Back

Process

Controller Picker

35 controllers, one decision tree

A guided buying assistant that filters 8BitDo controllers by platform, connectivity, and features to give parents and gamers one clear recommendation.

Timeframe: Ongoing (launched Q1 2026, still maintained occasionally)
Roles: Content Strategy, Affiliate Marketing, Web Development
Deliverables: Static buying-guide site with an interactive filtering tool.
Clients/Users: People trying to buy the "right" 8BitDo controller.
Status: Live, low-maintenance.

Introduction

8BitDo makes dozens of controllers across overlapping product lines, each with different platform support, connectivity, and feature sets. The catalog is wide enough that picking the "correct" one is too confusing for a non-enthusiast.

Problem + main research question

  • Problem: A parent buying a controller for their kid (or any non-enthusiast buyer) has no easy way to know which of the 35+ SKUs fits their console, PC, connection preference, and needs.
  • Research Question: Can a short, guided filtering flow get someone to a confident single recommendation faster than reading reviews or scrolling Amazon listings?

Target market

Primarily parents buying for children, plus casual gamers who know their platform but not the underlying spec differences (Hall effect vs. standard sticks, wired vs. 2.4G vs. Bluetooth, etc.).

Deliverable

A static site with:

  1. A step-by-step buying assistant (platform → connectivity → controller style → accessibility needs → feature preferences) that narrows 35 controllers down to one recommendation.
  2. Platform-specific buying guides (Switch, PC, macOS, accessibility-focused) for SEO and direct answers.
  3. Affiliate links (Amazon) attached to each recommended product.

Timeline

Build → Populate product data → Launch → Periodic data updates (new 8BitDo releases)

Research set-up

  • Desk research: Mapped 8BitDo's full current lineup, cross-referencing platform compatibility, connectivity types, and feature highlights per model.
  • Admin dashboard: Built an admin dashboard to update the database. Connects to a database hosted on Vercel.
  • Ongoing: Watching for new 8BitDo releases (e.g. limited editions, special collabs) to keep the dataset current, and monitoring which filter combinations actually lead to a click-through.

Design vision

Key objectives:

  • Reduce the decision down to a handful of binary/multi-choice questions rather than a wall of comparison text.
  • Make the "top pick" per platform obvious at a glance (Top pick: Switch / Windows / macOS / Xbox badges).
  • Keep the whole flow usable in under 30 seconds.

Build

v1 — MVP

  • Static product database (JSON in _data) covering a few 8BitDo SKUs: platforms, connectivity, and feature tags.
  • Simple filterable grid, no guided flow yet.

v1.1 — Buying assistant

  • Added the step-by-step questionnaire: platform → connectivity → arcade vs. regular → accessibility requirement → optional features.
  • Result: a single highlighted recommendation instead of a filtered list, reducing decision fatigue.

v1.2 — Buying guides

  • Added longform guides per platform (Switch, PC, macOS) and a dedicated accessibility guide, written for parents specifically.
  • Goal: capture organic search traffic from people who'd rather read than use the tool.

v1.3 — Monetisation

  • Attached Amazon affiliate links to each product, including colorway-specific links where relevant.
  • Added an Affiliate Disclosure page for transparency/compliance.

v1.4 — Full Database

  • Added a Postgres Database hosted on Vercel. Removed the JSON file.
  • Added an admin dashboard to make adding and removing items much easier.
  • Added the remaining models to the database.

[LATEST — March 2026]

  • Last full data refresh; minimal changes since, site left to run passively.

Testing

  • Hosted on a CDN (Vercel).
  • Simple Analytics installed for privacy-respecting pageview/click tracking.
  • No automated tests; manual checks after data updates.
  • Direct Marketing: In March 2026 I attempted to reach out to people directly on Social Media through my other tool socialcmd.app but failed to obtain any conversions this way.

Validation

PROFIT: organic traffic with no active promotion produced 6 recorded clicks in June and 1 conversion through an affiliate link — a 16.67% click-to-purchase rate, though commission was negligible ($0.02) due to Amazon's low electronics affiliate rate and 24-hour cookie window. Technically profitable. Re-evaluating the specific affiliate program used in favour of a more profitable one.

Reflection

The conversion data proves the tool itself does its job even with zero active marketing.

The actual blocker isn't UX or content, it's the affiliate program. Amazon's electronics commission rate (roughly 1-4%) makes even a working funnel financially negligible.

Migrating to a network like Awin or Impact, or a manufacturer-direct program, is the next concrete step. It's a low-effort change with outsized upside on commission per conversion.

The site has had no promotion since around late March 2026 and still produces clicks, suggesting SEO and the guide pages are doing more work than expected.