{"pageProps":{"postData":{"id":"3-zbox","contentHtml":"

\"Zbox.com\"

\n\n

Note: I do not have the updated designs to this anymore, only older mock ups and wireframes. The current iteration of the site is still using a lot of my designs.

\n

Zbox.com is a website with the intent of being the amazon for heavy machinery. A simple, straight-forward design with colors similar to construction sites was decided upon, while generally keeping the aesthetic similar to Amazon and Ebay. We approached the problem by finding what worked for those sites and using similar approaches to their UI. My role was primarily with the user interface and overall interaction with the main site.

\n

One of the major issues we came across early was trying to be unique in our approach without directly copying those ideas used from our sample sites. We took inspiration from other sites like McMaster-Carr, which had a product-forward approach and a broad range of categories for all types of hardware. Unfortunately, this was still not cutting the bill. We needed to truly stand above the others. From this arose the idea of the \"Garage,\" a part of the website that would allow the user to save their machines by their VIN's and other identifying machine id's, and search for relevant parts that match that machine from those unique identifiers.

\n

One of the major hurdles here is aggregating all of that data, as many companies are not willing to share some of this info publicly. We were able to collect much of the data through public sources from the internet, and we used subscriptions that gave us a more detailed working of the non-public schematics. The only CAT in the bag was exactly that... CAT. Caterpillar industries safeguards much of their equipment, keeping the info and specs about their parts and machines proprietary. We can only assume that this is to prevent third-party alternatives from taking away their sales, and force the end-user to buy directly from them. This also makes it one of the hardest companies to acquire data about their machinery.

\n

While most of this was the job of the stakeholders, and to keep within our deadline, a decision was made to forgo using CAT specs for the time being, while spending time collecting the other data we had available to populate our \"Garage\" feature. One of my primary duties was to fashion and create the interface for the Garage, and how that data would be shown to the user.

\n

Upon completing some early designs for a preliminary Garage feature, I came up with a plan to show the user relevant information about each machine in their fleet, and an option to select a machine to feature as a special search parameter. At any time, the user can change to another machine in their fleet and have the search engine show relevant parts for that vehicle.

\n","title":"Zbox","description":"Zbox is an ecommerce site for heavy machinery parts that takes a lot of influence from Amazon and McMaster-Carr's websites."}},"__N_SSG":true}