Sunday, November 6, 2011

Website Nakedness


Looking at Disney’s and Carnival’s cruise websites was an interesting study in functionality. While it is clear that Carnival’s site is more fun and probably exemplifies what the cruise line stands for with a fun website, Disney’s site translates better across multiple platforms with its blog-like setup. Without CSS, images, or colors, Carnival’s website was relegated to a simple HTML site with tons of links. The page became more cumbersome to view when stripping it down – to the point where it takes several seconds to scroll all the way to the bottom of the page. When Carnival’s site is viewed as if on a smaller device, the site becomes even more cumbersome and several important links are covered by pictures. 
On the contrary, Disney’s cruise website is much simpler, using almost no CSS. When eliminating pictures and colors, the site is still very usable and experiences almost no change and the same goes for viewing the site on a smaller screen. Disney has made its website like a blog so that the functionality and primary uses of the site (learning about their cruise experience and purchasing tickets) aren’t hindered by any circumstance. 
Building sites like this seem to be a better way of business to me because it allows customers/visitors to focus on the site’s content without distraction and it forces the website to use and display content that is worthwhile to visitors.

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