Using Boston Whaler's Support Website

[jimh]

For many years Boston Whaler maintained a separate website, whalerparts.com, to provide access to literature and diagrams pertaining to their boats. Recently that older website has been incorporated in a new location:

http://www.bostonwhaler.com/boat-ownership/resources/

I was struggling to use the new website until I realized that the presentation of information there is a bit unusual and perhaps non-intuitive. The new website offers to search for results based on multiple parameters of inquiry. I was becoming frustrated with the new site because all of my search inquires appeared to return ZERO results. The problem was not that there were zero results, but that the page on which the search is made NEVER SHOWS the results. It just announces that the search is done. To SEE THE RESULTS, the user must then click on a new button that appears called GET RESULTS. It is only after the user clicks on GET RESULTS that the outcome of the search appears.

I spent about ten minutes trying to locate any information on the new web page until I figured out what was wrong; I had to click on one more button to actually get to the results of the search inquiry. Generally I am fairly skilled at interacting with web pages, having been doing it since the dawn of the graphical user interface version of the hypertext form of the world wide web, but this new Whaler page had me befuddled until I found that GET RESULTS button. Once I figured out the quirk of the page's user interface, I was able to locate all the data I was seeking. Also note that when results are displayed they are only shown in partial form, and many more results can be seen by selecting another button with the legend SHOW MORE.

[Phil T]

As a hard core internet user and former IT professional, the user experience is very poor. There used to be a consensus that the "slicker" the site, the lower the content available and user experience.

I have shared my displeasure with Boston Whaler on their latest re-design of the Resources section several times. Historically, the website has always been weak. If anything, it drives inquires to the Dealer, Corporate or a different brand.

[jimh]

Phil--thanks for joining the discussion. I am glad to learn I am not the only user of that website that found it awkward. I posted this thread in the hope of helping others who might have gotten stuck in their attempts to search for information on it, and not just to offer criticism of its design.

ASIDE: one of the reasons I stuck with the old forum software for so long was its very simple interface. It was only when I couldn't find any host to provide the service--due to concerns about the security of the decades old and simple software--that I changed to a new forum which is, admittedly, more complex and confusing to new users.