Blog homeI was having a discussion yesterday about a website redesign project that I am currently involved with. It is probably a situation that many people are familiar with.
The question arose regarding how the website should be visually designed. There was a desire to be at the forefront of travel web design – but it was a struggle to understand exactly what that was. Does this mean that the website should be in Flash or Flex, or some other rich interface design? (it won’t be – and for most websites this is still a few years off)
So – what then is “modern web design” within travel ecommerce?
Introducing undesign
There has been some chatter about the concept of “undesign”. I struggled to find a definition of it that I could publish so I am going to come up with my own:
I now define undesign as a web design that has the following characteristics:
- Copy / text is the user interface – The words, the size of text, the length of the sentence, the paragraph breaks – all of this forms the user interface (rather than creating containers with graphics – and placing text / copy inside those containers)
- Links are text based – not images
- There are no gratuitous user interface elements - I define gratuitous as those that either don’t provide information (for example stars on a star rating) nor assist with usability (for example lines between sections – acting as dividers).
- Usability is prioritised over visual branding - the design is engineered to be used – not admired like a piece of static art.
So what you end up with is a mainly text website. It sounds dull but it isn’t.
Some examples of undesign
- 37signals – Homepage and corporate website. Very clearly the text copy is the user interface
- Google – search and search results
- Amazon – product page – there are very few visual elements on the page except for product images. Apart from that it is mainly text. Some graphics are used to divide sections – but these are kept to a minimum.
- ClearTrip- A travel website example. ClearTrip offer flight bookings for flights within India. The hint towards their design mindset comes from their name!
The cleartrip homepage. See how there is very little imagery….. this is travel undesign. Go and take a look at one of their flight results pages as well. Very clean. (While you are there – go one step further – the accordian checkout is interesting)
Thoughts
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I expect undesign will become more popular as a design principle for transport websites (such as trains, flights etc – where you are providing a known service – and need to deal efficiently with your users) – however “holiday” websites where some form of inspiration is required will probably not fully adopt the undesign principles. Maybe business travel websites will go undesign as well.
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Undesign is actually much harder to do well than you think – I was talking about undesign with an experienced travel website graphic designer and I joked that it will probably put him out of a job(!). He came back to me and said that undesign looks like a website that a developer would hand to him saying “please make this look good”). i.e undesign is unfinished design. I believe that undesign actually takes more skill than a visually rich design – because you really have to think about how the user is going to interact with the website much earlier in the design process. You also need to iterate on copy a great deal – which is something that many people really don’t understand on the web
So – keep an eye on “undesign”. The problem for its acceptance will be marketing teams who really want a fully branded experience. It will take a leap of faith for a marketing director to say – ok – I am happy to go the undesign route. I expect that undesign will start in the transport sector – trains, flights etc – and then, as it becomes more accepted, move into wider usage.
If you care about your users then you should be considering undesign.
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Hmm, I struggle to see how even an Amazon product page fits the bill. Those things are a complete mess in my eyes! One of my favourite examples is http://www.tumblr.com/ . Flickr is also pretty good. Dopplr looks like it could go that way in the travel sphere.
I’d love to do a site like this, but you need a much more focused main product to really pull it off. That’s probably always going to be an issue for travel sites, unless they just do one thing. I love the look though isn’t this already becoming ’so last year’? I reckon something with a little more elegance is winning back ground.
I am amazed an indian website is rated so high
Is cleartrip appealling to travellers?
It wouldn’t be for me.
Sam – OK – maybe not Amazon – but they are not visually rich either – perhaps they are in the middle.
Rahul – I am not surprised. I think that Indians can produce websites as well or as badly as anyone. This is certainly not a nationality thing. However, having seen many Indian websites (and Indian tour operator systems) the design principles are normally based around having everything on the screen – and the user having to learn what does what (vs wizard approaches done by non Indian systems, which are easier for non expert users). If this is what you meant – then OK – but if not – it would be better if you could explain what you meant as otherwise people may consider what you wrote as inflammatory.
Darren – frankly, if I am buying a train ticket – I don’t need to find the website appealing. I just want everything to be clear. Yes – if the website is undertaking a marketing function such as promoting holiday products – then you do need some form of visual identity and design. The distinction is whether the product is a commodity or not.
Alex–thanks for mentioning Cleartrip as an example of the “undesigned.” We’re flattered to be listed alongside the other companies in your examples above.
You’re right about two things–undesign is much harder than taking the visual approach and it is very difficult for marketing teams to digest. The conversion rates for undesign, however, are more than enough to keep the marketing chaps happy, the challenge is convincing them to do it in the first place.
Nice post. And well in time for us when we are struggling with the design part of our travel portal. … Just wondering if kayak.com would also fall in the same category…looks quite similar to cleartrip…!
[...] Undesign – is this how travel websites should be? (Musings on travel ecommerce) – [...]
Hi Alex,
I’m a fan of 37 Signals software and have been using Basecamp as a collaboration tool for clients and colleagues for the last few years. I emphasise on the point regarding the challenge of presenting the ‘less is more’ view – thankfully in some situations the client experience of using Basecamp has helped this conversation!
Cheers
Dominic – Yep – I have introduced Basecamp to two large UK travel companies. We ought to be on commission!
Ashish – yeah – a problem with “undesign” is that it is difficult to differentiate using visual design. Kayak may look similar but is quite a different beast all together.
[...] Morgen mag ik bij Emerce’s Insight: Travel & Tourism” een presentatie houden. Dus de afgelopen en komende uren besteed ik aan het bekijken van tientallen travel websites. Van hotelboeren tot vliegtuigmaatschappijen en reisbureaus. En nu viel mijn oog op een interessant artikel over undesign van Alex Bainbridge, die over travel e-Commerce blogt. Hij vraagt zich, in mijn ogen terecht, af of undesign misschien de toekomst zal zijn voor travel websites. [...]
[...] Undesign – is this how travel websites should be? Thoughts and analysis on travel ecommerce and online marketing, mainly focussing on challenges faced by tour operators, Undesign – is this how travel websites should be? (Musings on travel ecommerce) (tags: undesign webdesign) [...]
[...] Het ontvetten van de een website heeft ook een eigen naam gekregen, nl Undesign. Over undesign vind je hier wat meer informatie. [...]