Curse of the dayjob. Can you help?

[sturgessb]

Hey Guys

Back to the day job with this post I’m afraid, not even a gyro or propeller in sight

My agency has been requested to redevelop the professional website for a big name battery company.
This site caters for what they class as the professional market which is split into the following:

OEM/Assembler
Office Supply
Battery Specialist
Utility/Health
Electronics Enthusiast

The office supply and wholesale areas are covered by mostly marketing wank, but what I’m really interested in is what we can do for the OEMs, Engineers and Enthusiasts.

So I’d love to crowdsource some ideas for functionality of the site, this could include for starters: product search tools, cross reference by brand, datasheet display methods. Off the wall ideas, very much welcome!

Some other questions...
What key information do you want when selecting a power source for product.
How you would like to interact with this data. Is a datasheet enough, or is there a better way to engage with the numbers.
Anything else that influences your decision making.
Good examples of sites/tools.

I know it’s a bit off-topic but I would really appreciate any input you could give.

Cheers

Ben

[twesthoff]

Being an engineer, I am often frustrated searching for batteries on sites.
I definitely want the data sheet available, but need to search the parameters of the battery. Physical size, voltage, chemistry, amp hours, energy density, cost, etc. I would like to see a selection matrix of some sort. Seldom do I know the part number, that comes last.

Sometimes I don't care what it costs, it can be some exotic type, it needs to be as small as possible and last a long time. Other times, it is price that is important and size is not as much of an issue.

Although not an electronics site, I really like the way McMaster's site works. Improve on that and I will be impressed. See:
http://www.mcmaster.com/#batteries/=988ygv

Although I would like to see more selections for the batteries and more technical information.

[sturgessb]

Thanks twesthoff

Just to clear up this is for the battery manufacturer site not a reseller. However I guess the same rules apply.

Interesting what you say about datasheets. Attached are example battery datasheets

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/1778741/batterydatasheets/Daylite%20Atex.pdf
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/1778741/batterydatasheets/Instant%20Charger.pdf
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/1778741/batterydatasheets/OEA%209v.pdf
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/1778741/batterydatasheets/PROCELL%20AA.pdf

Im thinking what about moving away from the bog standard pdf datasheet, and having more indexable interactive data. So all characteristic graphs and curves would be data driven via a graphing display so the use can actually search on specific data.

This could allow users to create their own custom search queries based on all the data, not just the standard common nominal values.

Would also be nice to include competitor data for full cross referencing.

Another area of interest might be enclosure cavity design guides?
Downloads of cad files?

Ben

[GTBecker]

I agree with both of you. I'd like to be able to search every technical document in the manufacturer's history, including white papers, which often convey more insight than specification.

[sturgessb]

Thats a good point Tom, a historical archive would be good for building trust in the brand.

Im thinking about a mobile app which will have basic datasheets etc, but what about it having some common engineering calculators on it.

such as:

resistor identifier
ohms law calculator
battery life calculator

what else would be useful?

B