Boob Tube #2: Toshiba Regza

The word Regza means "Brilliant". I'm not sure in what language. Marketish?

The Toshiba Regza Showroom site is a step up from yesterdays site.

Their showroom opens up to the width of your screen and you're greeted by a video avatar (in this case the lady in the suit).

This is a screenshot of one of the longest introduction sequences I've ever seen. This lady has quite a bit to say, and my 10 year-old attention span couldn't keep up.

However, after the introduction there's a nice FAQ-like layout for accessing deeper content. I've always thought this was a smart way to layout navigation - in context rather than a straight menu system. FAQs are great because they don't make you think up the question yourself, and make the process more friendly.

Most of the content beneath the questions has an interactive mechanism that supports the benefit explained. In the case of this site it's a slider "compare" mechanism. It's a simple mechanic but does a good job of reinforcing the difference between crappy pixels, blurs etc. Of course, some of the instances look a bit exaggerated.

Under the Room Planner section is a simple interactive piece that seems like it's the beginning of an app that all these sites should have.

It might be tough to see, but you can basically drag two sliders that depict the distance of the chair from the TV and the size of the TV. Using these two helps determine the size you'll need or amount of space you'll need. It's not enough of a pay-off for the grand statement "We'll help Plan Your Room", but it's a start. It's the kind of idea that could end up being it's own site or application.

That's one of the pitfalls to creating microsites. Usually you're trying to put a lot of information into these, and if you're not careful you end up with a lot of cool ideas that could be great ideas if you just make the tough decision to focus.

/.occam'sbutterknife.\