 |
|
^ click above ^ |
01.28.04
 By
Christine Perfetti
In terms of delivering content to all different types of platforms,
developers have seen some real advantages with HTML. Before HTML,
they faced major challenges creating applications when users had a
variety of hardware, operating systems, and software platforms. We've
gotten very used to the comforts of browser independence.
However, that independence comes at a price. HTML is a very clumsy
language when you're trying to build something with a sophisticated
interaction stream. For example, take something that should be a straightforward
development task, such as making a hotel reservation. All you need
is the dates of travel and either a room is available in the database
or it isn't. If it's available, you get the credit card and other
guest information and you're finished.
But, translating this simple series of actions into HTML code can
make things complex. HTML really was never designed to take on user
experiences that require a back-and-forth exploration of a large information
system. |
From
a design perspective, creating a successful hotel reservation system
can be one of these more complex user experiences. Users booking a
hotel room have many different questions: Are rooms available for
their planned dates? Can they reserve more than one room? How much
will the room cost? What do the rooms look like? Creating a design
that answers these questions while making the reservation requires
a sophisticated interaction model and the tools to support it.
Recently, we came across a user, Bill, as he was planning a spring
vacation to Walt Disney World with his family. We observed Bill as
he visited the Westin Hotel's web site. He told us that he has happily
stayed at Westin Hotels many
times in past years and the Westin is the first hotel he thinks of
when planning a trip.
When Bill visited the Westin.com web site, he found the Walt Disney
Swan Hotel, located in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. After deciding to
book a reservation, the site asked him to specify his trip preferences.
If Bill were doing this over the phone, the process would be easy
and straightforward. However, online it was frustrating for Bill.
Using the form provided, Bill filled out his trip specifications including
check-in dates, the number of room nights, the number of rooms, the
number of adults staying in each room, and bed type. After he finished
entering his room requirements, he clicked the "Continue" button.
Figure 1: The Westin.com's reservation form before Bill entered
his travel details.
Once Bill entered his request and pressed Submit, he found out on
the next screen that no rooms were available for his specified dates.
To reserve a room, Bill had to play a game of 'hide and seek' with
the server, guessing when rooms could potentially be available, clicking
submit, and waiting to see whether his guess was right. After unsuccessfully
guessing available dates three more times, Bill gave up. When we asked
him how likely he was to stay at the Swan Hotel, he told us that,
although he enjoyed his past visits to the Westin hotels, he was too
frustrated to continue on the site and would try to reserve a room
somewhere else.
Westin.com missed a huge opportunity, turning away a loyal customer.
The developers chose to implement their application in HTML and, because
of this design choice, users often end up without finding available
rooms that match their requirements. With HTML, the client is a "dumb"
browser with limited logic capabilities and the server handles control
of the application. At the press of every button, the client must
connect to the server and the server responds with a brand new page
to display.
This is the origin of the frustration with developing HTML-based applications.
HTML constrains developers to fit complex application interactivity
into a linear, page-based process. A server-driven HTML database query
operates like a search engine, with users entering their full query,
clicking a button, and then waiting for the server to return relevant
results.
Unfortunately, users can't get immediate response to their specifications
and have to adopt a wait-and-see attitude as to what information will
come back. (Even when developers try DHTML or sophisticated JavaScript
to increase their flexibility, users may suffer. Lack of solid specifications
has caused cross-browser compatibility issues, resulting in unpredictable
behaviors on different users' computers.)
This is why we've become interested with Macromedia Flash and other
tools like it. Where HTML leaves off, Flash has the opportunity to
fill in. Flash offers real advantages for developers.
A Flash-based hotel reservation system that has recently caught our
attention is iHotelier. The iHotelier
application has generated tremendous buzz among Flash developers
and usability professionals - for good reason. It is one of the first
applications we've seen that demonstrates how Flash-based applications
can deliver users positive experiences, while simultaneously eliminating
many problems associated with HTML-based applications.
The developers of iHotelier chose Flash to reduce the entire hotel
reservation process down to a single screen. "iHotelier was the first
Flash-based application I ever built", says Jim Whitney, iHotelier's
creator and Founder/CTO of Webvertising.
Jim says he chose Flash because he was always frustrated with the
limitations of HTML.
Jim liked Flash's power to connect to back-end databases when integrated
with server-side software like ColdFusion Server and JRun. While it
is possible to create UI gadgets, such as a calendar, in HTML, Jim
believes users would find Flash-based gadgets much easier to use.
The Broadmoor in Colorado Springs is one of the hotels that currently
use the iHotelier application to reduce the entire hotel reservation
process down to one screen.
The single-screen interface includes room availability information
visually displayed in a two-month calendar interface, as well as hotel
room prices and registration processing information.
Users looking for information on available rooms at the Broadmoor
highlight their preferred dates in the calendar. With a single mouse
click, the application displays the available (and unavailable) rooms
and their prices. When users adjust their specifications, such as
number of rooms or number of people for the hotel reservation, the
pricing information automatically updates.
Figure 2a:
With Broadmoor's single-screen interface, users can
click on calendar dates (on the left-hand side of the screen) and
immediately see room availability and pricing results (in the center
of the screen). Users no longer have to guess when rooms may be available
at the hotel.
Figure 2b:
Users can also change their hotel specifications, such
as number of rooms and number of people, and immediately view how
these changes will affect pricing.
The Broadmoor's implementation of iHotelier eliminates Bill's problem
with the Westin's site. By utilizing the capabilities of Flash, users
have the flexibility of interacting and getting immediate responses
to their queries.
We know that iHotelier isn't the perfect application. We're aware
that users may encounter several usability problems when they try
to reserve a room at The Broadmoor. For example, we noticed that the
Flash movie might load slowly on low-speed connections. (The Broadmoor
actually offers an HTML version for those who don't want to load it.)
It's also possible that some users will find the two distinct activities
- finding an available room and entering the billing information -
confusing to be on a single screen. However, these issues do not undermine
the huge potential of the iHotelier application.
With HTML, developers are limited to a static design that users can't
manipulate without the cost of new pages reloading. With tools such
as Flash, developers can create applications with advanced capabilities
beyond what is possible with today's HTML. Flash's real potential
to get past some hard problems makes it something we should seriously
investigate for future application development.
Learn More about web-based applications.
Check out Jim Whitney's
session at the UIE Web Application
Summit, where he will talk about Flash's potential for creating
powerful web-based applications. Jim will demonstrate iHotelier's
reservation system from both the guest's perspective and the perspective
of the application developer.
This article first appeared in our UIEtips
newsletter.
About the Author:
You can find additional articles at http://www.UIE.com.
© Copyright 2002, User Interface Engineering. All rights reserved.
Reprinted with permission
Read this newsletter at: http://www.thedevweb.com/2004/0128.html |
|
| From
the Forum: |
| Spark Events Calendar Discussion |
 Featured Component Spark Events Calendar Version 1.4.5
Copyright © 2003, James Peek sparkos.com]
A Flash MX component designed for displaying events that occur in a variety of different patterns including once-off, weekly, monthly and yearly recurring. The design is easily reskinned, and the event data easily extended.
Some example events might be: an event which occurs on the last weekday of September, or one which happens on the 3rd Tuesday of every second month between 9am and 5pm.
Component can also be used as a date selection component. ...
|
|
|
