Automotive
KBB.com
Like Lonely Planet, KBB.com makes excellent use of color to draw the eye down the page, with the two top block colors pushing the eye toward the right action block. The "80 Years of Trust" image plays well to the "believes what they see" aspect of the audience, and the page layout as a whole (tool and information orientation) is a draw to the "time and process" orientation of the audience. A real plus is that 90 percent of the page is above the fold-- something lacking in several other homepages we analyzed. Demographics who "believe what they see" don't often go looking (i.e., scroll below the fold) for information; what they can't immediately see simply doesn't exist to them.
Suggestions:
- The "black or white" orientation would be better served by a cleaner layout, as mentioned in Lonely Planet.
- Featuring a "Troubles" or "Problems" or "Things to Watch Out For" section would be a big draw to this audience.
Cars.com
Cars.com draws much the same audience as Orbitz, so the same rules apply.
Suggestions:
- Color use could be better because the mid-screen action items have a push color rather than a pull color, and this audience doesn't like to be pushed.
- There's no obvious social component to the page; including one would be a plus.
- Like KBB.com, a "Troubles," "Problems" or "Things to Watch Out For" section would be a plus with this audience.
Toyota
Toyota gets big kudos for design, as well. The central placement of the page causes the visitor to be centered in the action, which is a vehicle in motion. The fact that the vehicle is directionally moving up to the right -- a positive direction in western culture -- is also a big plus. The page is visually clean-- another big plus for this audience.
Suggestions:
- This audience has little to no time-management skills, so placing reasonable time-to-completion values next to each shopping tool (bottom left) would help this audience make more use of those elements.
Automotive Summary Table
| Site |
Gender Orientation |
Personality Orientation |
| kbb.com |
Neutral |
Believe what they see; have a "black or white" orientation; form opinions but confirm them with others; are time and process focused when making decisions, tend to have a negative outlook on things |
| cars.com |
Male |
Strong social orientation; listen to others' opinions before making decisions, worry about the future, pay more attention to what goes wrong than what goes right |
| Toyota |
Male |
Prefers to experience things firsthand, will listen to others only to confirm their own thoughts; have a positive outlook on life; are highly reward oriented, tend to focus on what's immediately around them; little to no time management skills |
