Comparing features in the travel industry

By Saba Fathi UX Researcher

Feature comparison tables are helpful beyond their primary function. developed properly, they can help in decision-making, explaining why a certain feature is relevant to the customer or how a certain product is better than the others.

But Is Comparing feature function useful in traveling products?

Feature Comparison

Comparison Feature in many cases is a necessary step before your visitors will perform the desired action, like buying your product or signing up for membership. There are just not that many situations where we need a feature comparison. Not many customers would even think of comparing for a few books or pairs of socks. However, relatively few customers would purchase a coffee machine or refrigerator without exploring their options thoroughly. Users aren’t always intent on purchasing. They may need to conduct extensive research first, meaning they’ll often visit a site multiple times, delaying their purchase until they’re confident the choice they’re making is right. Comparing services and products can be time-consuming, especially when you’re flipping back and forth between pages, websites, and information.

However, when that information is distributed across detail pages, the interaction cost and the cognitive load both increase: users are forced to remember information, take notes, flip between tabs, or open multiple browser windows.

When You Need a Comparison Table?

To understand when you should use a comparison table, you first have to consider how people make decisions. Making decisions usually requires evaluating — under varying circumstances — at least two alternatives that differ on several attributes. For instance; you are on eBay and need to decide whether you are placing your next bid. When it comes to choosing among many alternatives, it’s hard to compare the pros and cons of each alternative, and as a result, they engage in non-mandatory decision-making. Selecting an alternative requires you to combine multiple sources of information to form an overall evaluation for each alternative. When people have to select among a small set of alternatives (usually under 5–7), they usually engage in mandatory decision making: they look at the individual merits of each and compare their advantages and disadvantages according to several criteria. People might accept a negative attribute as a trade-off for a positive one. A user researching a new laptop might be willing to consider a heavier computer if it has better battery life and computing power. When customers are committed to making a large purchase but can’t choose which product to buy, they are likely to end up not buying altogether, getting locked up in the choice paralysis. Making decisions under conditions of uncertainty seems oftentimes a bit like gambling. It requires that people estimate the probability of a certain event because they do not know which event will occur.

Comparison Feature In Travel Industry?

But have you ever thought about a comparison feature on travel websites? I had some interviews with end-users and choosing the best flight tickets (especially international ones) and booking a good hotel room is quite hard due to the variety of options. Some of them even mentioned that they had to consult with someone to be sure of their purchase.

Comparison tables are often misunderstood as a tool for online shops only. especially electronics (like devices, television, camera, or even cars). But comparison tables are equally well-suited to travel services such as flight tickets or hotel reservations.

So as I mentioned before, people normally use comparison tables for more expensive baskets. The travel industry can be in that criteria too.

Since some hotel rooms or flights are non-refundable and may include fines, the comparison could be helpful for users to be sure about their purchase. This feature could decrease the expenses of the customer care center. Because by comparing, people can find the best option easier and faster without connecting to an agent for questioning or refund problems.

A well-designed feature comparison can increase sales and improve user satisfaction. If it managed to pick up an indecisive customer in a moment of doubt (before they drop, exit, or start looking around) and guide them properly to making a decision, then we are striving for a better customer experience.

Types of Comparison Tables

Static

They contain preselected products. For a small number of products your users will need to compare, you may want to create prebuilt, static comparison tables. Static comparison tables usually work well for membership levels or pricing packages.

With this kind of comparison table implementation, you’ll be able to control how the information is displayed on the page.

Dynamic

Dynamic tables allow users to select which items they want to see in the comparison table. They are suitable for situations where your product universe is larger than 5 items.

There are two popular ways of allowing users to select which items to add to the table include:

Compare buttons or checkboxes directly on the listing pages.
Direct manipulation of the items of interest: with this method, users can click or drag the products that they want to add to the comparison table.

Conclusion

There are tons of ways to help users on an OTA website. one of them is the comparison feature. With a well-designed comparison table, you can make users more satisfied while decreasing the operation cost. But! Never forget that when there are some issues with your user experience don’t rush to bring new features. First, fix everything you already have then add some spices.

hope you enjoy it. ❤

Comparing features in the travel industry was originally published in Bootcamp on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.