TigerDirect is one of the most popular online retailers of computers and other electronics. The site provides an easy to understand and fun experience for the user and/or possible buyer. I used the site to look for an Intel Core i7-5930K 3.5GHz 6-Core Processor. Buying computer parts can be one of the most challenging things to buy online because of the limitless part models, retailers, and manufacturers. TigerDirect does a very good job at keeping electronic purchases simple and understandable.
One of the first things I noticed when I went to the TigerDirect website was the simple design and layout. The company name and search bar were the first things I spotted, helping the user know exactly where they are. The close proximity of the search bar to the site name helps the user that knows exactly what he wants to buy. For the user that may not be sure what they are looking to find, there are many buttons and pictures on the screen to assist in the search of an item. While there are in fact many buttons to click on, TigerDirect keeps things obviously clickable. The book “Don’t Make Me Think” by Steve Krug discusses the importance of keeping buttons clearly clickable to avoid user confusion (2014).
Another effective strategy used on TigerDirects website is the way that users check out once they have found the item(s) they were looking for. The process is not as quick as Amazon’s one-click-purchasing, but I think that it’s even better. After clicking the purchase button and finalizing the items in the shopping cart TigerDirect brings you to a page where the user can log into TigerDirect and enter their billing information. But even better yet, the site lets the user pick other vendors to pay through in order to make the payment process more customizable. The user pay through TigerDirect, PayPal, VISA Checkout, MasterPass, Amazon, or Google Wallet. I’m not able to think of many other websites that gives the user so many payment options. To make the deal even better TigerDirect accepts American Express, Master Card, Visa, and Discover; not all sites accept American Express, and Discover. This ease of payment actually makes this part of shopping, when the buyer loses money, seem like the best part of shopping. It could not be a better system in my opinion.
The last element of design incorporated into TigerDirects website that impresses me the most is their easy-to-scan pages. “Don’t Make Me Think” stresses the importance of keeping information easy to read and scanable so the user does not need to spend vast amounts of time reading information (Krug, 2014). Buying electronic parts can be such a difficult process because of how much technical information is involved. I personally hate buying electronics from sites like Wal-Mart, Target, and especially Amazon. They all fail to give me the technical information I need on a computer product. For example, when attempting to buy an external hard drive on Amazon.com the technical information provided with the product rarely has information of the rotation speed of the disk; which requires extra research on the users end. TigerDirect always gives every technical detail of electronic parts that are given by the part manufacturer. In the case of the external hard drives, TigerDirect provides the rotation speed of the disk as long as that information is available from the manufacturer. TigerDirect even gives links to the manufacturer’s website so the user can look for even more information about the part before they purchase it. This ease-of-access system for computer and other electronic pieces is what makes TigerDirect a very easy and simple to use website.
There are many online retailers that have easy to use designs and unbeatable prices. I feel that TigerDirect is one of the best retailers for any electronic equipment because of the easy to navigate pages, obviously clickable buttons, numerous payment options, and easy to scan, yet detailed technical information provided with each part. Attempting to buy and find the Intel Core i7-5930K 3.5GHz 6-Core Processor could not have been easier, and I would recommend TigerDirect to anyone shopping online.