the site.
  • Competitor 3 does a good job of pulling together all types of information that the user may be interested in.
  • They include links to comparison charts, information on how to choose the right item, specific producs the customer may also be interested in (e.g., "<label>") and links to related categories.
  • Site of Excellence has little contextual navigation and it is consistent when they do include it. Mostly it is limited to related items, such as a sleeping pad to go with a sleeping bag.
  • Site of Excellence does highlight featured items as users drill through the product hierarchy, though it is not clear how they determine which item gets featured.

Recommendation:

The "-blank-" area should be more closely integrated with the "-blank-" portion of the site. For example, for a page listing gear needed for a trip, there should be links to the products area for each of the listed items.

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