Excuse me, do you speak English?

For most people, buying a new computer can feel like going into a restaurant and being presented with a menu in a different language.

My new laptop, is described on Best Buy's website like this:

Intel® Core™2 Duo mobile processor T5500; 1GB DDR2 SDRAM; DL DVD±RW/CD-RW drive; 12.1" widescreen; 160GB hard drive.

Investigating further, I noticed that Best Buy helpfully clarifies some points:

12.1" WXGA active-matrix TFT-LCD widescreen display with TruBrite technology and 1280 x 800 resolution...Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator 950 with 8-196MB dynamically allocated shared video memory...5-in-1 bridge media adapter supports Secure Digital, MultiMediaCard, Memory Stick, Memory Stick PRO and xD-Picture Card...Secure Digital slot supports SDIO...and built-in Intel® PRO/100 10/100Base-TX Ethernet LAN with RJ-45 connector; V.92 high-speed modem.

Excuse me, I don't understand computer! Do you speak English? To be fair, Best Buy is not the only computer store listing computer specs in this way.  All of them do it!

But Best Buy is currently redefining their in-store marketing to appeal to "Jill".  A recent Washington Post article about this, In Retail, Profiling for Profit, writes that

"Jill" is a  code name for a soccer-mom type who is the main shopper for the family but usually avoids electronics stores. She is well-educated and usually very confident, but she is intimidated by the products at Best Buy and the store clerks who spout words like gigabytes and megapixels.

So, if "Jill" is one of their ideal target markets, why are they still throwing around the gigabytes, megapixels, and unexplained abbreviations?

Best Buy could solve this issue with one very cost-effective and easy-to-implement modification to their stores: a simple translation sign or flier that explains the different computer terms in ways that "Jill" can understand.

For example...

• RAM = How fast your computer goes.  The Vista operating system requires at least 1GB to operate well, but people who open a lot of applications at the same time will probably prefer 2GB or higher.  Games operate best at 4GB.
• GB = How many files (documents, photos, music, etc) you can store on the computer. Also measured in GB, but much higher than RAM.  40GB is at the low-end for storage space, and users who have a lot of photos or music files will want 100GB or higher.
• And many more.

Take some of the pain out of it for "Jill", keep her from looking stupid in front of her kids, and make sure she gets the right machine for her needs so she feels positive about Best Buy.  Plus, it would help your employees serve customers better by answering the most basic questions, and demystify the computer buying process for all of us out there who don't speak "Computer Science".
 
All it takes is a simple sign.  Is Best Buy up to the challenge? And can you think of any more ways Best Buy could make their stores user-friendly for us regular buyers?

(One quick kudos to Best Buy for widening their customer focus--it's more than the other computer stores are doing!)

Comments

[Thomas Grainger]

In your article you refer to RAM, as "How fast your computer goes". The speed of the computer is proportional to the clock speed of the processor, or Gigahertz - GHz.

Also, you refer to GB being the amount of files you can store on the computer, this should be the amount of data you can store on the computer: I can store 1000 1 Megabyte files in the same amount of space as a 1 Gigabyte file.

Shoot, Thomas... you caught me! I was trying so hard to sound like a brilliant experience designer--and the truth is, I'm really just one of those clueless people I was trying to help! ~Katie

[Tobi]

One problem would be the credibility of the company in general. We evaluate the quality of information by the credibility of the source. If a sales clerk would tell me that I need 4 GB RAM to play computer games I knew he's lying (mostly because I know that I can play most computer games on my 1 GB laptop), but I could also tell if he gave me useful information. But if I had no clue about what all these numbers and abbrevations mean, I don't know if a company which sells computers would be someone I'd trust. I would still ask a friend, a colleague, a neighbor - someone who is not biased.

I like your idea a lot, but still the issue would be: Do you trust Best Buy?

[Jamball]

Excellent article Katie, and this doesn't just apply to computers.

One solution might be to quickly differentiate between power-buyers and soccer moms. Maybe even be so bold as to have two separate computer departments. The power-users will require the technical jargon and be frustrated by the marketing speak. However, soccer-moms will listen to: "Ready to store and share XXX photos" (Insert asterisk and reference to the standard photo size used for the calculation- happy Thomas:).

In any case, the sales force needs to be able to size people up quickly and speak their language, be it kitchen table speak, or technoid. A well-trained salesperson can do so without sounding intimidating or condescending. Marketing brochures can begin simple and progress to the back where all the technical mumbo-jumbo is listed in great detail. And I really like your idea of some kind of a legend to equate tech-talk to English