Here is an email I sent to Namewinner today:
Dear Namewinner:
I have bought quite a few names through Namewinner over the years and I have a rather large number of names in my Lists, so I thought that I would let you know what you could do to REALLY improve the site. By the way, I spend a lot of time on DNForum, and I know from the posts there that my proposed upgrade would bring you a lot of increased business. I know that the prospect of WLS may dim your incentive to really make a great site, but it should not. First of all, WLS is not a done deal, and it is months away, if it does happen. Second, there is a huge number of names that will not be reserved on WLS (because of WLS cost, or antipathy towards NSI) that people will still want to own.
1. MOST IMPORTANT: There should be a single list for each user.
Two lists makes no sense whatsoever, from the user's viewpoint.
It just makes it harder & more time-consuming to manage names and it confuses novices.
So, if you combine the two lists, here is what the single list page
should include (drawing from both the My Watch List and the My High Bids list):
A. Each column on the Watch List is important. However, having
an individual "remove" link for each removable name seems redundant and it takes up unnecessary space. The check boxes (like you already have) are much more efficient for managing a lot of names.
B. By bringing two columns from the High Bid list over to the proposed combined list, the user will have all the info he needs in a single list. These 2 columns are the Status (which is domain status, as compared to the Namewinner status column on the Watch List) and Max Bid. I really like having the domain status column available, and it belongs on the page where I can bid!!! So, you could rename the 2 status columns to: Status & Domain Status; or Bid Status & Domain Status; or Bidder & Status. I kind of like the last suggestion, as "Status" is used on the Whois data and then you could shorten the entry data on the Bidder column to read: "Highest, Not Highest, leaving out the word Bidder. I realize that "Pending" and "Won It" also need to go in this column, but that should be easy to figure, even for a novice.
C. The removability of a name (as on the High Bid list) can simply
be reflected in whether or not there is a check box available.
D. To make all of this fit well and be readable on a page, you might want to use abbreviations in the domain status column. "Other" is short enough, but you might want to use "Active", "Registrar Lock", etc, as this is used in the Whois data and would be more clear. However, "Other" is ok too. "Pending Delete" could become "PD" and "Redemption Period" could become "RP". How about Registrar Hold?
That would be good to see.
2. I have emailed on several occasions about the inability to remove old names from the High Bid list. If the expiration date is 18 months or more into the future, the name should automatically delete. For some reason, when names go into the Redemption Period, NSI is often adding a year to the Expiration, so I would not make this autodelete function for less than 15 months, although it could be shortened to 11 months if NSI stops goofing around. You might also consider autodeleting any name that has sat on a customers list for more than 4 months (or some other period, but 4 mos is about right). It could be that autodelete is only semiautomatic, with a change in bid status to "Out of Date" or a similar phrase. Your current system of having to delete names from the High Bid list one at a time is a TOTAL waste
of my time (over and above the waste of time of having to manage 2 lists).
3. You could save space by eliminating the "place bid" link from
the bid status column and just make it so that you bid by clicking
on the name.
4. The new Bulk Bidding option is not very good, except for the
ability to add more than 50 names at a time (in itself, not a severe limitation). I use the "Add domains to your purchase list in bulk", which works better than this new option. What I want is to add names to a single list (as described above). I want to add domains whether or not I am high bid or not. I can always delete them after I see how high the bids are. On the old bulk bidding option, I can check the box to indicate if I want to add names whether or not I am high, and this is a good option, although I always check it.
5. One thing that causes great confusion among users, especially newbies, is the bid status column. Highest Bidder and Not Highest Bidder are quite clear. So is Won It. The confusion regards "Pending". If it is Pending and I am the high bid, then that is one thing. If it is Pending and I am not the high bid, then that is another thing. You could have "Pending for Others" when I am not the high bid, or you can come up with your own terminology ("Pending for Me" & "Pending for Others"). The point is that now when it changes to Pending, whether I was high or not disappears. Read the posts at DNForum.com, and you will see how your current system wastes time and creates mistrust of your generally excellent service.
I realize that it will take some work for you to implement my recommendations, but this is what you need to do if you want to significantly improve your service.
Regards,
Howard
