User Interface Guidelines for Enhancing Usability of Airline Travel Agency E-commerce Web Sites

Specific user interface guidelines are described to increase the usability of airline travel e-commerce Web sites. Although previous guidelines address the usability issues from the perspective of the sale of tangible products that can be described and depicted, less attention has been given to the usability issues for the sale of services. Service industries have different requirements for communicating with customers, specifically regarding their product offerings. This is prominent in the air travel industry, where Web site usability is known to be poor. We examine how the current guidelines are inadequate for Web sites providing air travel information. We propose specific guidelines for those sites that will enhance their usability