Although not a user experience expert I have the benefit of having built many different ecommerce businesses.
In my view the front end is as critical as the back end functionality but it is always a very delicate and difficult balance to get right.
My attention was again drawn to the topic by Delta Airlines new website. Here is one of the most frequently used sites in travel ecommerce anywhere, but being kind to them it is a work in progress.
So what about just the user interface portion of travel websites? A few months ago I wrote another piece about the same idea… Are consumers getting tired of travel websites?
For travel, serving up the right mix of functionality for an ecommerce (as opposed to a pure content, although the rules apply to all) site can best be described as describing an iceberg from the surface in the dark wearing dark glasses.
The user experience always ends up in a battle with different people in the organization fighting to drive their point of view as the dominant one.
Keeping it relevant and interesting is actually a pretty hard thing to do. And everyone has an opinion…
One of the leading exponents of good design is Gerry McGovern.
He is also one of the few people who approach the issues from a holistic view which covers not just the screen interaction but also the other supporting parts of the experience such as the customer service via email, chat and call center.
If you go to the Wayback machine you can watch the evolution of most websites. I often do this when I am speaking to groups who are responsible for managing the interface to a user.
For example, Google’s search page is simplistic and clean, it has changed little over the years.
However, its iGoogle pages are the usual dog’s dinner of eye-straining attention-seeking elements.
Since I was there at the beginning, I look at the evolution of Expedia and each time they do a refresh I am happy to see they have clean up the clutter.
I love how the team in Bellevue cut corners and reuse content – sometimes inappropriately.
Until he last refresh they were re-using images of a small group of models as a call center person.
They didn’t always get the right ethnicity for the website. It was a tad tacky. I see that has essentially disappeared in the latest round of refreshes.
But with mobile now becoming a necessity not a luxury, there is the need to allow for the device to be from anywhere, using a plethora of different devices and browsers.
It is getting REALLY hard to deliver a consistent and working experience to the different users.
One tool I use to illustrate this is the Google Browser window sizer – it shows clearly what your community is missing.
Lately I have stopped using my regular browser (Firefox seems to not like me any more) and begun using four different platforms – Safari, Chrome, Opera and good old Internet Explorer.
So, yes, I do have favorites. I like the way search/meta search companies present their information – my favorite is Skyscanner. But I do wish they would go back to the original design. I loved that one.
I have more I dislike. I am not really a fan of Kayak’s interface, for example.
Among the online travel agencies, I still think that Orbitz does the best job. I love SeatGuru but have been disappointed since Expedia-owned TripAdvisor took over.
I hate the British Airways site. It is a pile of broken links and spaghetti. How they get customers to navigate is beyond me?
I dislike intensely Delta’s results server. They have no clue what I am about. I used to have airline favorites, but since they all went for further complication I find them actually harder to navigate.
I often have a horrible feeling that they are out to both confuse me. That lowers my trust in them.
My favorite OTA for the input screen is Cleartrip, and they are by no means perfect.
I hope that people will start re-thinking their whole approach and start thinking about what I call natural search as the driving force behind their designs.
We can now do this – the technology behind the scenes and access to the content easily allow for it.
So here are some suggestions for UX people when contemplating the user experience for travel websites.
1. Remember what your mission is for the site. To make a booking, for example
2. Stop throwing unnecessary and complex stuff at me. It does little other than to lower trust and annoy me.
3. Clarity. Make things clear please. Don’t make the monkey work hard for getting the treats.
4. Remember that time is money. If I have to spend lots of time using the site to save a few dollars then in real terms it is actually cheaper for me to call a travel agent and they do the work for me.
5. Tell me what is going on. Don’t assume I know. I love sites with breadcrumbing that tell me where I am in the process
6. Oh yes, finally, PLEASE KEEP IT SIMPLE.
Simple? Just ask the BBC. They removed many useless and unnecessary links and their new site is faster, more appropriate and, well, it just feels nicer (highly technical term, I know…)
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About Timothy O'Neil-Dunne
I noted your praise of the BBC website – that revamp got the most negative responses ever from its users. Even after a month it still attracts 90%+ negative comments from the people who are sticking out with it (many have moved elsewhere). Definately an example where keeping it simple is the wrong thing to do.
Jeremy
My view was purely personal on the website. It is way better in my view than the previous huge amount of links that permeated the site. After using it a lot i have become comfortable with it. However I do see many areas where their implementation could be better. It doesn’t however detract from my view that simpler is better.
Cheers
One critical item to UX not mentioned here is page load time – the faster you can deliver content to users (a combination of server capability, network capacity & especially page design), the less likely users are to abandon your site. On sites used by mobile browsers, this is even more critical.
This is one of the key early UX insights of Google, which is why both the home page is so simple and why Google reminds you of how fast they were at the top of the search results.
Oh yes… this is a huge factor. Not just the size of the page but the different components and their various elements. I usually have 4 browsers open because some sites just work better in the respective browsers. I travel a lot and therefore am on 3G type connections. This is where you really feel it. At home I have a very high speed line and it still can slow to a crawl. So many factors affect this. Again this was one of the values I have seen in simplicity is that not having silly unnecessary things on the site make it better. Please don’t get me started on people who use Flash on transaction pages….
Cheers
Timothy
I’m curious to hear the author’s and readers’ opinions about relative newcomers on the travel site scene, for example http://www.travelfusion.com and http://www.dohop.com, as they seem to consider clarity and simplicity to be very important elements of UX.
I am ok with these sites. Yes the interface is simpler. Are the results better? That is an interesting question. Check out the TLabs piece on Hipmunk.
Cheers
i agree with you Timothy on cleartrip. i just had a look. i.e. simplicity more akin to meta-search yet the benefit of end-to-end booking path.
i shy away from meta-search because i dont like being taken to a new browser and different booking path ui’s.
one think i note more generally is that booking sites still stick very much to a choice board flow, where as social media is more horizontal and intuitive. wonder how much the later will influence designs over time….
Not sure if its horizontal vs vertical – that sounds far too binary in my view. Some users meander to their decision, other users want straight. The whole process of search is quietly unraveling. This plays into the hands of the search engines themselves (aka more fodder for the Googlesphere).
I totally agree with you on the flow interrupt going from any search into the transaction site. This disruption however is acceptable (for now) because this occurs in any search to transaction work flow. But what if you could actually change and make that process appear more seamless? I believe there will be a merging of the two different workflows – both commercially and technically speaking. IE Metas will look more like OTAs and vice versa.
BUT there is still lurking out there something I believe will become “Natural Search”. That intrigues me.
Cheers
Hi Tim, I like your article, however I feel that there are perhaps additional aspects to consider.
Too much simplicity might not be feasible or desirable for complex travel destinations, such as Rome. There are literally 1000s aspects worth mentioning or considering about the “Eternal City”, and also about any travel business related to it, especially the one of vacation rentals. Also, travelers on one hand tend to be rather specific about what they want, and on other hand they are usually completely unaware of a complex reality, with many variables, of the relevant travel offers.
We tried to make our site as simple and clear as possible – but not as simple for ex. a “1,2,3″ layout. Yet vacationers from the start are brought to spare more thought about the destination they intend to visit and about what it has to offer, so ultimately they will be rewarded by finding what they exactly look for.
Finally, another aspect I would suggest to consider is the *feedback* visitors receive when they inquire: a prompt, clear, friendly feedback introducing or helping visitors at all stages is capable of filling any gap, and of solving any problem. I am confident that you will agree. Keep up the good job. Regards, Mauro.
Mauro,
You and I will probably disagree about the definition of simplicity. In my view every unnecessary elements diminishes simplicity. However take any website for vacation rentals and then see how many clicks (including scrolls) the user has to make in order to view pertinent and contextual data for the decision. Having used leading and niche sites for the rental this past summer (I booked in Greece) I am amazed at what junk is out there. However in a tip of the hat to the company we ended up renting from – their location was extremely niche and they did an outstanding job since no one had data on the location. That is appropriate. But I wouldn’t go looking for information on Athens at that site.
Most people have this urge to do too much. Niche is nice. i would not go to a rental site and expect to have the best destination information. In the same way I would not go to a music site looking for the best sales channel for an ipod.
Stick to your knitting. Always good advice. Do what you can do very well. But don’t tackle tasks that are better done by others. There is this fear that once a user clicks away from your site that you have lost him. I disagree. If you provided value to him he/she will return. If he is not happy he is going to click away no matter what you do.
Cheers