Think For A Moment

Everything Is A Promise

It never ceases to amaze me that leading companies continue to miss the basics of web design in 2010 (or 2009 or 2008 or 2007...). It should amaze me because it is simply not challenging nor difficult to hit the basics of web design and interaction.  But the fact that errors are so prominent has clearly jaded me to the point of apathy. Allow me to share with you my most recent experience.

Prior to departure to a vacation to California via Delta Airlines, it sent me an email with my itinerary and a link that enabled "Check-in."  At least those were the words in the hyperlink. Now let me ask you: when you see the words in a hyperlink "Check-in" what do you expect? If you're like me, a reasonable, well adjusted person, you most likely think that upon clicking the link you'd be presented with the opportunity to check in, right?  Well, in crazy DeltaWorld that's not the case.

Click on the link- Delta's promise to "check in"- and you get the page to the right.  I'd like you to please click on this picture and open it in its separate window. Study this page for a moment.

Okay, now that you've looked at it, answer the following question for me: how do you check in from this page?  Can't answer?  Okay, let's try another question: where would you go IF you wanted to check in (a ridiculous question if this were your real world experience because you clearly wanted to check in--you clicked on that link in the email).  Hard to answer as well, isn't it?

The answers are as follows. Number one, you can't check in from this page: there is no link.  And two, a user of this page is not certain what to click on in order to sign in (and deliver upon the promise of the email's link).  It may be in the upper left of the page in the left hand navigation under "Check-in Requirements."  Or it may be under "Check-in option" in the same navigation pane.  The point is it is not clear.  So let's pick one: "Check-in options."

Okay, not we're talking (I hope).  I see a list of options here that I think allow me to check in.  There's online check in, there's mobile check in, there's airport kiosk check in, and there's airport curbside check in.  I feel better that I am making progress towards my goal. And for those of you playing the home edition of DeltaWorld, I am now going to make my third click of the game in seeking the elusive and rare "check-in" (versus the one the link in the email inherently promised).

Super!  This is the place.  A page that outlines how to use online check in.  And what's that at the bottom right of the page?  Can it be? It is!  A blue button that reads "Proceed to Check-in."  Ohhhhhhh... now I get it. I see where I was mistaken. 

In the email I received it merely said "Check-in."  Which I, stupidly, thought it meant to check-in.  It clearly did not.  It meant to "begin the check-in process and proceed through four or five pages of our web site to get to what you are really seeking-the check in page."  The words that really mean "check-in," in my definition, are now clear to me- "Proceed" is the operative word that has eluded me, as in "Proceed to Check-in." Damn, do I feel stupid.

So to finish the story, allow me to show you what is on the other side of curtain number Four (my fourth click). Indeed, it is the "Itineraries & Check-in" page.  This, ladies and gentlemen, is what allows us to check in online for our Delta Airlines flights. 

To conclude, let me reiterate the point that I have had to sadly make in several posts.  When designing for consumers (advertising, packaging, IVR systems, web-experience, etc.) everything is a promise that is to be met downstream from that moment in time.  When you read "Check-in" in a hyperlink in an email it means, to the reasonable person, that the next action I will be able to take is to check in. Sadly, in Delta's case, this is not true.  This is tantamount to calling a company, being placed on hold and told that the wait time is approximately 5 minutes... and then waiting 20 minutes (four times the original promise). Not a good experience, is it?

 

 

What's The Price?

I was searching for rental cars for an upcoming trip to Sacramento that I have and went to a minor aggregator that I had not used before, RentalCars.com.  A quick comparison versus well known sites such as Travelocity, Orbitz, and Hotwire suggested to me that RentalCars.com could indeed save me up to $100.  And for a $100 savings, I am willing to seriously consider a company that I have not heard of prior.

When I put in my parameters such as location, date, pick up ands drop off time, I was given a quick summary page that highlighted the options that it had aggregated.  The first thing that I found odd was  the different prices shown per option.  In large, bold font was a price per week, in descending order.  Underneath each price listed was then a "total price" that was a higher number in each instance.  In the case of the first item listed, an Economy Car from Enterprise, I was being quoted $217 a week as well as $361.12 as a "total price".   So what price would I pay for my trip to Sacramento?  Clearly not both, so why am I shown two? Oh well, let's click on the Enterprise Economy Car option and see what's what.

Oh, this clears it up.  It's not $217 not $361.12, as shown on the prior page.  It's an entirely new price ($289.34) that I couldn't get to until I was lured into the next page.  This new price, as evidenced by the prominence on the page, the boldness of the type, the linkage to the details of my trip on the top of the page, is what I need to consider before I make a decision. Right?

Wrong.  Now move your eyes to the left of the page to the Summary of Charges section and, once again, we see $361.12 as a contender in our "what's the price RentalCars.com is really charging me?" game.

This really isn't that challenging.  A user gives the specifics of a trip- date ranges, locations, car type desired, add ons, etc.  The goal is to compare prices-- total prices -- and then make an informed decision.  Aggregators like RentalCars.com should make this comparison very easy.  But for some reason RentalCars.com has decided that it would be valuable to show me what a "weekly rate" for a specific car is even though I do not need it for a week, I need it for longer.  And as such, doesn't it simply make sense to show me what I am seeking, the total price, instead of monkeying around with three distinct prices, resulting in a level of confusion, frustration, and causing me more work than is really needed?