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Showroom - New-car research

showroom.is

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Re: Showroom - New-car research

#11

Post by mikesilvis »

nicksergeant wrote: post #2

This is just our "MVP". We have a lot more planned: - Better trim organization. - Actual data on trims (MSRP, major trim features, etc). - Proper galleries. - Aggregation of YouTube video reviews, blog reviews from around the web, Edmunds reviews, etc. - Aggregation of user-submitted photos of models / trims from Flickr, etc.

I would hardly call this an MVP. The site isn't really useable in it's current state. It's a list of cars, with a price and no sorting, filtering, really anything...

Even after i click on a car all it does is show me pictures of it... Not even correlated pictures but it looks like you took the first 5 images off Google. Most of them don't even have pictures of the interior.

Re: Showroom - New-car research

#12

Post by nicksergeant »

mikesilvis wrote: post #11
nicksergeant wrote: post #2

This is just our "MVP". We have a lot more planned: - Better trim organization. - Actual data on trims (MSRP, major trim features, etc). - Proper galleries. - Aggregation of YouTube video reviews, blog reviews from around the web, Edmunds reviews, etc. - Aggregation of user-submitted photos of models / trims from Flickr, etc.

I would hardly call this an MVP. The site isn't really useable in it's current state. It's a list of cars, with a price and no sorting, filtering, really anything... Even after i click on a car all it does is show me pictures of it... Not even correlated pictures but it looks like you took the first 5 images off Google. Most of them don't even have pictures of the interior.

If you knew how much work went into getting it to this point, you'd probably have a different opinion.

Re: Showroom - New-car research

#13

Post by jxf »

nicksergeant wrote: post #10
jxf wrote: post #7

Right now, one searches for a car type and a car model. But that's not really the way I've searched for my last few cars. Most importantly, I want to be able to: 1. Require a minimum fuel efficiency (e.g. at least 20 mi/gal) 2. Specify a drivetrain (e.g. AWD, FWD, ...) 3. Specify features (e.g. Bluetooth, A/C, ...) 4. Specify a price range (e.g. $20,000 to $45,000)

There's a ton of stuff we can / want to do. The first step is getting the data / photos in the UI, and then we'll innovate in the research space.

Understood. I'm just saying that as an MVP I'm not sure it demonstrates as much value as I'd like. (That's just to me, personally, of course -- I'm sure different people search differently.)

Re: Showroom - New-car research

#14

Post by nicksergeant »

jxf wrote: post #13
nicksergeant wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's a ton of stuff we can / want to do. The first step is getting the data / photos in the UI, and then we'll innovate in the research space.

Understood. I'm just saying that as an MVP I'm not sure it demonstrates as much value as I'd like. (That's just to me, personally, of course -- I'm sure different people search differently.)

Definitely agree, but we wanted to get this in front of people to garner feedback and reinforce the things we should work on next.

Re: Showroom - New-car research

#15

Post by nicksergeant »

samwillis wrote: post #3

You need more filtering on the main lists. Let me filter by price range, high/low brand, size of vehicle, number of seats, engine size, petrol/diesel, air con, sat nav, cruise control... So rather than filtering the cars also filter the model of each car. Help me find the exact model I want. Then let me create a collection of cars to compare, show a table of data about each car side by side. Take a look a https://www…

On your point about inventory: we'll have all of that. We're using the Edmunds API, and they give us the ability to show inventory near you.

Re: Showroom - New-car research

#17

Post by tghw »

I hate to say it, but it does suck, quite a bit. The interface is nice and clean, but the functionality isn't there.

I tried redoing my recent search for a good SUV-like vehicle. I started off in SUV, hoping I could pick models to compare between. I headed straight for the Subaru section, since I ended up buying an Outback. But the Outback was not there. The CrossTrek, Forester, and Tribeca were there. The Outback ended up being under Cars, even though it is, arguably, more of an SUV than the Tribeca.

Okay, so I found one of the cars I was wanting to compare. How do I choose others? Oh, no way to do that. Okay. Well, let's at least look at the Outback.

I have tabs, that shows me different model years, not much else there. Down the left side are some, but not all of the engine and trim options. Clicking them does...nothing. The main content is a bunch of pretty marketing photos. Finally, at the very bottom is the first actual information about the car. The price and the MPG. I would also say that it has the "Category", but seeing as it says the Outback is a "Car", when it is either an "SUV", "Crossover", or "Wagon", I can't really count it.

Oh, but look, they have an affiliate link that takes me to Edmunds! Finally, a site where researching new cars doesn't suck!

Re: Showroom - New-car research

#18

Post by tghw »

nicksergeant wrote: post #12
mikesilvis wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would hardly call this an MVP. The site isn't really useable in it's current state. It's a list of cars, with a price and no sorting, filtering, really anything... Even after i click on a car all it does is show me pictures of it... Not even correlated pictures but it looks like you took the first 5 images off Google. Most of them don't even have pictures of the interior.

If you knew how much work went into getting it to this point, you'd probably have a different opinion.

It doesn't really matter how much work goes into something. That doesn't make it "Viable" or a "Product". Right now, it's only accomplishing "Minimal".

Re: Showroom - New-car research

#20

Post by kungfooey »

nicksergeant wrote: post #12
mikesilvis wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would hardly call this an MVP. The site isn't really useable in it's current state. It's a list of cars, with a price and no sorting, filtering, really anything... Even after i click on a car all it does is show me pictures of it... Not even correlated pictures but it looks like you took the first 5 images off Google. Most of them don't even have pictures of the interior.

If you knew how much work went into getting it to this point, you'd probably have a different opinion.

I hate to break it to you, but the amount of work that goes into a product is completely irrelevant. It's all about the usefulness to the end-user.

If the amount of work mattered, we would be digging holes with spoons instead of backhoes.

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