IntroductionThis white paper will describe, and analyze the findings of the findings of a

recently conducted usability test. This test compared the websites of two
companies that sell performance parts for diesel vehicles. Both of these
companies have items for smaller diesel cars, but the target market of both
companies focuses on diesel pickups, in particular those equipped with
Powerstroke, Duramax, and Cummins diesel engines.
The two websites that were compared were Thoroughbred Diesel, and
Extreme Diesel Performance (Referred to from here forward as XDP, a
common abbreviation of their name). The sites are both intended to be
straightforward to use, obviously. Both sites are designed in such a way that
all that a person really needs to know to purchase parts is the engine that
they are seeking to upgrade (Or the vehicle it comes in, as the case may be
with engine swaps).
MethodsTo determine which of the two sites is simpler and easier to use, a test was
designed. The test involved tasks like "Find a set of stage II injectors for a
1994-1997 7.3 liter Powerstroke Turbo Diesel engine". These tasks had three
criteria to determine ease of use. Each of the tasks was timed, and had the
number of "clicks" of the mouse it took to complete recorded. These
statistics were taken starting at the homepage of each website, unless a task
was directly connected to the task before it. In addition to this, a Likert
Scale (With a range of one to ten) was used to describe the ease of
completing the task. In these examples, one was easy, and ten was hard.
The test for Thoroughbred Diesel occurred first on Monday, November 16th.
It occurred around noon. The test was done in my apartment on a laptop
computer using Internet Explorer. The XDP test occurred on Friday,
November 20th, also around noon. Given that my schedule for both days is
nearly the same, I felt that it would be the best way to eliminate bias caused
by different levels of stress. Both tests occurred with music playing on a
stereo in the background. The same three songs were played during the
second test, to help eliminate any possible biases that could have caused.
The songs were "Wrecked" and "The Bird Hunters" both by Turnpike
Troubadours, followed by "The Gift" from Seether, for any individual
wondering.

The testsThe test for each site was divided into eight tasks. Both sites did the same
tasks in the same order, starting from their homepage for each separate
task, unless otherwise stated.
Task One- Find a set of stage II injectors for a '94-'97 Powerstroke.
XDP was the victor of this task, but in my opinion only won by chance. I
started the task on Thoroughbred Diesel, and was immediately able to see
where I needed to go. The site has an easy "drop down" menu of engines
that makes it easy to find yours by just selecting the vehicle that the engine
is in. Selecting the option for your engine will send you to a list of
categories. On Thoroughbred Diesel, fuel injectors have their own category.
This made the process very simple. The hitch came later in the form of an
uninformed misstep. Their injectors are also found via a drop down menu of
brands. My first selection was "Alliant Diesel Injection", which as it turns out
did not have any injectors labeled as stage II. I went back a step, and then
selected Industrial Injection, from there, I found a set of 160cc injectors
(equivalent to stage II) which completed my task.
XDP divided their site into categories in a banner. You could select things like
"Dodge Cummins" or "Ford Powerstroke". Selecting "Ford Powerstroke" took
me to a similar list of categories. In this case, I clicked "Fuel System" as fuel
injectors did not have their own category. I selected their "Baby Swamps"
injectors, and found the size I needed. This took additional clicks compared
to Thoroughbred given that to order these injectors I had to select a size for
the nozzles, select a year for my vehicle, select a transmission option, and
give details regarding other modifications. Most of this information was
useless, which presented a minor irritation to me.
As was stated earlier, XDP won this round. XDP- one. Thoroughbred- Zero.
Task one
time
clicks
likert score

Thoroughbred
XDP Diesel.
0:5
8
1:36
10
8
2
2

Task Two- Find the cost to ship the injectors to Zip Code 83843.
Thoroughbred Diesel won this contest by a landslide. Their site has a quick,
simple, and easy "Estimate shipping costs" window on the same page that
you are on to see the product. This took me less than ten seconds (rounded
up in the stats for simplicity- the actual total was 9.83)
On XDP, one has to begin to checkout, and advance through multiple pages
before the option to estimate shipping costs becomes available. Their
process is still very simple, but was not nearly as streamlined as the one on
Thoroughbred Diesel.
Victor- Thoroughbred Diesel. XDP- One. Thoroughbred- One.
Task two
time
clicks
likert score

Thoroughbred
XDP
Diesel
0:49
0:10
7
5
1
1

Task Three- Find the return policy.

Thoroughbred Diesel has a convenient search bar into which I typed
"Returns". I was taken to a list of results. The first link took me to a page
regarding their return policy. This was a very easy process, and only took me
as long as it did because my laptop ran very slowly for a moment,
unexpectedly. The whole process was clicking a bar, typing a word, and
selecting the first option. A quick, simple way to work through the site.
XDP also has a search bar. The problem lies in the fact that it works poorly. I
tried the same strategy that worked well on Thoroughbred Diesel, and found
a list of links to parts of various engines, none of which had anything to do
with "Returns". Things like fuel return lines could have made sense, but the
parts listed were totally unrelated. I returned to the homepage, and began
to scan for an answer. My question was answered shortly after finding a
"returns" link hidden away at the very bottom of the page amongst a list of
other links.
Victor- Thoroughbred Diesel. XDP-One Thoroughbred- Two.
Chart of results will follow at the top of the next page.

Task three
time
clicks
likert score

XDP
0:4
3
12
3

Thoroughbred
Diesel
0:10
2
1

Task Four- Find an upgraded turbocharger for a Commonrail 5.9.

For this task, I again used the drop down menu on Thoroughbred Diesel. I
selected an "03-04 Dodge Cummins" in order to find parts for an early
Commonrail Cummins. I then scrolled down on the list of categories for
Turbochargers. At that point, I was able to select a very nice (And sadly,
expensive" ATS Turbocharger.
The same basic lineup occurred on XDP. I selected the Dodge Cummins
option, scrolled down to turbochargers, and found an upgraded turbo. The
only frustration was that on XDP categories are not alphabetized. This meant
I had to look for my category for just a moment longer.
The victor, but only by a hair, in this round- Thoroughbred.
XDP-One. Thoroughbred- Three.
Task Four
Time
Clicks
Likert Score

Thoroughbred
XDP
Diesel
0:41
0:30
3
3
1
1

Task Five- Find an estimated shipping time to 83843.

While some web sites give the option to find an estimated time to ship an
item to your door, that is not the case here. Thoroughbred Diesel, after a bit
less than a minute of searching revealed that the only information that they
could give me without an order being placed was that most of their orders
would be shipped within two days of placement.
XDP was not incredibly different, but at least took less time. Within twenty
seconds, I had found out that "most" of their orders shipped the next
business day.

Victor- XDP. XDP- Two. Thoroughbred- Three. Results to follow.

Thoroughbred
Task Five
XDP Diesel
0:2
Time
0
0:45
Clicks
4
7
Likert Score
5
5
Tasks Six, and Seven- Find out if technical support is offered with regards
to installation, and find a contact phone number.
These two tasks were somewhat special. Both websites had phone numbers
plainly visible on their homepages, as well as an invitation to call with
questions regarding products, or installation questions. Given that both of
these things were located in the "focal point" of the home page, they all had
times of two to three seconds to find, not clicks required, and all had likert
scores of one. I decided that this made both of them the outliers of the pack,
and declared them both ties.
Victor- Not Applicable. XDP-Two. Thoroughbred- Three.
Task Eight- Find a contact Email address.
A contact Email for customer service seemed like a good idea to me given
that not everyone is able to call during business hours due to the fact that
most people have their own work schedules to manage. Thoroughbred Diesel
answers the call for this easily. After about 15 seconds of scanning, I found a
contact link that took me to a page with contact phone numbers, and emails
with one click.
XDP was a very different matter. After about five minutes of searching the
site, and thirty-seven clicks, I gave up searching for a contact Email address.
After going through the website of Extreme Diesel Performance like
"Sherman through Atlanta, Georgia" I determined that do not wish to have
customers emailing them.
Victor- Thoroughbred Diesel. XDP- Two. Thoroughbred- Four.
Task Eight
Time
Clicks

XD Thoroughbre
P
d Diesel
5:0
0
0:15
37
1

Likert Score

Overall winner of the test- Thoroughbred Diesel

RecommendationsWhile XDP does have a useable website, comparing it directly to
Thoroughbred Diesel reveals that it has many places in which it could be
improved. The styling of the website is slightly awkward, things are
organized in a less logical way, and contacting them is likely to be slightly
more difficult (If calling during the day is difficult for you). The bottom line
here is that both companies will fit your needs if you are seeking diesel
parts, but Thoroughbred Diesel is an easier, more straightforward process
with better means of contact, and a website that takes less time to navigate.