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The new VirginAmerica.com

static.virginamerica.com

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Re: The new VirginAmerica.com

#151

Post by jmathai »

calinet6 wrote: post #137
robertnealan wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Update: The above criticism was from trying it out on my laptop. Having now tested it on my phone I have to say the mobile experience is superb compared to most airline sites, though the ticket selection process is still a bit clunky (mostly that it doesn't fit in the width of an iPhone5 so you end up scrolling individual rows horizontally). Also, the lack of distinction between "Continue" and upgrading your seat is…

Agreed, I think it's great on mobile, but the unfortunate thing is that for desktop, they just scaled up the mobile experience. Maybe that's a good thing, maybe that's something people are used to in this day and age, but I personally think the desktop can achieve more density and be more effective for it. But in the end, it's not that big a fail. Consistency on all platforms is nice.

> the unfortunate thing is that for desktop, they just scaled up the mobile experience.

I wonder if that's a bad thing. The reason I open my laptop to book a flight is because I anticipate it being almost impossible from my phone. Anything I believe will be pleasant to do on my phone I do on my phone.

I think it will take some time to get people to even consider it being easy to book a flight from a website on their phone. But that doesn't mean it's not a step in the right direction.

Re: The new VirginAmerica.com

#152

Post by sdm »

malloreon wrote: post #15

The new boarding pass design is fantastic. Every airline needs to do at least that part immediately.

I don't get this. Don't they offer electronic boarding passes? Why would you need to print a boarding pass?

Re: The new VirginAmerica.com

#153

Post by sdm »

culturestate wrote: post #23
vinceguidry wrote: post #8

When I saw their new boarding pass I just had to laugh. Someone awhile back went and redesigned Delta's boarding pass[1] and got a lot of crap over it for not taking into account why the boarding pass was the way it was.[2][3] But apparently someone at Virgin was taking notes. [1] http://passfail.squarespace.com/ [2] http://blog.timoni.org/post/318322031/a-practical-boarding-p... [3] http://www.ryanholiday.net/this-i…

There's a critical difference here; those redesigns are for boarding passes issued at the airport, while Virgin's are printed at home. You can get away with a lot when your common target equipment is an inkjet rather than a thermal printer.

Why would you need to print them at all? Does Virgin not support electronic boarding passes?

Re: The new VirginAmerica.com

#155

Post by nailer »

TheLoneWolfling wrote: post #133
nailer wrote: post #124

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Accessible browsers run Javascript, and have for some time. You may have a point about CSS though.

I'd argue the other way. Accessible websites are usable without JS. Maybe not pretty , but at least usable .

I don't think you understood my comment.

Re: The new VirginAmerica.com

#157

Post by culturestate »

sdm wrote: post #153
culturestate wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's a critical difference here; those redesigns are for boarding passes issued at the airport, while Virgin's are printed at home. You can get away with a lot when your common target equipment is an inkjet rather than a thermal printer.

Why would you need to print them at all? Does Virgin not support electronic boarding passes?

There are still millions of people who don't have smartphones [1], for one. I'd imagine that there's a nontrivial overlap between that group and people who fly.

1. https://www.comscore.com/Insights/Press_Releases/2014/2/comS...

Re: The new VirginAmerica.com

#158

Post by DigitalSea »

As a developer myself, I've seen first hand this new trend of scroll-jacking, parallax, animated, full-screen sections come in quicker than a rain storm. I am just glad the whole horizontal layout thing isn't a thing any more, horizontal sites were way worse in my opinion than this new trend of turning websites into Powerpoint presentations.

I do like the aesthetic this new trend has, but accessibility wise, it's a no-go. I feel bad for anyone with eyesight problems in particular who comes across this site and has to read text on rainbow coloured backgrounds. These kinds of sites are not very well accommodating to colour blind visitors and that's no way to run a business.

Then there are screen height issues with the design. People on net-books and iPad's in landscape orientation are probably not going to enjoy this site very much as nothing really fits on the screen properly. The result is undeniably beautiful though, and from an investor/board member perspective, I can definitely feel the enthusiasm from here. This is the kind of site that gets everyone on board, except the developers who have to build it (in most cases).

Re: The new VirginAmerica.com

#160

Post by mattm »

kyleconrad wrote: post #69
ChrisNorstrom wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well we're seeing it more often in UI/UX because "forced creative vision" aka "design dictatorship" is more popular and acceptable for designers these days. Especially new designers who don't want to stick to the tried and true rules of design (nor learn them), nor base their designs off of some kind of metrics or best practices statistics. Steve Jobs culminated this attitude through his "I'll tell the user what they…

Clients drive design 99.9% of the time. Clients like it because they think the cool kids are doing it. Clients also like gimmicky scroll effects and parallax.

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