On the awkwardness of the first times you try it
The 1st interview was conducted on the Key2Cuba.com
While the interviewee really enjoyed the page, we got stuck at the booking experience that looked rather cumbersome and uninviting opposing the general feel of the website of fun and levity.
My interviewee jokingly said:”Maybe this is now the communist part of the experience.“
To my surprise he was quite ok with it as he had sort of diminished expectations of an internet presence of a Cuban travel provider.
But in fact the organizer and the agency are both Britain-based. So there are really no excuses.
Please see this blog post for some suggestions on fixing the booking process.
The 2nd interview was conducted on the irishsalsacongress.ie
This time I was much better prepared and was already used to the example script provided. Also the interviewee had much more of an opinion on this service offered that I could make a pro & con list.
| Pro | Con |
| generally easy navigation | one possible customer group is not addressed in the page: the salsa beginner |
| key information such as prices and dates are easy to find | the color scheme is is very light interviewee would expect a more darker scheme to be reminiscent of dancing & parties |
| easy and intuitive navigation to desired booking options | |
| positive surprise that even accommodation was offered as a part of the congress booking process | |
| loads of evidence of a good time to be had in videos and pictures | |
| Customer feedback section adds credibility |
Thoughts
Even if a website is very good there might be some conscious design decisions made to attract or detract.
On the Key2Cuba page the interviewee wasn’t exited about the booking page, but also wasn’t put off, because it matched his expectations of a Cuban experience.
On the Irish Salsa congress the interviewee noted negatively that there wasn’t any mention about beginner options. As a congress is usually not targeted at beginners, this can’t be counted as a miss. Also the notion that the side should look more darker reminiscent of a nightclub environment showed that this interviewee might have not been the target audience that would be expecting loads of daytime dancetraining at a congress.
Website Design chooses its customers. When conducting interviews make sure to account for, if the interviewee fits in the target demographic. Interviewee comments need to be evaluated with this in mind.
That Mad Grinning Cat 