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Parametric Navigation…it’s really just a fancy industry phrase for a filtered search, or parameters you can select to filter down results sets. So if I go to widgets.com and search for a widget, the site would present me with options to narrow my widget selection by price or rating or size or color, etc. The overall idea is that I can pick the individual attributes that appeal to me, and come up with a customized list of widgets that meet my specific needs. It’s my preferred search method, so I figured I’d tell you what I think works, and what falls flat.

I started with the list of Internet Retailers 2009 Hot 100 Retail Web Sites. I don’t quite understand how they came up with this list, given that some of these sites look like they haven’t been redesigned since the ’90s, but it seemed like a good baseline to use for my research.

I set forth a series of questions as I looked at each site:

• Does the site use parametric navigation/navigation filtering?
• Are there multiple filtering categories available, i.e., does the site show filter options for both price and size?
• Can I filter on more than one criterion? So while the site shows me filter options for both price and size, can I select an option from each one of those sets?
• Can I filter on multiple sections in one set? In other words, can I select both the $50-$75 and the $75-$100 price range, or am I limited to one selection?
• Do the results refresh instantly or do I need to click a button to activate the search?
• Are the selected filters displayed on the page? If I filter by $50-$75, long-sleeve shirts, do I see these criteria close to my results set, so I know what I’ve selected? (I don’t have a very good memory.)
• And a more subjective question – how would I rate the quality of the parametric navigation? Is it easy to add and remove filters? Do the filters show the number of items in that category? Are there a myriad of filter options?

I scored the objective questions on a scale of 0-2, with 0 equaling no/not present, 1 equaling partially present, and 2 equaling yes. The last question had a scale of 0-5, with 5 being ideal. The maximum score is 17.

My Favorite Implementation

This is not on the list, but I think it’s one of the best uses of parametric navigation that I see on the Web. I use the site all the time, and am constantly amazed at its combination of complexity and simplicity.

Kayak – I don’t know that Kayak.com would be traditionally classified as an online retail website, but I do use it to browse and shop for travel information any time I go anywhere. I can enter my home airport – SFO – and my destination – NYC – and I can filter the hell out of my results. I can opt for a direct flight or choose to have a layover (yeah, I don’t pick that). I can change my flight departure and arrival times based on whether the plane is taking off or landing. I can pick only the airlines I get miles on and only the airports I would fly in and out of (definitely does not include San Jose). There are sliders for price, layover duration, and trip duration. The possibilities are endless.

What makes this an excellent site is not only the numerous choices, but also the ability to select multiple options under one category – for example, I can select JetBlue and Virgin America. I’m not limited to one option per category, which is where a lot of sites fall short. Additionally, I can set my own parameters for several filters, including flight times and price. I don’t have to try and fit into the 10:00am-2:00pm time frame or $200-$350, $350-$500. I can set my price filter to $409 if I want to. I have options, dammit! And the best thing about this site is the single-page architecture. So when I modify any of my options, the page just redraws in a relatively seamless manner. Now I didn’t judge the Hot 100 based on their search/filter technology implementation and I didn’t note if a filter forced a new page to load or if the site used a single page architecture, but it is one of the design and technology implementation decisions that makes for a positive user experience.

On to the Hot 100….

The Good

The four sites on the list with the best parametric navigation implementation are Blue Nile, Computer Discount Warehouse, CSN Stores, and Garmin. The primary thing that each of these sites does well is allow for multiple filtering choices for each category.

Blue Nile – This site makes best uses filtering on the Diamond Search – and I’m not just saying that because I’m a girl. Like Kayak, it updates results immediately and provides that direct feedback to the customer. I can select three diamond shapes on the main page and it tells me the total number of diamonds in stock in the selected shapes. Once I get to the results page, I have quite a few options to narrow my list, and I can change the shapes, sizes, price, etc. very easily. The site makes it very easy for me to buy myself lots of fancy jewels (except for the price, of course).

Computer Discount Warehouse – This site is better known as CWD and it has a massive amount of home and office computing inventory. So how to find what you need? CDW actually gives the customer multiple parametric navigation options – basic and advanced. I go to the site and select Products -> Computers -> Notebook Computers. The main Notebook page comes up and I can see that I have a ton of Advanced filtering options. I can open each one of these, select multiple criteria and customize my search to the smallest detail. Or, I can click on the Basic tab and do simpler, more traditional filtering. It’s true that I may not have as many options here, but if I’m not an experienced buyer, all of those choices could be intimidating. This site allows me to search in whichever way I’m comfortable.

CSN Stores – This is not a store most folks would have heard of. Rather it’s a company that has set up an online store template for focused purchases, and they’ve done their parametric navigation pretty well. Select Shop By Item -> Furniture. Then click on Bedroom Furniture and select Dressers in the left navigation. The site has more than 100 filtering options with quantities per filter and the ability to select (and easily de-select) multiple options under one category. And each time I add a new filter, the quantity for all the remaining filters updates, taking into account the additional criterion.

Garmin – This site, with a much smaller product set than CSN, handles it’s filtering in pretty much the same way. I select Products -> On the Road and click on Automotive, and I get 27 results with multiple filter options and updating quantities to help me narrow my choices and find the GPS that works for me.

The Not-So-Bad

These sites they come close, and I wish they would go just that little extra mile to push themselves into “The Good”.

EyeBuyDirect – This site does do a few things right with the parametric navigation. I clicked on Women’s Glasses, and got 231 results, so I decided to narrow this to Fashion and Classic glasses. I select those filters, and the page refreshes instantly, which is great. But I still have 54 results, and I decide that I only want black or brown glasses. And there is where the site falls short. I can only select one color. Why give me the ability to select multiple options in one filter category and not in another? As I said above, I like choice.

Sunglass Hut – If you’re not near a mall and you need your sunglasses, this seems like a good site to visit. I searched for “Ray-Ban” to see what results I would get. The left side of the page refreshed with a list of filter options, so I was happy. I decide to click on Ray-Ban, Oakley, Spy, and Prada. I then decide that Prada doesn’t belong in that group, but there’s no way to de-select! So I can pick several criteria, but I have to “clear all” to remove one from the set. That’s just annoying. Additionally, the site navigation design seems clean and elegant, but it does have some flaws. I decide I need new skiing sunglasses and reset my search to just look at Oakleys. I go into Features and select anti-reflective, interchangeable and polarized. Then I go to color. But my Feature selections aren’t visible anywhere unless I expand that panel. It’s great that the site allows users to select multiple filters in a single category – but those choices should be visible to me as I scroll through my results. I can’t be expected to remember what I clicked on 30 seconds ago….

The Ugly

This is just a small selection of the Ugly – there are a lot of sites that attempt parametric navigation filtering, but just don’t do it all that well.

Action Envelope – I searched for “notecard” and I can only narrow my results set by one filter – either color or style. I can’t determine if they have a yellow, pointed-flap notecard (which I desperately need) because I cannot select more than one product attribute. I can select a color, and then when I select a style it replaces the color. Big no no!

CVS – I searched for “shampoo” and got 374 results. But the filter options were not sufficient to refine that list. They haven’t set up the site attributes to map to generic products. I can navigate through the categories to Beauty -> Skin Care -> Facial Moisturizers, but again, products are not “tagged” in enough detail in order to allow me to narrow my choice. I can really only filter for brand, when maybe I’d prefer to filter by price, bottle size, SPF, etc.

SkyMall – I know SkyMall is more of an amalgamation of store sites – or more brands –in one, but it was on the list so I figured it was fair game. (And I do flip through the catalogs when I’m bored on a flight.) The filtering (like some of the products they sell) on this site totally baffled me. They made one huge error – they don’t show you the filters you have selected! I browsed to Home Living -> Bedroom Furniture. There were 49 products, so I clicked on Vendor -> Guidecraft USA. The page refreshed with new results and the vendor name was nowhere to be found. That’s just not going to work for me….

So that’s my 2 cents (maybe 4 cents). I want both options and control. I should be able to filter by the attributes that matter to me most, with the goal of being presented with a product set that meets my specific needs and requirements. I don’t think that’s too much to ask…do you?

List of Hot 100 Retailers here (reviewed sites are highlighted):

Site	Total Score
Action Envelope	7
Amazon	11
American Apparel	n/a
American Eagle Outfitters	n/a
Anthropologie	11
Athleta	n/a
Avon	n/a
Bag Borrow or Steal	11
Beckett Media	11
Best Buy	12
Blockbuster	n/a
Bluefly	12
BlueNile	17
Borders	12
Buy.com	12
Cable Organizer.com	12
Chapter.indigo.ca	12
Computer Discount Warehouse	17
Crutchfield	13
CSN Stores	17
Cusp	n/a
CVS Stores	9
Delight.com	n/a
Design By Humans	n/a
Drs. Foster and Smith	12
Dunkin Donuts	n/a
eBags	13
Eddie Bauer	12
ElderLuxe.com	n/a
Estee Lauder	13
Expressionery.com	n/a
EyeBuyDirect	15
FatBrain Toys	n/a
Fathead.com	n/a
Faucet.com	12
FragranceNet.com	n/a
Gaiam	n/a
Gander Mountain	n/a
Gap	13
Gardeners.com	n/a
Garmin	17
Goldspeed.com	13
Godiva.com	n/a
iGourmet.com	13
iTunes	n/a
Journeys.com	11
JTVWatches.com	13
Karmaloop.com	13
KingArthurFlour.com	12
LandofNod.com	n/a
Lands’ End	11
Levi’s	n/a
Lion Brand Yarn	n/a
Martin+Osa	n/a
Max Furniture	n/a
Meijer	n/a
MoMA Store	9
MusicNotes.com	9
Muttropolis	n/a
Mymms.com	n/a
NASCAR	n/a
NikeID	n/a
Nine West	n/a
Novica	n/a
Organic Style	n/a
Organize.com	12
Orvis	12
Overstock	13
Pets United	13
Popcuts	n/a
QVC	11
Ritz Interactive	12
Roxy	11
RunningWarehouse.com	n/a
Rusty Zipper	n/a
Sam Ash Music	13
Scentiments	n/a
Scholastic	13
shoeline.com	n/a
Skis.com	12
SkyMall	8
Smith & Noble	n/a
Staples	12
StilaCosmetics.com	n/a
Sunglass Hut	14
Sweetwater.com	n/a
ThinkGeek.com	n/a
Timbuk2 Bags	n/a
The North Face	14
Tool King	10
Ulta	9
UnderArmour	n/a
Undergear.com	n/a
Vans	12
Vista Print	n/a
Walgreens	13
Walmart	13
WetSeal	n/a
Zappos	13
Zazzle.com	n/a

Note: n/a means that at the time of the research, the site did not have parametric navigation.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 27th, 2009 at 10:47 am and is filed under E-Commerce, Information Design, User Experience. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.