[Sigia-l] is bad design a choice?

[Skot Nelson]

On Oct-17-2005, at 6:58 AM, Dave Heller wrote:
> I can talk of my experience of eBay.
> 1) I can't find what i want

I find this a function of bad SEARCH on ebay, more than bad design.  
Finding Canon EOS product or Canon F1 accessories is extremely  
difficult. Entering either one of these search terms finds items that  
should only be found by the other (they are incompatible.)

This could be solved by either better search, or a better listing  
process in my view.

> 2) 2 i hate how it is presented, so really I don't trust what I'm
> getting. i really don't.

This is somewhat subjective. How it's presented is also determined by  
the seller - in those cases, there are times where the nature of the  
listing would prevent me from trusting it.

> 3) I feel that eBay does nothing to help its customers make themselves
> seem anything more than "off the back of the truck" providers. I feel
> they do them a dis-service.

I think my answer to part 1 is a part of what causes this problem.

But I'd disagree with the assertion fundamentally: eBay offers escrow  
services, and the feedback system (albeit somewhat flawed) certainly  
counts; they also offer the PayPal payment system, which is trusted  
by millions around the world.

I'm not an eBay fan by any means - I've sold a few hard to get rid of  
things - but I think it's being unjustly maligned here.
--
Scott Nelson
skot at penguinstorm.com
http://www.penguinstorm.com/