Dell's Della gets makeover

Jake Widman
Saturday, 23 May 2009 00:27

IT Industry - Strategy

The Della computer shopping site for women launched by Dell last week has been revamped into a "lifestyle" destination.

The initial version of Della was heavy on the feminine cliches, from wistful beauties in sundresses to advice on how to use a computer for downloading recipes.

After being widely mocked -- including in its own comments section -- the site has re-emerged with an arguably feminine but much less girly slant.

Gone, too, is the name "Della," replaced by a simple Dell button that resolves to a URL ending in "lifestyle." The mysterious tagline "Yours is here" remains, however.

One gets the sense that Dell knew they were treading on dangerous ground and had a team standing ready to redo the site at the first hint of controversy.

The attempt to be at the center of a community of women computer users, which may have been the best idea Dell had for the site, continues in full swing.

In addition to the comments section on some of the pages, visitors are encouraged to "be friends" on MySpace, follow the site on Twitter, and become a fan on Facebook.