Feedback needed please.

[evil twin]

haig,

i think the matrox site could use a lot more info. something like a few hundred faq that would cover everything from a-z. well maybe not quite that many- but enough that we could get the answers that we are looking for on-line as opposed to calling your tech supp dept. people might like that extra money saved on phone bills to buy more matrox cards.-

chris,

i'v heard buffalo are in season-

evil

[sabertooth007]

In direct response to your questions:

1. Can I find the information I am looking for easily? It depends. For example when the G400 first came out, you had to switch between the main Matrox site and the G400 site for information. The information sometimes disagreed or stated something different. An example was about multimedia upgrades. One site said this would be determined later, the other site said you can use the Rainbow Runner G but not the DVD module.

I think organizing the support along the lines of the products themselves would be the best solution. Have the person either select by their part number, the product name, or the oem part information (i.e. Compaq Presario XXXX) Then this enables a person to sift through to the information directly related to their product.

The navigation is better than most sights, but there are always ways to make it easier to navigate (one suggestion the driver listing, it really needs some changes. Instead of three pages for drivers, make one page, and discuss the benefits and purpose of each). For example put the 5.25.013, 5.25.019, and 5.3 all on the same page and explain the difference between the two. It sure would make it easy. Include the bios on the same page and any third party patches. This then allows a simple and quick navigation to all the information needed by someone for their particular card.

By having this one link navigation, your company can then also better understand the target market for that product and provide content and ads that directly benefit that card user. For example, the Marvel G200, you could put their information about the upgrades to DVD and memory (only the memory that is used by its card, not link it to a list that you have to sift throught to figure out what is the best choice or correct choice). This also allows you to better present addons, etc., which can lead to cross marketing options. Without using to much ad, which is actually not a good idea, there could be a special offer from Avid Cinema to upgrade to a new version, or buy the full version of a demo program (this means marketing money coming in, which could then in turn be used to fund even more technical support - just as long as the ads don't turn the site into a billboard for hawking all sorts of items)

2. Information clear and Concise? I would say that it isn't always, as mentioned above. The other is reading the way the wizard works. The statement in bold above seems to be conveying one thought, while the statement is doing something else. I do like how a product name is clearly identified, and the solutions when they are presented are usually very good. The one thing though that is very frustrating, is following links that lead to a dead end, saying call Tech Support. How that can be improved, I don't know. Most companies use a similar setup, but a way to improve is suggest contacting via e-mail or phone to solve the problem, and even better put links that have solutions/problems that are in the same general topic or idea, that way they can have a chance to find their answer even if they took a wrong turn on the wizard.

So is the information clear, most of the time. Is it concise, yes. Is there any problem with providing any extra detail,no. Provide a brief statement and then an option below that goes into more detail, and that detail can actually help spawn addition thoughts on solving a problem that maybe wasn't directly answered in the faq/kb/support.

3. Improving Navigation - You can see both in one and two is to provide a simple card focused support that helps to filter out information that isn't relevant to that card. For example the Marvel G200 doesn't need to have any information regarding the RR Studio or G series. So providing content directly releated to the card is the best way to enhance the approach. I like the way the material is presented on the side (frame) but once again if this could be incorporated into simpler categories that are expanded as you select your card. An example could be:

Products - spec sheets, reviews, etc. You would then also provide links to the support and other items of interest directly related to that product.

Support, Drivers and Patches - The user would select this, select their card, and this would then branch into a section that would be divided along tech support, upgrades, drivers and bios, game patches, and other items directly related to the product, even including the tip of the day or suggestion of the day for users.

Most important, is providing a good roadmap for the site. So many sites have a great setup, if you are willing to spend half a day trying to navigate. I like sites that provide a map of the site, so I can jump directly to an area of interest.

To help out the novice that might not be fully internet trained, providing a simple getting started at the web site to help them find what they need. For example:

Welcome to the Matrox Graphic Card Website. So we can try to provide you a pleasant and easy experience we have created some quick links below that can take you to the general area of interest.

Do you wish to update the drivers your video card is using? Click Here

Are you getting problems or messages that you don't know what they mean or can't seem to solve? click here

Do you want to know how you can get more out of your card with additional/optional accessories? Click here

Are you looking for a card to replace you current card, we can help you? Click Here (Suggestion, breaking down the option, even to the point of displaying an ISA (okay no one uses it anymore, but can't hurt to provide this), PCI and AGP slots and then showing them the products that would meet their needs. Even better would put a link that would allow them to send a technical support question that is both sales related and tech related, for example, Dear Matrox I have a computer that doesn't have an AGP slot, and so I need a card that will handle CAD. I see that you have two cards that work for PCI, but SG, SD, ram, SE, how do I know what is best. = This is something that sales isn't always equipped to answer, and sometimes it is, so make this an email that helps you sort through sales questions and tech questions, like using techsalesquest@matrox.com)

So I would suggest that technical support as well have a configuration that directs the user directly to all items of interest to their card with links to other items that are still relevant. You use a process right now that is close to this idea. But for some they might not be sure which one to select. I am not saying users are uninformed, but making it easy to select the right part without having to read a tea leaf (joke) makes it easier. A good example is that when you say Marvel G200 it can mean two different things to two different people. In Europe it has no TV in the states they do, but for most users they won't know that unless they remember everything they read on the flyers. Or how about G200-TV? Does this mean the Marvel G200 with TV, Marvel G200 with TV Tuner Addon Card, Mystique G200 with RR or TV Tuner, you can see the direction I am heading. Possibly developing some sort of numbering system, similar in nature to 3Com or creative labs that helps to identify the card quickly. The only suggestion make it somewhere that the user can quickly find it. Possibly creating a quick program that pulls this information off of the card, whether OEM, Retail, or sold with a system. I like how you provide the serial number and version number all in one place, expanding on this would be even better.

4. (Joke - Wow haven't I said enough). I left this comment for last, but there are two things that I think can really enhance your site both from a tech support side and sales side. One recommendation would be to create a chat room with one or two technicians, and staff it maybe a few hours before you open and a few hours after you close, or even during the day as well. People would then be able to work on other things, not have to worry about long distance calls when on hold, and really puts you a step ahead of your competition (none offer such live support - AOL uses a system similar to this, but has volunteers as well providing help). For legal reasons you would probably need to have a person agree that the information obtained through a chat does not impose liability on the tech or Matrox unless negligent (i.e. you tell someone to push or hammer a card that is designed for ISA into AGP - okay extremese example but this is where you seperate common sense from mental lapse) In addition recording these chat logs, with permission, and making them available for others to read. For example if you and I had been in this chat session about what I mentioned in my challenge, then you would use keywords like, RMM.pdr, IOS, PD 5.x, Real Mode, etc. Then someone could look over the chat logs (of course edit out any confidential information - i.e. address, phone number, user name, etc). This would provide a great new resource to you and the users, they might even find an answer in one of those logs, cutting down on the number of repeat questions in the same area (means more time for your company to address those less common problems - also saving cost for tech. support)

One last addition that would be important is in addtion to the chat have an advance troubleshooting section. Once again for legal reasons state that Matrox is not liabile, that these are just some suggested solutions that have not been tested to confirm their reliabilty but present solutions to problems. Once again using our example you could post the information you provided me on the rmm.pdr file. By adding this advance, not yet tested section you provide a great resource to the user to look at other solutions before having to call tech support. I think more people would be more than happy to solve a problem via the web than to make a call.

All these additions could end up not only saving tech support both money and time, but it greatly enhances and highlights the benefit of owning matrox brand products. By taking the lead in these areas, you enable Matrox to stand above the other companies in the market. You help to greatly expand your knowledge base and to see where people are having the most problems, by using hit counters. So if you have so many people going to a DVD section for problems, then it helps you to spend more time targeting this area of need, rather than spreading out over a wide amount of topics and only being able to do general support rather than getting real indepth in an area where help seems to be most needed. Or in the case of the DVD, you can have more engineers that are geared to understanding what is wrong being available to handle these problems.

I hope this provides the feedback you are looking for. No comments were meant to state that you aren't already providing support, but instead present options to enhance or make your support stand out. In addition these comments will help to see why I would recommend a fix or change.

Feel free to contact me via e-mail if you would like me to provide more information, help test out the proposed site, etc. Contact me via my web contact address for non-business matters at fooledyourfpraweb@aol.com (note, remove the fooled you part for the right address, yes the r is the first part of the e-mail address and not your)

Tim Barnes
President
Barnes and Associates
Matrox Solutions Provider

[Ant]

Hey that suggestion for the drivers page do you mean something <a href="http://www.murc.ws/driver/win9x.html">a little more like this?</a>

[ScottV]

Ant, that's the main reason I can't provide Haig with any feedback. In truth, I never visit the official site because everything I need (and more) is right here on the MURC.

[sabertooth007]

Ant, that still is just as confusing. It actually is more since there is direct link to drivers specific for one type of card.

That is what they need to do. It should be linked via the card type. They then need to clearly break the variuos versions apart and explain the benefits or reason to use one version over another. Most people would think the higher number means the most current drivers. That is both true and false. For example the 5.25.013 say they were updated 10/28/99 and the 5.25.019 say they were updated 10/8/99. So why is there a difference in version numbers, shouldn't those drivers updated on 10/8 be a lower number. If Matrox is trying to make them different maybe they should be numbered based on the driver type,
i.e. Unified Drivers 5.25U, Certified, 5.25C, and Current, 5.25OCT99

This would then help to seperate them out, or put it as C5.25, OCT995.25, AND U5.25 resepectively.

Tim

[Ant]

I fail to see how you can say my page is more confusing than those of Matrox. I have one simple page containing all recent drivers with details of what they support. At the Matrox site you have to go through 4 or 5 pages to get to anything close to that. After 4 years of running the MURC and the driver pages and a huge amount of user feedback I now have things setup as the users have indicated to me they want them setup so I'd have to disagree with you somewhat. They want to easily find a page for Win 9x drivers or Win NT drivers etc and they want an easy to read list showing which is the latest driver and what it supports.

[ODiN]

Site is pretty concise, however I think it'd be more helpful to have a FAQ for each specific product...

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-=ODiN=-

[David]

Hi Haig,

I think the only thing that the Matrox site is really lacking in is a good, in depth, advanced knowledge base.

Sure you can always improve things in the rest of the site but I don't have any specific complaints about it. I can find drivers and download them. Everything works. What more do you need?

I do think that a good knowledge base is desperately needed, though.

Seeya,

...David <optic@iname.com>

[Haig]

Thanks everyone for your feedback.

Suggestions which weren't on our list are now on it with the exception of the dancing hampsters

Haig