User experience (UX) design aims at making the browsing and interaction processes with web sites a smooth experience.
We’ve put to test five big domain marketplaces – Afternic, Flippa, GoDaddy, NameJet and Sedo – in order to assess their ability to present domain data efficiently and intelligently to their users.
After covering Afternic, Flippa and GoDaddy Auctions, today’s the turn of NameJet, a marketplace that auctions off expired domain inventory and also domains sold privately.
NameJet presents a different page to non-logged in visitors than logged in members; for the sake of consistency, we’ll cover the non-logged in web site, as we’ve done with every other marketplace in our report.
The top segment of NameJet’s landing page consists of the company’s motto – The Premier Aftermarket Domain Name Service – alongside social media icons; what follows is a promoted auction banner, for a select domain with a prompt to bid on it.
Right beneath that banner, sits the company’s brand/logo, and a short but concise navigational interface: Search, Featured domains, Downloads, Help Center and My Account.
An expanded search field follows, with an option to create an account or to log into one’s account.
Under that segment follows the primary content, organized in narrow columns; the first three ones are tagged as Hot Picks, Last Chance and Open Auctions.
The remaining two, The Drop and NameJet Exclusive, are pushed lower by a call to action (CTA) graphic that appears to be a promotional ad space for particular auctions.
The lists are quite long, extending beyond a screen in height and contain just the domain name with no information on its current price, number of bidders or ending time.
All this info, however, is presented once you are logged in.
NameJet redesigned their web site not too long ago, giving emphasis on the domain listings. The amount of information is rather overwhelming, and visual breaks don’t follow a grid layout, as modern design dictates.
The final portion of the NameJet homepage contains links to FAQ and information about different functions on the web site, along with a blurb about the domain auction marketplace. The bottom part of it provides a short navigational menu and the phone number, along with icons to various accreditation links.
So how does the NameJetsite web site rank in terms of design, user experience, ease of navigation and overall presentation of domain inventory?
Here are the rankings for NameJet, available from NameJet.com :
Design: 6/10
User Experience: 7/10
Ease of Navigation: 8/10
Inventory Presentation: 7/10
Overall Ranking: 7/10
NameJet auctions a large amount of premium domain inventory, and attracts a lot of domain investors and end users perusing it. In our opinion, the redesign has taken the presentation of inventory and the overall user experience a step backwards. Perhaps, NameJet will be rolling an update in the near future, based on user-provided feedback.
