Handango's getting it
Handango is getting it together on their site.
First, they've added a new section called, simply enough, phones. This is perfect. You click on that link and you see a bunch of thumbnails of phones and you can click on your model to see what's available for it. Perfect. That's how people think. They don't think about their phone and think "Java" or "Symbian" they think, "I have this phone, what works?"
But if you're a geek, you think in terms of which OS and there they have wised up as well, instead of throwing all the different Symbian phones in together in one big mess, they've separated them out now into their different categories: UIQ, Series 60, etc. Again, this is something that was needed as most people with a Series 60 phone, if they get to the point of *knowing* they have one, won't want to see all the stuff that *can't* run on that type.
Besides this, however, I think Handango has got a major redesign in the works, because it's obvious to just about anyone who uses the site that the current design isn't working very well. First, they're featuring Palm and PocketPCs on the front page, which may be a bread winner for them now, but will soon be changing. Handango is becoming THE mobile phone aggregator worldwide. Thus they're going to start stressing these other apps pretty soon. Secondly, the category system the've got laid out just isn't working. They need to break it up into more understandable categories and sections. Their URLs suck as well.
I think we'll see more changes soon, but it's really interesting to me to watch this site grow, take advantage of opportunities and change to meet demands.
-Russ