A homeowner picking a window, a paint, or a faucet is trying to solve one room, one problem, or one look. They want to be sure before they spend the money.
Why do buyers get stuck choosing between our products?
Because the product pages are written for people who already know the line. Series names, model numbers, and feature lists make sense inside the company. A buyer looking at four windows that look the same in a photo cannot tell which one fits their house, so they leave, call a dealer, or buy the cheapest one.
What choosing tools work for home and building products?
Start where the buyer starts, and give them two or three ways in.
- By room. Kitchen, bath, basement, exterior. Each room narrows the line to the products that belong there.
- By problem. Drafty windows, a door that sticks, paint that peels in a bathroom. People search for the problem long before they search for your product name.
- By style. Traditional, modern, farmhouse, with pictures. Style is how most homeowners decide, and words alone do not carry it.
- A short question path. Three or four questions (room, budget, style, who installs it) that end on two or three products, never one, so the buyer still feels they chose.
What belongs in a comparison table?
Only the specs that change the decision, in the buyer's words. Price range, size options, finish and color choices, energy or durability ratings where they apply, warranty, and whether it needs a pro to install. Put the specs an installer needs on the product page and the spec sheet, out of the main table. Two or three products side by side beat a grid of twelve.
For HGTV Home by Sherwin-Williams I ran taxonomy research with real shoppers. We cut the categories from twelve to seven, and shopper confidence went up 13%. The full write-up is in the HGTV Home by Sherwin-Williams case study.
Do samples and visualizers help?
Yes, because the biggest fear in this category is how it will look in the buyer's own house. Paint chips and peel-and-stick samples, finish and wood samples for doors and windows, and a photo visualizer that puts the color or the product on a picture of their room all lower that fear. Make ordering a sample one click from the comparison table, and follow up when it arrives.
When does a configurator pay for itself?
When the product has real options that change the price and the build: sizes, grilles, hardware, finishes, glass. A configurator earns its cost when it replaces quote requests your team answers by hand and cuts orders that come back wrong. For a line with a few fixed products, a good comparison table does the job. I stepped in to a design leadership role at Polaris during the revamp of an online customizer that lets people configure their vehicle in full 3D, on phones too. Test a clickable prototype with buyers before anyone builds the real thing.
What about our dealers and contractors?
They are the second audience, and often the one who closes the sale. A contractor needs spec sheets, install guides, lead times, and a way to send the homeowner a link to the exact product they recommended. A dealer needs the same comparison the homeowner sees, so the conversation in the showroom matches the website. For Marvin I did the UX for the relaunch of a flagship double-hung window, where new buyers, owners of the old version, and installers all had to land on the right page.
What does it cost?
A one-hour second opinion on your product pages and choosing path is $150. Research with buyers, dealers, and contractors runs as a fixed study price, quoted on UX research and leadership. Prototypes of a choosing tool or configurator are $150 an hour or a fixed quote.
Answered by Jared Lukes, Minneapolis. Twenty-five years in brand, UX, and technology, currently holding fractional AI and technology seats at three companies. About Jared.