boo.com back as an online travel website
May 2nd, 2007
boo.com has relaunched as a one stop travel site. Launched as an online fashion retailer in 1999 the company famously went bust following the dotcom boom in the late 90s. CNET.com ranked boo.com as the sixth greatest dotcom flop and the company burned its way through $120 million during its short lifetime.
Fast forward to 2007 and Web Reservations International have bought boo.com for its main consumer brand that includes 50,000 properties. Focused on accommodation the aim is to expand this and meet traveller’s needs (flights, care hire…) under the one site.
As the strapline (’Collection wisdom’) suggests, the site also looks to make the most of user generated reviews and online communities interested in sharing their destination recommendations.
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May 3rd, 2007 at 1:57 am
Hi Dominic,
I have a question for you: what do you think of Boo? Do you think it will work? Do you feel that it inspires confidence? Does the interface work for you?
When searching for independent reviews about boo.com yours was the only one I found today. The other sites that have something on this launch only feature a rehash of the press release and you keep yourself on the safe side of critical.
And before you start to wonder; no, I’m not affiliated with Boo. I just want to figure out whether or not we should recommend it to our clients.
May 3rd, 2007 at 4:17 am
[...] The only independent review we managed to find on-line about the new Boo was over at dottourism.com, but they did not give an opinion about the website. The other websites we found with information about Boo were the ones that just rehash the press release. [...]
May 4th, 2007 at 12:49 pm
Hi Joost,
Thanks for dropping by.
I’ve only had a brief scan around the site. On first impressions the interface design does not work for me, although initially I liked the feel of the design. I find the fixed vertical layout limiting for a content heavy site and find the site hard to use. I’d like to see an improved navigation area, perhaps a clearer/ more informative navigation trail and a conventional navigation menu.
There are plenty of online businesses with sites that are not viewed positively from a usability/layout perspective, Myspace comes to mind but it does not stop people using them, however, how much would users benefit with some usability improvements?!
Obviously the area of online travel is a bit more crowded but WRI are clearly experienced at running profitable
travel sites. They’ve integrated their 50,000 properties into a well known brand name and injected social community aspects in a web 2.0 and ajax driven interface. Going for the boo.com name could be a wise move, it has certainly gained a lot of PR coverage for their launch. Sure, the name is associated with past failure but seven years is a long time and I dont think it will have a negative effect if users find an engaging, community driven one stop travel site.
I agree with your comments about the booking tool. The most important part of the site is very hard to use. It’s not particularly obvious but the 1st column gives you the choice to select the star rating for your desired accommodation (1-5) and the 2nd column is a choice of accommodation type. You would then select further criteria related to the general/leisure/business icons – there is no mouseover and therefore it is not apparent that there is any related action involved. On the pop ups there is no option to close the window – if you don’t require an option from the check list you have to select, deselect and then click ok. I think this is a good example where AJAX functionality can detract from the user experience. The contingency design i.e. design for then things awry is lacking.
Overall I find it confusing to interact with, particularly the search and navigation. Creating a site with this amount of content is no doubt a difficult task but I can’t help but find it hard to scan and browse the busy layout.
Cheers
Dominic
May 4th, 2007 at 1:46 pm
Hi Dominic,
It looks like we’re on the same page here
Thank you for explaining that double row of checkboxes. It was driving me crazy!
May 14th, 2007 at 11:38 am
[...] I alluded to this in my comment in a recent post regarding the recently launched boo.com and that I felt the implementation of certain AJAX functionality had detracted from the user experience. Mr Nielsen also comments “They should get the basics right first,” and “Sadly most websites do not have those primary things right.” [...]