Delta Flies The Friendly Web

Sometimes the best way to determine if your Web site is user friendly enough is to simply ask visitors. But the reality is you're not going to get enough response.

Focus groups are one option, but they often overlook snags in Web sites. When Delta Air Lines redesigned its Web site earlier this year, it decided that it needed a better critique of its site than it was getting from focus groups. So the airline turned to developer WebCriteria to scour the site with its agent-based software to find out where improvements could be made.

Delta used WebCriteria's SiteMax product to compare its overall performance and usability against sites such as Amazon.com and CharlesSchwab.com, as well as arch rival American Airlines. Delta also used WebCriteria's SiteMax service to assess general usability of a site. For example, SiteMax determines whether a page might have too much text for a reader to digest, whether the navigation tool bars appear consistent throughout a site or whether graphic elements appear in appropriate places and if they are a suitable size.

Before the redesign began in February, WebCriteria analysis numbers placed Delta first in download speed compared with a selected cross-section of online companies that included Amazon.com, Dell Computer and Charles Schwab & Co. In April, the first full month after the redesign, Delta determined that it was still fast for Web page downloads--at an average of eight seconds. But Delta's performance in accessibility--the measure of how long it takes to navigate to find various parts of the Web site--was still a major concern. The airline placed sixth in January, before the redesign. It took an average of 2.8 minutes to navigate to a particular destination on the site, compared with 2.2 minutes at Dell and Schwab, 2.4 minutes at Amazon. By April, after site designers had worked to make the site easier to navigate, the Delta site came in first place in the WebCriteria analysis, with an "accessibility time'' of 2 minutes, compared with Schwab's 2.1 minutes, Expedia's 3 minutes and Dell's 2.3 minutes.

Delta achieved that improvement by determining it needed to put the meat of the site closer to the consumer. "The functionality originally wasn't very close to the consumer, meaning it was two or three clicks in," Sherrell said. The reservation application is now at the top of the site's main home page.

Delta wants to keep the functionality coming, and this plans to add the ability for visitors to choose their seat when booking flights, Russell said. The airline also this year added to its site an application that visitors can run on handheld computers or Web-enabled phones to book flights and check on flight times.

WebCriteria, meanwhile, has added some functionality to its product line, and Delta has been testing that new functionality. WebCriteria launched a new software agent that goes beyond the general assessment of a site. Instead, it looks at how long it would take a visitor to complete an actual transaction on a site--be it buying a ticket, downloading software, or registering to become a regular site user. The new service, called TaskMax, is something that has appeal for Delta. "Conceptually, it's something that we're certainly interested in," Sherrell said.

And little changes in online tasks might mean big bucks. "Tweaking your task so it takes five minutes to complete the task instead of 10 can mean a 100 percent increase in revenue," said David Reynoldson, a product manager at WebCriteria.

WebCriteria's services typically cost from $3,500 to $6,000 to compare a task on one Web site with a task on four other Web sites. Subscription service costs $11,000 and gives clients five tasks to run against four other sites every quarter.

"There is a need for automated tools that test both the functionality of a site and also the user experience of a site," said Randy K. Souza, an analyst with Forrester Research.

But talking to users and potential users is still very important in designing and refining a site, Souza said. "Where these automated services don't offer value is in the design stage of building a site. At that point in time, you really need to sit down with live representative users early on to discover what their real needs are."