Audience
Who are the sites for? Who are the intended users?
Both sites seem to have the same audience- travelers. It is mostly intended
for adults (since they would be the ones buying tickets). But Expedia
differs a little bit because they break down the tickets for adults, seniors,
and children. Expedia also has a large picture of a family at the beach
on their page (see image on right). Therefore, it seems that this site might be more appealing
to a family user.
What do users want to accomplish? (think about it...)
Users are most likely looking for a quick, easy way to find out what the
best price for a vacation/trip is. They want to be able to type in their
departing and returning dates, number of tickets, and the airport they
are leaving from and have the site do the rest of the work for them. Customers
want hotel, air, and car information and price listings simply from entering
the information above.
What are the skills needed to use the site? Good fit with skills of
intended users?
Skills needed to use these sites are very basic. Anyone who has used the
web a few times before would be able to comfortably find their way around
both sites. Each has a navigation bar at the top making it easy to visit
each section of the site no matter what page you are currently viewing.
Selecting and entering information is made effortless with options like
clicking a button or just using a drop down bar. Therefore, the skills
required to successfully navigate this site are a good fit for the intended
users.
Can users instantly understand what the site is about? Understand
what they can do there?
Priceline has a header on the main page saying "shop for discount
travel". It is completely clear that the purpose of the site is to
find the best priced tickets. Expedia has a section called "Deals
and offers" but does not have anything blatantly saying discounts.
However, both sites do make it completely evident that they are for travel.
The words "hotels, flights, and car rentals" are repeated many
times on both pages. Also, pictures of air planes and cars are shown.
It is obvious what each site's purpose is.
"Look & feel" entice you to stay and explore?
The "look and feel" of the Priceline site seems more inviting.
Since the main page breaks it down and has a second small box that really
tells the users what to do, it definitely appears easier. Even though
the Expedia site has more images and pictures, it seems less appealing.
The images almost work against them because they crowd the page and make
things hard to see/find. They also have a few ads that would be a little
distracting to the user and make the site too cluttered.
Audience Category Winner
Expedia and Priceline are almsot the same in all sections of this category. However, Expedia is behind in two places: they do not clearly have a header that says they are a site for discount travel and the "look and feel" is not as enticing as Priceline's page.