OK, this is something I really do get a bee in my bonnet about.
I've been trawling a few sites today gathering information for Mrs Bong!'s new car. What has really struck me is just how bad a lot of these sites are, cumbersome, hard to navigate, spawning new windows (whatever happened to tabs) all over the shop and so on. It's all the worse for us Mac users, most designers seemingly don't even consider that someone may use the site from anything other than a PC.
Just aborted an attempt to use both the Ford and Citroen configuration functions because they simply didn't work for me!
I could go on, I recently stopped dealing with a certain online IFA because their site was hopeless in the Mac / Safari world - security not working, nothing sized correctly etc. - the reply to my complaint was a whole list of instructions on how set up IE7 on a PC! Maybe they don't miss my pension, or the company's scheme, or my ISAs, or my wife's pension, or (you get the drift).
Do these companies not realise that the demographic shows the typical Mac user as being at the top end of the disposable income scale?
I feel better now.
Edited by Dynamic Dave on 01/06/2008 at 20:49
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Do these companies not realise that the demographic shows the typical Mac user as being at the top end of the disposable income scale?
With the price of Macs, they'd need to be :)
Seriously, though, it's not just an issue for Mac users. I have used either Opera or Firefox as my main browser for more than ten years now, and have recently switched over to Suse Linux for my main desktop PC, so I no longer have access to IE for those badly-designed, standards-breaking sites.
The situation is now much much better than it was during the dotcom boom of 1999/2000, when it seemed that most commercial sites fell over without IE, but some website builders still seem to be stuck in a Microsoft-only mindset.
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I appreciate you guys seem to be focusing on the browser but on the subject of bad sites none can be worse than Honda's.
It's terrible - you wait an age (in electronic terms that is) for stuff to build all the time.
I have pointed it out to them and they tell me they are changing it soon although cannot say when.
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Have you tried the bandwidth-hungry VW website? People using broadband, the majority I would think, (not me however) have levelled many complaints at its slowness.
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Can't but agree the Honda and VW efforts are dismal. Tried the Daihatsu site (friend is looking for new wheels) and that was really much better, quick to load and obviously competent with Safari and Mac.
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I hoped this would be an amusing thread about motoring forums with laissez-faire policies on obscenity, blasphemy, nastiness and slander (there really do seem to be some).
Seems a bit strange that manufacturers, especially Japanese ones, don't hire Stephen Khoo types to set up their websites though.
Edited by Lud on 01/06/2008 at 17:15
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Mods - New title? Car Manufacturer's Poor Websites?
{Good idea}
Edited by Dynamic Dave on 01/06/2008 at 20:50
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Car Manufacturer's Poor Websites?
I have seen a lot which are bad or indifferent, but only one which I know has won awards for its good "user-friendly" design, and I for one agree and like it:
www.bmw.co.uk/bmwuk/homepage/
It works fine even with my browser and firewall set at maximum security levels.
Strange though is the fact that their websites in other countries are not all up to the same standard!
Edited by jbif on 01/06/2008 at 19:49
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The only trouble with the BMW website is the fact it sells Beemers.
Sack the Mac - Linux Ubuntu works with everything I've tried.
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I have used several websites this weekend. Fiat, Citroen, Suzuki, Hyundai and Mazda and none were great. too slow, too small writing, need to give all personal details to download pdf brochures. All dreadful compared to many other websites.
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Our manufacturers website is not the best in the world so we created our own ... which is fine until they found out ... not corperate they say !!! so want us to pull our site !!
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I agree that manufacturer's websites are usually not as good as they should be. Far too much style, and often too little substance.
I agree with Espada about sites that ask for your personal details in order to download pdf brochures. Such behaviour is most annoying. (In Honda's favour, they let you download brochures without asking you to answer questions.)
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I think it is a case of the guys at the top saying "We want a website. Make it snazzy. Top of the range, cutting edge..."
So the designers go and make a flash website. It may look pretty good but it's pretty bad for actually getting useful information from it. I really dislike most of the car manufacturers websites because they are slow to load (even on a modern machine with a good broadband connection) and horrible to use.
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I did a short 'how to make websites' course & part of this obviously included looking at & evaluating a number of pre-selected sites.
Jaguar was one of them & it came nearly bottom in all aspects.
But I still like their product!!
VB
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Most company directors are marketing, legal or financial by training. Very few have a background in I.T.
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Considering they're probably the world's biggest car manufacturer now (and definitely the richest) the Toyota UK site is stuck in the dark ages, especially the used car section.
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