Every single year when I plan to go on a vacation I get really excited. Like most people, I love to travel too. But one thing always gets me frustrated. The miserable days of looking for a proper apartment. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining about the supply. I’m mad because every time I find something that I like on a travel site, by the time I figure out the filtering options, or just simply the navigation on the site in general, someone books it right in front of my eyes.
When it comes to travel sites somehow it feels like some of them are stuck in an alternate dimension where time stopped in the late 90s. „Who needs a fancy looking website, when you just wanna book a simple rent, right?”
Not quite.
„Design is not just about making something look neat. It’s about bringing the whole piece together to the point where it works just right. Design is more about how it feels”
This brings up another issue, that often makes me click on the close tab without even browsing through the whole content. The moment when I feel the lack of security before payment.
Hard to search
Sites with better browsing options and navigation become consumer favorites. The Hotel Guru puts the search form front and center on the homepage and clears away most distractions. Progress tracking is often another common problem, that travel sites ignore.
Solution: Interactive maps are a must have. It helps the whole decision-making process.
Newsletter bomb
This is more of a general problem, however, it really triggers the nerves when users are in a rush for booking. As soon as the site loads up for a new visitor Hipmunk throws up a message:
„No need to dig, Let the Hipmunk find you the best deals in travel!”
Well, Hipmunk, there is no need to tell me what to do, maybe I want to dig before I give you my e-mail.
Why do you do this Hipmunk? We could’ve been friends.
Solution: Let people breathe… In other words, let them browse your content before giving them a mini heart attack with your “jumpscare popup”.
Hard to find calendars
Easter egg hunting can be so much fun, right? Well searching for calendars on a travel site isn’t. Picking the date for your trip or stay is a major part of the booking process. It’s unfortunate then that many travel sites don’t get it right. However, lots of sites get this wrong.
Solution: Take a look at Skyscanner’s solution. Choosing a preferred date is super easy and convenient.
Non-existent mobile version
Ignoring the mobile platform nowadays is one of the worst sins. The fact that Google won’t award the site with the “mobile friendly” tag anymore doesn’t mean, that it’s not required. As I mentioned in my previous article about planning for mobile the importance of these devices from a UX perspective is growing rapidly. In fact, it should be one of the top priorities, since going mobile is not equivalent to less content, or limited functionality in general.
If you look at Avander’s site, it is pretty much a pain to navigate through it on mobile devices. The desktop version might pass the test, but it looks like a site made for ants on mobile.
Worth to note, that this doesn’t mean, that they should go mobile all the way from now.
The coin has two sides, better make both shine!
Solution: Kayak’s site is a perfectly good example. Websites can spare some money and time with the use of mobile friendly templates and this applies to travel sites also.
No options for reviewing
User reviews are the real deal when it comes to decision making. Most of the travel sites have an option for rating in form of stars, hearts. But that’s just not enough.
Solution: Allowing users to leave text based feedbacks like you can see on some e-commerce sites is a huge plus.
See? Orbitz knows the drill.
So does Trivago.
Now for the looks
“Traveling starts when people plan to go on a vacation. The torture starts with The 3 little no-no piggies: outdated, ugly, lack of intuitiveness.”
The visitors imagine a place in their heads first and by the time they sit down to actually do some searching, they already have an expectation. A good designer is able to imagine that and represent it on the site. A great designer is able to show something, that is way beyond the expectations of users. Having a low budget and going with cheap solutions is one thing. But it’s not an excuse for laziness. Just take a look at the two images below, which one would you trust?
Hipmunk does a splendid job here with its gallery. The photos used are not just in high quality, but also being shot from the right angles.
So high-quality pictures are a must have, but what does 2017 say when it comes to color trends?
Colors
According to Pantone, the color of the year in 2017 will be Greenery. This, of course, doesn’t mean that you must expect 50 shades of green.
I highly recommend you to read this article on the 17 Web Design Trends To Watch in 2017.
Long-scrolling pages
Since the introduction of parallax, a long-scrolling website has got the user attention and is another trend to follow in the year 2017. A long-scrolling website design trend should be carefully followed. Here are a couple of great looking, eye popping website designs.
Material design
Google has integrated Material Design in almost all of their web applications. A framework which is designed by Google and now has become a preferred choice for the creative web design companies today. And, Envirc Solutions has the greater experience in implementing material design in whatever web design we do or any mobile UI design.
Animations
Animated images or GIF images today adds value to the website to grab the users’ attention. Apart from all other design factors, GIFs are another engaging element. We can engage users by defining flow or process kinda elements using GIF images. Read more about using animations the right way from my previous article.
Conclusion:
Congratulations you’ve made it! Seriously, travel sites caused quite a lot of confusion and frustration for the users for a long time. Sadly there are still plenty out there who don’t care much about user experience. On the other hand more and more of them try to keep up with the continuously changing trends. By hiring experts and hearing out the needs of customers one day we might be able to enjoy the booking process just as the holidays itself.
If you wish to read more about the topic I highly recommend reading the article on 13 predictable user experience problems on travel websites by Chris Lake.
Please write a comment, your feedback means a lot to me! Also sharing and recommending is a big motivation. I appreciate every help! ❤
