

Dear American Airlines... - kyro
http://dustincurtis.com/dear_american_airlines.html

======
mcargian
Nice rant, good PR for yourself. I guess it would be easy for anyone to
redesign this site if they threw all business and technical requirements out
the window as you have.

What are you supposed to do for one way trips? What if I am booking a multi-
city flight? What if its an award ticket with miles? What if I want to check
first class flights only? Flights with fully refundable fares? How do I check
fares for children? What if I want non-stops only? Have you tested your "when"
box with users? I can guarantee some of my less technical friends and family
members would have no idea what to put in that box.

If you want a simple tool, fly an airline that has simple routes. All of you
who love Southwest, go fly them. No one is forcing you to fly American. If you
don't think they are providing shareholder value, don't buy their shares.

Anyway, like I said, nice PR. You suckered me in.

~~~
dcurtis
You're right. Lots of research and testing would need to be done. This is just
a seed. I did think about a lot of this stuff, though.

For one-way flights, you just put one date in, rather than a range. As you
pointed out, this has some problems. I'm willing to live with them for this
mockup, though.

For multi-stop flights, you click the plus button next to the destination.
Users who are not looking for multi-stop flights would not be looking for a
way to add a destination, but the plus sign is just forward enough that if you
are, you would press it and find your answer.

For the more advanced filtering stuff, I think it would be best to add those
controls to the flights listing on the next page rather than clutter up the
front page and first impression a user gets. Simplicity with progressive
disclosure.

------
raganwald
I'm okay with the tone. One of my treasures is a book called "Ogilvy on
Advertising" by David Ogilvy. In it, he impales, flays, dices, and torches
campaigns and advertisements for various companies. His tone is less
confrontational than Dustin's, but given the age of the book, I think it's at
least as confrontational relative to the cultural standards of its time.

The book is now a classic, and Ogilvy built his eponymous firm into a
powerhouse on the back of his reputation for telling anyone and everyone who
would listen how terrible most advertising is, and how incompetent both
clients and agencies are.

And what kind of stuff did David Ogilvy advocate? Simplicity. He ranted and
raved about advertising that failed to pic a simple benefit and hammer it
home, advertising that failed to motivate the reader to act. I see Dustin's
rant in the same light, telling AA to get to the point and make it easy to fly
with them.

Dustin may or may not follow in Ogilvy's footsteps, but this kind of thing
certainly has precedent.

~~~
alexk
Yes! Forget the tone and focus on the quality of the customers feedback AA get
from this site, any company can only imagine the feedback like this, and AA
gets it right now and for free.

~~~
raganwald
Well, AA is unlikely to read it and fire their team based on Dustin's say-so
:-)

But from time to time companies wake up and smell the coffee all on their own.
AA may get fed up with their marketing team and "clean house" themselves,
hiring a new manager and looking for new outside talent like contractors and
consultants.

When that happens, the new team are often looking for people who think just
like them--that the old stuff was garbage and the old management inept. Dustin
could get a call under such circumstances.

~~~
jeremymims
Let's hope not. We like having him around at Frogmetrics. :-)

------
jrockway
Disclaimer: AA is one of my favorite companies to deal with, so perhaps I am
being too nice to them.

FWIW, I think this is BS. AA's website is not wonderful, but it's not hard to
use. I book about 50,000 miles worth of travel a year there, and each trip
only takes me a few minutes. My only complaint is that it won't remember my
password.

He also complains about the business model, with "ruby, sapphire, and emerald"
and "economy, business, and first" classes. This is how the legacy carriers
work. They have three-class longhaul flights, and yes, you have to pick which
class of service you want. They are also a member of an airline alliance,
complicating things a bit ("ruby, sapphire, and emerald" are not AA's elite
status, but rather the elite statuses that are recognized by oneworld, the
alliance they're in). (He neglects to mention AA's own elite levels, which is
odd -- the only place that you see notes about status is during seat
selection, and they use AA's terms for the status [Gold, Plat, Exec Plat], not
the oneworld terms.)

This complexity is why I fly AA nearly exclusively. Since I fly them a lot, I
get various privileges (free domestic upgrades, lounge access when travelling
internationally, all the BS fees waived, etc.). The complexity that being a
member of an airline alliance entails means that I get to earn miles (and
status) by flying BA in Europe, JAL to Japan, etc. When I have enough miles, I
can redeem them for something worthwhile, like a $14,000 first-class ticket.
(On the "less-complex" carriers, the best thing you can get with "miles" is a
domestic economy ticket. "Yay.")

Anyway, I don't think this guy knows much about flying. Perhaps AA's website
could better educate him... but most of these things have nothing to do with
the webiste. If you don't care about the specific benefits of flying AA, just
use a fare comparison site and pick the lowest fare. If you do care about AA's
benefits, read the documentation on their site. Either way, I don't think the
website or the legacy-carrier business model is harming the shareholders.

~~~
dcurtis
Sure, maybe you enjoy navigating their odd hierarchy of complex member
statuses. I'm pretty sure most people don't enjoy that. At the end of the day,
American Airlines loses 300 million dollars a quarter. They're doing something
wrong. And they have to fix it. They could start with fixing their customer
experience.

~~~
zcrar70
_They're doing something wrong. And they have to fix it. They could start with
fixing their customer experience._

They're definitely doing something wrong, and they definitely need to fix it.

I like your redesign, but I doubt that their existing design is what's losing
them 1.2 billion a year.

 _Treat this as a pandemic emergency across your entire company_ /
_Immediately fire your entire web team, if you have one_ / _[Booking a flight
on your website] disturbed me so deeply that I vowed never to fly your airline
again_

This comes across as hysterical and out of proportion with the problem at
hand. This detracts from your main points, and makes it more difficult for you
to be taken seriously.

------
imownbey
For someone who is angry about the UI of the AA site, the UI of your own site
could use some work. I can not click on any of the pictures, and instead I am
forced to click a giant "See the redesign" button. I also can not click on
your logo to get back to your homepage, even if I wanted to hire you I have no
idea how to get to a page that will tell me how.

~~~
dcurtis
You're right. It's pretty ironic. But it's my personal site, and I have
treated it more as a playground than anything serious. I felt that I was
allowed to neglect it.

However, in light of the attention I have received today, I'll be spending a
lot more time perfecting it in the future.

~~~
DTrejo
I'd love to be able to see a full size of that black and white screenshot of
the original for comparison.

~~~
dcurtis
It's just a screenshot of <http://aa.com>

------
absconditus
A much better example of how this is done:

<http://www.37signals.com/better/fedex/>

I suggest explaining your changes instead of aimlessly bitching.

~~~
kyro
You need explanations as to which one is better? Really?

'Cuz all I need is a 5yr. old and a 55yr. old to point to which one they think
is easier to use.

~~~
teej
Justifying your design decisions shows that you have good communication skills
and that your design was thought through, not just mindlessly designed to be
"prettier".

~~~
kyro
No one really cares about "We more clearly delineated required fields and
section groupings."

And I think many of the explanations are really recognized subconsciously
which lead us to favor one design over another. What you said reminds me of
the article about the Googlers who asked for reasons why they should use 3
pixel borders instead of 2.

~~~
potatolicious
> No one really cares about "We more clearly delineated required fields and
> section groupings."

I do. There are a lot of designers out there who are obsessed with making
things pretty and cutting-edge, but can't do proper UX to save their lives.
Show that you're not one of them by explaining your design.

> What you said reminds me of the article about the Googlers who asked for
> reasons why they should use 3 pixel borders instead of 2.

Which is a worthwhile question - there is a hard science behind user
interactions, it's not some magical, ephemeral art (though creativity
certainly plays a role). What users think is "prettier" or "preferable" may in
fact not be ideal in terms of usability.

Case in point: Amazon.com has an god-awfully ugly website, but it's been
proven time and time again to generate superior sales numbers. I'm sure we can
redesign it to be more Web 2.0 and aesthetically pleasing, but that's not the
goal of the business.

Similarly, in AA's case the goal is to sell flights - aesthetics matters very
little in this regard other than to establish your brand image.

I do agree AA's site is in dire need of overhaul - and I do like your design
from first glance - but you have failed to defend your position in any
worthwhile way. You have failed to point out examples of how the existing site
fails from a UI perspective (no, "it's obvious!" doesn't count), nor have you
suggested how your design improves upon these failings.

------
markessien
I like your redesign, it's very effective. But you're making a mistake in your
text - you're combining a personal approach with 'angry' text. By doing so,
you're creating an atmosphere you don't want, because people are observing a
personal fight between two people. I.e, you personify the airline, then also
use a personal tone, so people observe a fight, and the reactions to that will
always be negative.

Follow the rule: When you go personal, make it positive. When you need to go
negative, then go impersonal, allowing people to focus on the arguments you
are bringing.

~~~
dcurtis
I agree with you. But after my experience with American Airlines, I felt
personally insulted. This particular fight _is_ personal.

------
swombat
_But that's not all. You are breaking the law._

 _As a publicly traded corporation, it is your duty to realize the maximum
shareholder value possible._

Yeah, somehow I don't think that counts as "breaking the law".

~~~
dcurtis
I have since removed this section. Thanks.

------
tallanvor
So somehow he thinks that because he had problems using their site - a website
many people manage to navigate each day - they should treat it as a "pandemic
emergency" and change many aspects of their business because of it?

Don't get me wrong, their site could be much better, but Curtis doesn't seem
to have much sense of how things work in that place we like to call the "real
world".

------
Tichy
"Hello, you are stupid and I hate you, therefore you should let me consult for
you"

I'd be surprised if this works. Typically being nice to potential customers
should be a more promising approach.

~~~
wmeredith
I seriously doubt he wants to consult for them. This is good PR for _him_.
He's written off American Airlines as a client potential client and a past
customer.

~~~
mseebach
He comes across as arrogant and full of himself. The redesign is nice, but not
ground-breaking brilliant, and I can already hear him shrug and say, "well,
that's stupid" when he's told that a certain change has to be made for a
certain reason.

~~~
boundlessdreamz
yeah and as a previous comment said, he has thrown a lot of functionality out
of the window. <http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=614952>

------
imajes
Dear Dustin Curtis...

I looked at your rant at american for their poor usability and it was so
overflowing with hyperbole that I had to close the tab. You suggested that by
changing out american's design team, they might stop-gap their loss and regain
a new glory in the airline industry.

But you forgot to do one thing first: research.

If you had remembered to check out the brand core values you'd know that
american is really all about a killer rewards program. The majority of
customers seem to be repeats, all holding aadvantage member cards and willing
to plug away at that free flight to Cabo they've just been dreaming about.

Your design however doesn't address this need; not one single link, box or
other clever device on the page gets you into your account; the place where
the airline can customize your travel, offer you deals on the routes you fly
regularly and so on.

See, American isn't Southwest, VA or JetBlue - they know that their business
is based around repeat customers who all know how to work the system.

Yeah, it's a horrible looking site and yours definitely pops more. But hey,
you say it'll help save their losses: i think it'll make them worse.

Yours, an American customer

(BTW: if you were serious about envisaging a redesign of american and not just
taking a promo pot shot - then checkout the discussions on flyertalk.com -
you'll find people who travel american every day there.)

~~~
83457
"not one single link, box or other clever device on the page gets you into
your account"

I could be wrong but I would probably be tempted to click on "Your account" to
get to my account.

~~~
mikeryan
Added later? It seems Dustin is monitoring this thread.

~~~
Xichekolas
It was definitely there two hours ago when I first looked at it. (Which was a
good hour before imajes posted about it.)

~~~
imajes
Your account was definitely there after a second check. It is kinda obscured
as a 'normal' weighted link - and so i didn't see it on first glance. My point
though still stands: the experience of AA is geared around the points
gathering system, and any new design should reflect that :)

------
yef
Delete the snotty letter, it's not your main point. Also, remove the use of
their logo and trademarks or they're just going to have their lawyers send you
a letter telling you to take your page down. Use placeholders of the same
size.

Focus on the before and after redesign with visual callouts of what wasn't
working and how you fixed it.

Be professional.

~~~
thorax
Any response from AA.com may be his point and would serve well in drawing more
attention to his rant/redesign.

I agree that I'd like to see less rudeness overall, but I suspect that's the
marketing gimmick here to gain attention.

~~~
yef
I am frequently in the market for web design services, but I would never hire
an opinionated snot regardless of his talent. Be professional and save rants
for beers with friends.

~~~
jhickner
Nonsense. Since when is being opinionated something to be avoided? A rant like
this just shows you have passion, and maybe you're still young enough that you
haven't learned to keep your head down and pretend otherwise.

~~~
yef
When it gets in the way of effective collaboration. The way Dustin wrote his
letter, he portrays himself as someone who isn't interested in his client's
input. AA might have valid reasons for designing its site that way, based on
years of being in the airline business. Even if he's written off AA as a
potential client, he shouldn't alienate all potential clients by appearing so
opinionated. What if he had picked one of my websites to bash, without asking
me why I'd made certain decisions, proposing his own reasons for those
decisions, or at least reaching out and being civil? I wouldn't be too happy
at all. I'd have to waste time formulating a public response and managing my
image in the face of an unprovoked attack.

------
ojbyrne
As someone who works in the travel industry, it sometimes feels like basically
everyone stopped working on their websites around 2001. The investment was so
massive that there's a huge uphill battle to make any changes at all since
then.

------
Grodzman
I couldn't care for some of the copy. It seems like you wrote it right after
your horrible experience, so being a little dramatic is normal, but go through
it again and tone it down (now that you're a bit less frustrated).

With that out of the way, I think the redesign is wonderful, it really makes
the experience much less painful. Sure, some of the legacy classes of
travelers are an annoyance, and I'm sure if American Airlines had to do it
again, they wouldn't create so many sub-classes. Like dealing with real
clients, you simply have to accept some legacy standards and work around them
(maybe explain to me clearly the difference between classes).

Overall, it looks like you did a lot of work and I love the end result, could
you maybe post a little before/after with some details on what you decided to
cross out or move around?

Your friendly blogger, Vlad (vladg.com)

------
Quarrelsome
Not sure about firing the entire dev team. You don't even know what the back
office is like. Who would maintain the existing system or handle the change
over?

Just get some people to work on the design and work with the existing dev team
and sack the current design team.

~~~
dcurtis
You're right. I meant design team. I changed it from "web" to "design."

~~~
antidaily
Ever worked for a company of that size? I'm willing to bet their designers are
as frustrated as you.

~~~
thorax
I agree-- they're probably pulled in lots of different crazy directions by
marketing and branding teams who dictate how the site should look.

Firing that web design team shouldn't even be on the list-- it should be more
about firing the exec who didn't push hard enough internally to focus on
usability over all of the zillions of other priorities the front page of
aa.com would have.

------
sammyo
I use the AA site fairly often and am far from in love with it but I don't
care at all for the re-design. AA for me is work, sometimes painful work if I
need a booking for a bad family issue. A pretty island that I'll never get to
visit will often annoy. I want all the functionality immediately at hand, lots
of dense information is useful. They have, over the years, improved the date
handling so it's usually two clicks. Clicking through a few pages of options
gets to the information needed, it's often a long list of possible flights,
but I'd really be unhappy if it was filtered and niced up so I missed an
option. Now his design for AAHappyBubbleVaca.com would be just right.... (oh,
sorry for the snark)

------
reitzensteinm
Hey, that article had pretty bad usability itself. I skimmed, was unable to
find the point through the hyperbole quickly and closed the tab.

EDIT: just to be clear, the article's been updated and this no longer applies.

~~~
kyro
Actually, if you would've suppressed your desire to quickly jump back here and
make a snarky remark, you would've found that the redesign he offered is
worlds better, both from an aesthetic and usability standpoint.

You'd think a company, especially in the airline market and one whose profits
probably rely significantly on online ticket sales, would make it a priority
to invest time and money, a trivial amount really to them, into making sure
the online experience is as best as it can be.

~~~
reitzensteinm
The redesign is much better, but I don't appologize for the snarky remark.
Starting out with 5 paragraphs of a hyperbolic and fluffy rant when you're
criticising another company for having a cluttered site is insane. What ever
happened to bottom line up front?

Dustin did a great redesign, then wrote the article seemingly based on the
premise that he had built in credibility. What else explains the wall of self
indulgent text, basically celebrating his victory over the AA designers before
it's even been established? If I know who he is and I stopped reading, who in
American Airlines is going to get to the bottom?

I don't know, maybe I overreacted, but I did tell the truth about closing the
tab. I didn't make it to the redesign the first time I looked at the page, and
the snarky remark wasn't to get points, it was more made out of disgust. If
you look through my comment history, you'll probably see this is rare for me.

~~~
ScottWhigham
I like the redesign quite a bit but #### - the copy was just whiny. "Recently,
I had the horrific displeasure of booking a flight on your website, aa.com.
The experience disturbed me so deeply that I vowed never to fly your airline
again." Not one single human reading that sentence believes it. And I can
guess that most people reading it had the same thoughts I did: "Oh give me a
break... {closes page}". I did close the page and came back to the comments
here at HN trying to figure out what this was about. After reading a couple of
comments, I re-opened and saw the re-design and liked it. But I did close the
tab after reading that sentence lol.

I also laughed when I read, "Your website is abusive to your customers..." No,
it isn't; that's just more drama/hyperbole. As someone else said, thousands
and thousands of people use that website every day and, in case he isn't
aware, that site design has been around for at least two years. I've used it
countless times and, while it will win no awards for usability or design, I
can accomplish what I need without resorting to cursing generally.

------
Alterlife
Note that AA has slightly different interfaces for countries other than the
US:

this website is for India:
<http://www.americanairlines.in/aa/intl/in/index.jsp>

Here's the country selection page:
[http://www.aa.com/aa/international/internationalSplashAccess...](http://www.aa.com/aa/international/internationalSplashAccess.do)

------
sireat
Slightly offtopic, but for an example of truly ugly design see
<http://www.ryanair.com/site/EN/>

As Dolly Parton said, you have to spend a lot to look that cheap...

------
llimllib
The ironic thing to me is that they spend a bajillion dollars every few years
redesigning their stewardess' outfits and making sure they get tons of pub for
it, but the web site gets nowhere near the same amount of attention.

~~~
anigbrowl
The majority of people are much, much more interested in clothes than
websites. Do you think fashionistas and clothing obsessives are a bunch of
pretentious wankers? Well, that's how the general public feels about online
designers. Very few people think, or care, about user interfaces, but everyone
has the experience of wearing clothes, so such information seems vastly more
relevant.

------
ngrandy
yes. a lot of airline and travel websites have awful, inexcusable user
interfaces, and they could use a good kick in the pants. similar frustrations
inspired us to build tripeedo.com, a better user experience for travel search.

