5 ms·
You would probably find it interesting to take a look at McMaster-Carr's website for an example of the hardware-store UX done right. They do the categorization
by paulmd 5y ago
You would probably find it interesting to take a look at McMaster-Carr's website for an example of the hardware-store UX done right.
They do the categorization thing really well, there's "catalog pages" that reference item categories, and item categories can be attached to multiple different catalog pages, and items are categorized by tons of different metrics (length, diameter, thread pitch, head shape, material, color...).
And while that's a pretty generic statement - there's lots of stores that let you filter by material or color, after all - it's all executed SUPER well. I often use it just to get a broad idea of what hardware actually exists/what the terminology I need to search for elsewhere.
https://www.mcmaster.com https://www.mcmaster.com
I knew someone who worked on their system and apparently it's all COBOL on the backend too lol. I'm sure there's some modern tech on the frontend but I bet all the inventory stuff/etc and the warehouse terminals are running on COBOL.
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- ketzo 5y agoI have never worked even close to any kind of industrial procurement, and I still know about McMaster-Carr, just because of how much people love using their website. That's some good UX right there.
- paulmd 5y agoI'm sure it's a massive boost to their bottom line too. Once you get people on the site, and once they start putting together their order, odds are good they're not going to go elsewhere. The UX literally makes the sale for them. (of course not every shopping cart converts to an order, and people still order things you don't have elsewhere, etc. But getting people on the site and engaged is half the battle, assuming you don't give them a reason to shop elsewhere.)
- ebrewste 5y agoI agree that their website is great. For the olds like me, we had just as big a love affair with their printed catalog before the website. Their shipping was on a different plane also, long before e-commerce changed the shipping game. They have always taken UX seriously. I had an engineering internship where the president had a saying: "If you can't design a machine from the McMaster-Carr catalog, you aren't an engineer."
- zikduruqe 5y agoHow about rockauto.com? I mean, I can drill down to exactly what I need easily.
- paulmd 5y agoWeirdly, they don't sell whole replacement transmissions? I get they're heavy and the core return thing, but it's a big-ticket item and it'd be nice to be able to price-shop the local mechanics on it.
- rascul 5y ago> How about rockauto.com? It looks old and outdated but it's so easy to use
- mirntyfirty 5y agoNot only the website is perfect, I’d say the same about delivery and customer service.
- TheJoeMan 5y agoUhh on McMaster I think I need a flow meter with range around 0.3 L/min since I’m designing something new and not replacing, and there are separate check boxes for 0.25-0.5, 0.2-1, 0.1-0.6, … etc. with 3 different units mixed in. If you know exactly what you need, then yes. But if you’re messing around on home depot needing like a 3 7/8 “ish” screw but-maybe-a-4-will-do the McMaster system would stink.
- paulmd 5y agoWhile true, this is unfortunately not unique, I see the same issue on (eg) Mouser/Digikey/Arrow for electronics parts. Obviously in some cases it can be replaced by a range slider, but there's also cases where it really can't. In some cases it's the part itself that has the range - like let's say a pump is designed to produce a flow rate of 0.5-5 gal/min, you can't express that with the usual range slider. I guess what you really need is an "inverse range slider" where instead of saying "I want a connector that carries at least 5 amps but not more than 15" you say "my project needs a flow rate of 2.5 gpm, what parts have that value within their range". But I mean... compare the McMaster-Carr site to Home Depot, or Target, or whatever, and it's just a breath of fresh air. Like, if inverse-ranges are the biggest thing you can complain about, mission accomplished ;)
- pinot 5y agoFlow meters need an operations range though. So any of those ranges would work for your application. But trying to find a screw on Home Depot or Fastenal .. ugh
- mattkrause 5y agoI would be surprised (but not totally amazed) if they had fixed it in the hour since your comment was posted but... I now see separate selectors for maximum flow, minimum flow, and graduations here: https://www.mcmaster.com/flowmeters/ https://www.mcmaster.com/flowmeters/
- bze12 5y agoThis. I recently wrote something about why I love McMaster.com so much https://www.bedelstein.com/post/mcmaster-carr https://www.bedelstein.com/post/mcmaster-carr
- ellyagg 5y agoI talk to random people outside of tech who love that site too. I did a bit of googling to get any details on how it came about and came up with this: https://www.quora.com/Who-designed-UI-UX-and-developed-the-website-for-McMaster-Carr-mcmaster-com https://www.quora.com/Who-designed-UI-UX-and-developed-the-w... It was heavily influenced by Tufte!
- mywittyname 5y agoI think they achieved mainstream notoriety due to Mythbusters.
- nerdponx 5y agoI learned about them through word-of-mouth through various "maker" types of people.
- nablag 5y agoCan confirm as an ex-mcmaster-carr software developer that they put a lot of effort into their websites UI/UX
- ultrarunner 5y agoI appreciate companies like this so much— they sell widgets, so they invest in software and do it right. I worked in the printing industry circa 2009 and the desire to fix antiquated systems was split (and rare). The companies that did are still around; the ones that didn't didn't make it.