Hobby Search

[disturbman]

2 hours ago, cteno4 said:

What a huge step back. Everything is headed for just blind searching. Horrid structure and navigation. Seems most of the older archival stuff is gone.  Ok just found after you do a search you have to click on the “Includ out of stock” option in the left column to see the old stuff. A lot of it seems to be there, so that’s good. Just harder to get at.

It's optimized for mobile viewing and searching, and horrid for desktop use.

I want to get used to it before giving feedback, but the fact that the "See All Pre-orders" page from the main N scale page doesn't arrange viewing of the items by newest or doesn't allow you to reorganize the list is a big downside. I cannot figure out the current logic behind the organization, it's like its ordered by least popular.

Their old landing pages made it very easy to see new pre-orders, whereas now it's lost at the bottom. The easiest would be to keep that url at hand, https://www.1999.co.jp/eng/mlist/331/0/1/ But now the titles are too long to make navigation really efficient.

[disturbman]

1 hour ago, bill937ca said:

I am noticing 5% off on the product listing page.   https://www.1999.co.jp/eng/mlist/396/7/1

 

But when you go into the item description, it is 14% off.   https://www.1999.co.jp/eng/11112185

Well, it says 14% but the reduction is still only 5%. And, what? The price is cheaper on the Japanese shop (https://www.1999.co.jp/11112185). The system must be borking due to the removal of the Japanese sales tax. In the old version, HS always advertised the removal of the Japanese sales tax as a discount they granted from the MSRP, but the new system shows the MSRP with the VAT already removed.

[cteno4]

10 hours ago, disturbman said:

It's optimized for mobile viewing and searching, and horrid for desktop use.

Yes even for tablet use. They skipped any good adaptive design approach. I’ve done a few sites where we folded large navigation structures into popup menus for mobile and beefed up search so mobile users could keep navigation out of their way as well as having good content layout for each. But I had clients get lazy and not want to pay for that and just say ok all mobile and screw the rest. Clients that ditched navigation and content organization for search all ended up regretting it later but going back was almost impossible. I warned them the work it would be to reconstitute that stuff but they said search is the future. One main reason I retired from doing the work.

 

jeff

[katoftw]

On 1/18/2025 at 10:36 AM, RS18U said:

So HS has announced they are doing an upgrade of both their desktop and mobile sites.  I always dread these 'updates' as often they do not provide for an improved user experience.  Lets hope this one goes well.  Happening January 20, Monday. 

 

[Renewal Details]

• Design Updates:
A complete refresh for both mobile and desktop versions.
• New Comprehensive Homepage: An intuitive, centralized starting point for navigation.
• Improved Search Accuracy: Quickly find what you’re looking for with improved precision.
• Better Accessibility: A more inclusive and user-friendly experience for everyone.

 

https://www.1999.co.jp/eng/infodetails

 

And they are also noting shipping delays with orders taking up to 7 business days to ship rather than the usual 2-3.

The new websites are terrible.  The navigation to sections requires more effort and clicks.

[Kamome442]

I guess the it ties in with the name you really do have to do a lot more searching for your hobby now.

[Kingmeow]

24 minutes ago, Kamome442 said:

I guess the it ties in with the name you really do have to do a lot more searching for your hobby now.

 

Maybe they should change the name to HIS, Hobby Impossible Search.  🤪

[bill937ca]

The new listings bury the manufacturers product number right at the bottom of the listing which is the opposite of how many of us buy trains. Useless.