Transmission Filters and the Too Many Choices Dilemma

In case anyone was wondering whether or not we were going to read the comments and take them seriously, we present to you Transmission filters:

Automatic Porsche 911's in 90232
Manual Ford Mustang's in 90278

In real estate, they have a saying: Location, price and build quality (square footage, etc), you can control any two of those variables, but not all three. (ok, so maybe that's not exactly how the saying goes, but you get the point). There is a similar triumvirate working in web applications between power, ease of use and development time (and this includes some beta testing). A comment on the previous entry noted that "ease of use and advanced capability are not mutually exclusive". We wholeheartedly agree, but we're still gathering data both on how to make our site easier to use and what advanced capabilities we should offer.

We've built an infrastructure that allows us to easily add filters to slice and dice listings in myriad ways, but we haven't quite worked out how to expose this functionality to advanced users without overwhelming everyone else with so many choices. We have the ability to create about 300 different filters ranging from type of convertible top (manual, automatic, automatic w/ rear glass, etc) to type of headliner (cloth, vinyl, leather, etc.) to curb weight, to whether the car is equipped with an oil pressure warning sensor even whether or not it has a picnic table (Nissan Quest and Chevy Equinox, for the curious).

But, how many people even care to filter based on headliner type? Or curb weight? Probably not very many. But, that's why we started this blog:

What categories do you want to see in a search filter?

Seeking the Zen of Buying Used Cars

A few months ago, we set out to create the most user friendly used car search site on the Internet.

Last night, while we had yet to face the onslaught of today's peak hours, and in light of the intense hard work my teammates and I put into this application, I simply couldn't wait to tell the World about our first attempt at delivering on this goal.

The problem we wish to solve for consumers is quite simple in concept:

It takes too much time to find (used) cars on the Internet. Too many clicks. Too many pages. Too many forms to fill-out. Too much waiting around. It's nearly infuriating.

We'd like to bring a measure of Zen back into the online shopping experience. Build an Interface that intuitively brings tremendous power to the fingertips of prospective Used Car Buyers, letting them see more, and quickly narrow-down their choices by criteria that matter to them.

Here's an example:

"I'd like to get wheels that'll save me money. I don't have any loyalty to any make or model, perhaps a few mild preferences. I'd like a car with strong MPG for both highway and City, that'll save me serious money in these days of high gas prices. Further, the car itself must be cheap."

1. Head over to CarsDirect.com's Used Cars Search Site.. Pick a Zipcode, and hit search for all makes and all models
2. Scroll-down to the left, and pick "26-100" in City MPG, then pick "40-100" in Highway MPG
3. Scroll back-up to the "Price" box, and pick "$4,000 - $12,000"
4. In the "Sort By" row, click Price once to sort by ascending price.
5. The winner is, at the time of this writing: A 1996 Nissan 200SX
6. Click on the last link in the bread crumbs below the site header to bookmark your search

But now I've changed my mind:

I'm not going to drive all that much, i just want a cheap car, period!

1. Un-check City MPG and Highway MPG. (hit the X)
2. Un-check Price. (hit undo)
3. Results should still be sorted by price, lo and behold, first result is a $600 1993 Toyota Tercel
4. Click on the last link in the bread crumbs below the site header to bookmark your search

While we have reasons to believe we've got a decent product that dramatically raises the Used Cars Buying Experience bar, as previously mentioned, that bar was infuriatingly low.

Many challenges lie ahead, and we are still working on tweaking our application, however, there is only so much we can learn on our own.

We now need your feedback! Complaints, criticisms, compliments, we want to hear it all!