Destination or journey: which one do you design for?

In his latest website celebrity death match, our Dave pits the user experience of Ryanair against that of JetBlue. Who comes out top?

Same business model, different approach.

Although both sites have a similar business model (cheap flights), they each frame it slightly differently. One’s designed for the destination, the other for the journey. Can you tell which is which?

Screen shot of Jet Blue website

Screen shot of Ryan Air website

Other examples: CD Wow! versus Amazon

What about CD WOW! versus Amazon? Are they distinctly different?

Screen shot of CD Wow website

Screen shot of amazon website

Have you any examples?

Have you any similar contrasting examples of designing for the destination versus the journey? We’d love to hear your comments…

5 Comments

  1. I know I should know this, but what do you mean by designing for the destination versus the journey?

  2. @Maya: thanks for the examples, I think the Dove campaign for real beauty is a really good example of the journey, telling a real human story and more, importantly, getting the public to tell that story for you.

    @Colman:On Amazon, they have invested heavily in the user experience, so if I’m thinking of buying a CD, I’ll check out what other people think of it through reviews, and perhaps pick up another CD through the serendipitous “Perfect partner” or “Customers who bought this item also bought…”

    At the end of the day, it’s still about making the sale, the difference is how you entice the customer.

    You pays your money, you takes your choice!

  3. They seem to have launched a new site since you wrote this:

    http://www.ryanair.com/

  4. Dammit!

    They have a habit of doing this. The IRFU did the same soon after Colman’s post back in November.

    http://tinyurl.com/2lxm56

    Gone the gharish yellow, thank God, but still overly crowded, IMHO