The Problem:
One of the most exciting areas in mobile computing today is the “netbook.” It is an incredibly small, lightweight, inexpensive machine that runs either Linux or Windows XP. It’s generated a lot of buzz because it is one of the first truly take-everywhere laptops due to its weight of under 3 pounds. The Asus Eee PC is one of the first models of this new laptop class. The Asus Eee PC website has some mention of the different models currently available, but these are all about to be replaced by a new model line. The UK division of Asus recently published a handy chart.
By handy, I meant the most confusing product chart ever. What’s wrong with this? An examination of other big laptop manufacturers can shed some light on the issue.
The Analysis:
Dell’s website has nice big labels for Home users and a drop-down menu for “Laptops.” Within that, there are different labeled categories for each of the different laptop classes, each with descriptions of what each category of laptop is good for. The one issue: the category names are not very self-explanatory – the difference between Inspiron and XPS is not immediately clear. But the descriptions are informative, at least.
Continuing to the Apple website, the homepage has a big label for “Store.” Within that, there are large graphics that list all the Mac products. There are three lines of Apple laptops, and they are reasonably labeled: MacBook, MacBook Air (not totally descriptive), and MacBook Pro (the professional version).
When one of the laptop models, is chosen there are a few options that are ordered Good, Better, and Best. It’s not spelled out exactly, but it is implied.
The Research:
What’s the human factors lesson here? Keep the product lines simple (like Dell and Apple), put multiple configurations in a hierarchy (Apple), and give the product lines either easily identifiable names (Apple) or easy-to-understand descriptions (Dell). What Asus is doing with the Eee PC violates every one of those principles and can only lead to confusion.
The problem of too many options is the subject of Barry Schwartz’s book, The Paradox of Choice: Why More is Less. The central thesis is that too much choice leads to stress about the purchase and then the onset of buyer’s remorse. The book is from 2004, but some companies have not learned their lesson.
Barry Schwartz gave a talk at the 2006 TED conference and, while long, is very interesting.
This, by the way, is one of the major problems when Windows Vista was released. Four major editions with a few other variations here and there. Confusion and (some) panic.
Which led Apple to post an attack ad based entirely on this issue!
