Users viewed the old Virgin Airlines site and the beta (now current) Virgin Airlines site and compared the flight booking flow. There was a total of 45 users- 15 on computers, 15 on tablets, and 15 on mobile phones. All users viewed the old site then new site. *For the purposes of this report, the old Virgin Airlines site will be referred as “Old” and the beta, now current Virgin Airlines site will be referred to as “New”.
1= Very Difficult, 5= Very easy
Users were asked to rate difficulty, perceived task time, and enjoyment of flight booking on the new and old sites.
5 4 3
4.27 3.73
4.13
3.67
3.93
4
2 1 0 Computer
Tablet Old
Phone
New
On average, users on computer and tablet found booking a flight on the New flight more difficult than the Old site. Mobile site users’ averages were fairly similar.
1= Much slower than other sites, 5= Much faster than other sites
5 4
4.2 3.67
3
3.6
3.27
3.67
4.13
2 1 0 Computer
Tablet Old
Phone
New
1= Very unplesant, 5= Very enjoyable
On average, users on computer and tablet found booking a flight on the New flight was slower than booking on the Old site, except for those on their phones.
5 4 3
4.07 3.6
4
3.67
4.13
4.2
2 1 0 Computer
Tablet Old
Phone
New
On average, users booking on their computers had a more enjoyable experience on the old site. Users on tablet and phones slightly enjoyed their experiences more on the new site.
53%
53%
preferred NEW
preferred NEW
preferred NEW
Old
Old
Old
New
New
60%
New
Clip 1- “It’s a standard form so it’s going to be the same as other sites” Clip 2- “It’s kind of cluttered” Clip 3- “Overall I think there is a lot of information on this page and I don’t think all of it needs to be presented all at once”
Clip 1- “It’s a lot less wordy, therefore I think it’s looking less complicated.” Clip 2- “This looks a little less professional than the website I was just on. Not that it’s a bad thing.” Clip 3- “Okay so this is much cleaner, but the bottom half looks kind of like a children’s website.” Clip 4- “It’s clean and I like that there is only one main focus which is on the center of this page.”
Clip 1 Clip 2 Clip 3 Clip 4 - “I don’t know what all these faces mean…I’m guessing the sad face means it’s taken.”
“Site 1 was better, it showed prices for different days, it had all info on one page. It looks cleaner.” “The first site made it easier to figure how to pick a seat.” “Site 1 was very comparable to other booking sites in that it had all the booking information set out at the very beginning and had drop down boxes.” “It was more familiar - similar to other flight booking experiences that I have had online previously.”
“Easier and faster to navigate through booking.” “If you were new to flying, site 2 walked you through the info that you needed to complete.” ‘Inputting your information was a lot faster on this site than the first one.” “The second was easier to view because laid out neater and larger icons. It was not as cluttered. I liked the large view of the calendar.” “The style was better, the animations led your eyes toward the next step, the simplicity of layout made it easy to figure out what to do next, I liked the addition of purple.”
80%
67%
preferred NEW
preferred NEW
preferred NEW
Old
Old
Old
New
New
53%
New
Clip 1- “This seems to be too much information…I don’t know where to start” Clip 2- “Seems like a very familiar look & feel.” Clip 1- “Looks like it will be harder to use than the text-only page” Clip 2- “Looks like a lot less cluttered…It really focuses on the search. But I quite like that, actually.” Clip 3- “It’s easier on my eyes, it’s more straightforward... the most important parts of booking a flight are right here at my fingertips.”
Clip 1- “What do all these icons mean? Is this like mickey mouse ears- am I sitting next to a kid?” Clip 2- “Now I’m confused about what these icons mean”
Clip 1- “This has a very mobile phone feel to it. It doesn’t feel like I should be using this on my tablet.” Clip 2- “The whole experience is tablet-oriented” Clip 3- “It felt more fun, it felt more tablet- friendly.”
Clip 1- “Maybe it was because it was just different, so I had to think about what I was doing rather than going on autopilot.” Clip 2- “On the first site, I was a bit confused after I selected a seat nothing happened but on this version it immediately moved me on, asking questions saying what to do next.”
“Site 1 had a lot of information to look at, which is something I personally like, though I know that other people do not like being overloaded.” “I liked the seat map better on site 1 than site 2. I also like that site 1 states that the top flight options are non stop.” “The first site was more efficient in getting my reservation completed. I was able to finish my reservation within a shorter amount of minutes with the first site. I was more drawn to website by the pictures on the main page.”
“Site 2 had a more modern design, the calendars were gorgeous and could click on without zooming in, text was more pleasant” “The layout was easier to handle on the iPad (clearer texts, buttons, instructions) the comforting messages on the top are nice. the long-form approach is very handy. the seats selection color scheme is better.” “The date selection tool was very easy to use and in general I felt like the screen design was much better suited for a mobile interface, it felt like you were guided very nicely from once step to another.” “The design is way more attractive, much easier to use on a tablet because of larger links, the calendar function was great, didn't feel like work to navigate, prices for seat upgrades being displayed rather than hidden, felt very user friendly.” “The site was simpler, it had less content but in a good way. It was still informative but focused on the flight details only. I also preferred the seat selection page on the second version, it was more intuitive/easier to use. The homepage focused almost exclusively on my search.” “The selection of the type of trip, destination and origin was faster and better than the other site. The layout of the summary at the end was easier to understand. The way the steps were available in the same page by scrolling up and down was very comfortable.”
67%
67%
preferred NEW
preferred NEW
preferred NEW
Old
Old
Old
New
New
Clip 1- “It looks professional. I would trust it.” Clip 2- “It’s very functional… It’s kind of no-no-nonsense, which I appreciate.”
60%
New
Clip 3- “It looks like a very neat looking page.”
Clip 1- “It’s more up to date and more like what I would expect from Virgin America. I like this one already.” Clip 2- “It seems to go straight to booking. When I have other stuff I have to do on my phone that I do more frequently on my phone…then simply buying the tickets. I am not a fan of this.” Clip 3- “Why is San Francisco the default location?” Clip 4- “This looks more like Virgin. More their style.”
Clip 1 Clip 2 Clip 3
Clip 1 Clip 2 Clip 3 Clip 4
“The fact that site 1 had separate tabs for everything made it a lot easier to navigate.” The option to change flights, check flights etc were immediately on the first page of site 1. On site 2 it was all about booking which I liked less. I liked how site 1 had all the common tasks you'd want to do--book, change, cancel, track, etc. Also there was no ridiculous avatar thing.
“Animated & felt more like an app than a website” “It felt smoother, more modern, worked more like an app. The first one, you could tell it was a mobile website.” “Almost everything. It was extremely mobile friendly. I don't think I had to zoom once to see any information at all. I loved the layout, it was very easy to follow, and I felt very at ease navigating the mobile site.” “I liked the second site's colors, avatars, and design more. It felt like it was tailor made for my mobile phone instead of just being a mobile version of a website. It's design looked more modern than the first site's.”
DESCRIBE THE SITE USING 3 ADJECTIVES OLD:
NEW:
“If you had to book a flight to Seattle right now, which site would you book it on?” Old Site
New Site
Participant Details Age
Gender
35
35
30
30
25
25
20
20
15
15
10
10
5
5 0
0 18-29
30-39
40-49
Male
50+
Income
Female
Country
35
35
30
30
25
25
20
20
15
15
10
10
5
5
0
0 < $40K
$40-100K
> $100 K
US
Canada
UK
Other