Auto Swatch
Consumer and social
car shopping research
SHOW HN2011
15points
40comments
#616of 1,097 in 2011
Top 57%of 2011 by points
How HN took it
MixedNo clear lean
3 positive, 7 neutral or asking, 5 mixed, 7 critical, out of 22 comments about the project. Thread score -0.13.
Idea: 2 for, 2 againstExecution: 0 for, 3 againstDesign: 1 for, 1 againstPricing: 0 for, 1 against
The thread, comment by comment
Each row is a top-level comment and its replies, in HN's order. Select a cell to open that comment on HN.
positive neutral or mixed critical about another commenter or something else the maker
What HN said
What people liked
Visual design and photos are beautiful
From 4 comments
UPDATED: Expanded on the categorization aspect. Your design is absolutely gorgeous, and that's worth visiting the site for alone. The categorization is a little wonky, and while…
kmfrk on HNI run a startup providing inventory services to automotive dealerships and make use of the eVox product. Great images. That being said I would be very careful how your licensing…
pauldisneyiv on HNThose photos are gorgeous. I made http://autoridge.com and I had a lot of trouble finding good vehicle photos. I ended up using the Flickr API to pull in photos for both the…
vlucas on HNI'll admit I'm in the category of color-first car shoppers. Well-done and quite beautiful. Outside of color and type I might add in price next and mpg. Then hand the search off…
d5dhatch on HN
Objections
Categorization is messed up and cars are misplaced
From 3 comments
Categorization of cars is messed up. There's a BMW 5 series in the hatchback section. And a VW Beatle in the sports section ... and countless other examples. Is "seeing cars in…
CWIZO on HNStill actually kind of sucks. There's not enough filters. Also they seem to have conflated "Sportscar" with "Convertible" moving all high performance hardtops under…
naner on HNUPDATED: Expanded on the categorization aspect. Your design is absolutely gorgeous, and that's worth visiting the site for alone. The categorization is a little wonky, and while…
kmfrk on HN
Lacks data such as MPG, price and safety ratings
From 3 comments
Having worked one of the top auto manufacturer websites from top to bottom, MPG and Seating are the next two things you need to add. Particularly right now, MPG is top of mind as…
hkuo on HNThis is neat, but I think it would be much more useful if you could set a ceiling on price before displaying results, or have the ability to sort by MSRP in individual categories.
PonyGumbo on HNStill actually kind of sucks. There's not enough filters. Also they seem to have conflated "Sportscar" with "Convertible" moving all high performance hardtops under…
naner on HN
Search fails on names like F-150
From 2 comments
Your search doesn't appear to handle some characters: http://autoswatch.com/search/?q=F-150
duck on HNThe search couldn't find the truck as 'f150' either. I have an automotive site (retail ecommerce) and it is amazing the variations on truck names that people enter to find what…
gregpilling on HN
Grayed-out boxes and pagination hurt usability
From 2 comments
If the goal is to shop by color/style, I would filter out the cars that aren't available in the selected color. Showing the little gray boxes provides no benefit at all. I would…
DanielStraight on HNI originally filtered out the vehicles not available in the color, but it was confusing when vehicles popped in and out depending on color. If my vehicle isn't available in red,…
nicksergeant on HN
Requests
Add MPG, price, seating and safety data
From 3 comments
Having worked one of the top auto manufacturer websites from top to bottom, MPG and Seating are the next two things you need to add. Particularly right now, MPG is top of mind as…
hkuo on HNThis is neat, but I think it would be much more useful if you could set a ceiling on price before displaying results, or have the ability to sort by MSRP in individual categories.
PonyGumbo on HNUPDATED: Expanded on the categorization aspect. Your design is absolutely gorgeous, and that's worth visiting the site for alone. The categorization is a little wonky, and while…
kmfrk on HN
Add filters beyond color
From 2 comments
Still actually kind of sucks. There's not enough filters. Also they seem to have conflated "Sportscar" with "Convertible" moving all high performance hardtops under…
naner on HNIt's very interesting. It's a work in progress, but the canvas looks good. One of the huge problems with buying a new car is the sheer amount of "comparison data" available. It's…
Killah911 on HN
International data beyond the US
From 1 comment
US-only data at the moment. Internationalisation plans?
robin_reala on HN
Link to manufacturer sites or incentives
From 2 comments
It's a really great start and I have been thinking a lot about this problem as every year during ski season I pine for an AWD vehicle of some kind and start bouncing between car…
andymoe on HNI have a few comments: - nice design - why use categories? I tried to find my car in two categories and couldn't find it. I finally gave up and searched, and still didn't find it…
grandalf on HN
Questions
Why use categories at all
From 2 comments
I have a few comments: - nice design - why use categories? I tried to find my car in two categories and couldn't find it. I finally gave up and searched, and still didn't find it…
grandalf on HNUPDATED: Expanded on the categorization aspect. Your design is absolutely gorgeous, and that's worth visiting the site for alone. The categorization is a little wonky, and while…
kmfrk on HN
What the colored boxes signify
From 1 comment
UPDATED: Expanded on the categorization aspect. Your design is absolutely gorgeous, and that's worth visiting the site for alone. The categorization is a little wonky, and while…
kmfrk on HN
Alternatives named
Manufacturer build-your-own-car sites
From 1 comment
I wouldn't use this honestly. I don't get anything from it that I can't from manufacturers' sites. Every manufacturer has a "build your own car" link that has colors you can…
hnsmurf on HN
Carwoo
From 1 comment
It's a really great start and I have been thinking a lot about this problem as every year during ski season I pine for an AWD vehicle of some kind and start bouncing between car…
andymoe on HN