Tips, Expertise, Articles and Advice from the Pro's for Your Website or Blog to Succeed
Knowing the different techniques for scaling databases, help us to choose the appropriate strategy to adapt to our needs and purpose.
Hence, in this post, we will demonstrate different solutions and techniques for scaling databases server. They are divided between reading and writing strategies.
API Management projects are straightforward. It's all about exchanging data from system A to system B. But that's without taking into account the fact that an API Management project involves a large number of players, which creates complexity.
To begin with, we can list the typical players involved:
I primarily use IntelliJ for the majority of my work nowadays. This integrated editor and development environment offers numerous excellent features, one of which is the live templates feature. I have chosen to assist Jamal with the implementation of live templates.
Within this article, I will elucidate the methodology I have devised for editing and maintaining the live templates.
Microservices architectures have gained popularity due to their scalability, agility, and flexibility. However, with these architectures' increased distribution and complexity, ensuring robust security measures becomes paramount. The security of microservices extends beyond traditional approaches, requiring a comprehensive strategy to protect against evolving threats and vulnerabilities. Organizations can fortify their microservices architecture and safeguard sensitive data and resources by understanding the core principles and adopting effective security measures.
Microservices refers to a software development architecture style in which applications are created as a collection of small, independent services that connect via well-defined APIs (Application Programming Interfaces). Each microservice is responsible for a distinct business capability and may be created, implemented, and expanded independently of other services (Sascha Möllering, 2021). Microservices allow applications to be divided into smaller, manageable components, which can be independently scaled based on demand. This scalability enables organizations to respond quickly to changes and handle high-traffic loads more effectively.
In this post, we explore what database schema change is all about and provide an overview of its history, tools and challenges, and the path toward a modern schema migration solution.
All jokes aside, as a developer, your focus is on creating the code that makes your application work. But for your application to be useful, it needs to work with data, usually lots of it. And that data needs to be well organized and fully accessible in your database for your application to perform properly.
Industry 4.0 is the playground where innovation and interconnectivity converge, turning possibilities into realities and preparing us for the future of machines.
It is testifying the applicability of intelligent automation and addressing one of the most significant challenges of our digital age, data silos.
Azure Cosmos DB is a highly scalable and globally distributed NoSQL database service offered by Microsoft. To ensure optimal performance and scalability of applications running on Cosmos DB, it's crucial to employ effective performance optimization techniques. In this blog post, we will explore best practices and tips for optimizing performance in Azure Cosmos DB.
As with the other databases, indexing is the first go-to option to improve query performance. The same is the case with Cosmos DB as well. Below are a few points which you can leverage to optimize the indexing strategy for Cosmos DB.
Let us talk about GitLab…
The web-based DevOps platform GitLab offers an entire suite of tools for software development, version control, continuous integration, delivery (CI/CD), and communication. Based on Git, the well-known distributed version control system, provides a centralized repository management solution.
The requirement for monitoring, identifying harmful behaviors, and preventing or notifying of these activities is growing quickly as the number of malicious insider and external attacks rises. The threat landscape is constantly changing, making strong security monitoring and detection solutions essential. Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) and Cloud Access Security Broker (CASB) are two essential technologies that support this effort. While they both aim to improve security visibility and posture, their scopes and functionality are different. Let's examine their similarities and differences, recognize the advantages of each, and see how these two approaches might be combined to improve the security infrastructure of an organization.
The problem of protecting company data from malicious insiders or outside attackers is one that these two powerful solutions address on two separate sides. The two technologies work well together. These days, the majority of insider leaks involve transferring data from a cloud or SaaS application to an endpoint and then to another cloud or web destination.
The mobile app landscape has never been more dynamic, with an ever-increasing number of platforms and devices vying for users' attention. So how do you stay ahead of the curve as a developer? The answer lies in leveraging emerging cross-platform tools that can help you build better, more integrated apps with greater ease and speed than ever before. In this blog post, we explore some of the most exciting cross-platform tools on the market today and discuss how they can help elevate your mobile development game to new heights. Whether you're a seasoned pro or just starting out, these tools offer something for everyone looking to seize the full potential of their app-building capabilities.
In the realm of mobile app development, “cross-platform” refers to the ability to create an app that can be used on multiple mobile operating systems. This is in contrast to “native” app development, which creates an app specifically for one operating system.
Successful data integration requires a comprehensive understanding of potential pitfalls and the implementation of strategies to overcome or avoid them. By delving into some of the pitfalls identified in this article, we aim to equip you with the knowledge and tools necessary to tackle these challenges head-on. From data format mismatches to data architecture alignment, we will examine the causes and impact and offer practical solutions to mitigate risks and optimize your integration efforts.
Join us on this journey as we uncover the intricacies of data integration pitfalls and empower you to navigate them with confidence. Let's dive in and explore the strategies and insights that will set the stage for successful data integration initiatives.
This is the July 2023 edition of “This Month in WordPress with CodeinWP.” This month, Jetpack added a new AI writing assistant that all WordPress users can access, WordPress.com made some of its monetization features available for free, and reusable blocks are getting a rebrand.
Are you looking for a way to sell car parts online on your WordPress website?
If you have an automotive business, then a website is a great way to reach new customers. It can also improve the customer experience by allowing car owners to look through your entire catalog and order auto parts online.
In this article, we will show you how to sell car parts online with WordPress.
There are many website builders that you can use to sell car parts online, but we recommend using WordPress.
According to our blogging research statistics, WordPress is the most popular website platform in the world. It powers nearly 43% of all websites, including many of the top eCommerce websites.
WordPress is also open-source and free, so you will have bigger profit margins. For more on this topic, see our article on why WordPress is free.
However, just be aware there are two types of WordPress software. First, there is WordPress.com, which is a blog hosting platform. Then, there is WordPress.org, which is also known as self-hosted WordPress.
For a detailed comparison, please see our guide on the difference between WordPress.com and WordPress.org.
For an eCommerce site, we recommend using WordPress.org because it gives you complete ownership of your website and online store. You can also install third-party plugins, including the popular WooCommerce eCommerce plugin.
According to our WordPress market share report, WooCommerce is used by 8.8% of all websites, which makes it more popular than Shopify for online stores and eCommerce sites.
To learn more about why we recommend WordPress to all our readers, please see our complete WordPress review.
We will now show you how to sell car parts online with WordPress. You can use the quick links below to jump to the different parts of the article:
To start selling car parts online, you will need a domain name and web hosting.
A domain name is your store’s address on the internet. This is what customers will type into their browsers to reach your website, such as www.carparts.com or www.buyautoparts.com.
Web hosting is where your site lives online. To help you find the right hosting for your business, we have created a complete list of the best WordPress hosting that you can buy.
Although the WordPress software is free, hosting and domain names are where the costs can really start to add up.
A domain name typically costs $14.99/year, and hosting costs start from $7.99/month. This can make it difficult if you are a new business or have a limited budget.
Thankfully, Bluehost is offering our readers 60% off web hosting, plus a free domain name. Bluehost is one of the largest hosting companies in the world and an official WordPress-recommended hosting partner.
They are also offering our users a free SSL certificate. If you want to sell car parts online, then an SSL certificate is essential for keeping customer credit and debit card information safe.
You can click the button below to get started for as little as $2.75 per month.
Once on the Bluehost website, click the green ‘Get Started Now’ button.
This will bring you to the Bluehost pricing page, where you can choose a hosting plan for your auto part business.
We recommend choosing a Basic or Plus plan, as they are the most popular web hosting plans among our readers.
After selecting a plan, click on ‘Continue.’
On the next screen, you will need to choose a domain name.
Ideally, your domain name will be easy to pronounce, spell, remember, and relate to your business. The name of your auto parts business is a great place to start, but sometimes that domain may already be taken by another business website.
In that case, you can try extending the domain name by adding your location, what makes your auto parts business unique, or some extra keywords. If you need some inspiration, then check out our guide on how to choose the best domain name.
After choosing a name, click on the ‘Next’ button to continue.
Now you will need to provide your account information, such as your name and business email address. After that, you will also see optional extras that you can buy.
We generally don’t recommend buying these extras straight away, as you can always add them later if your business needs them.
After that, type in your payment information to complete the purchase.
After a few moments, you will get an email with instructions on how to log in to your web hosting control panel. This is your hosting account dashboard, where you can manage your car parts website, including setting up email notifications and asking for WordPress support.
It’s also where you will install the WordPress software, so let’s do that now.
If you sign up with Bluehost using our link, then Bluehost installs WordPress on your domain name automatically.
If you want to create a different WordPress website, then go ahead and click on the ‘My Sites’ tab in the Bluehost dashboard.
After that, you need to click on the ‘Add Site’ button and select ‘Create New Site.’
The Bluehost wizard will now walk you through the setup process.
First, you will need to type in a site title and an optional tagline.
When you are ready, just click on the ‘Next’ button to continue.
After that, Bluehost will ask you to choose a domain name and path for your car parts website. If you already own a domain name, then go ahead and select it from the dropdown menu.
If you don’t have a domain name, then you can buy one by visiting the ‘Domains’ page inside the Bluehost dashboard.
After choosing a domain name, you can leave the directory path blank and let Bluehost fill it in for you.
The installer will also show a few plugins that you may want to install on your car parts website, including WPForms. Many of these are must-have WordPress plugins that can help you grow your business and get more sales, so we recommend installing them.
When you are ready, click on the ‘Next’ button, and the installer will set up your car parts website. Once it’s finished, you will see a ‘WordPress installed successfully’ message with information about your new website.
You can now go ahead and click on the ‘Log into WordPress’ button, which takes you to your site’s admin dashboard.
You can also log in to the WordPress dashboard by going to yoursite.com/wp-admin/ in your web browser.
If you are using a different WordPress website host, such as SiteGround, Hostinger, HostGator, or WP Engine, then you can see our complete guide on how to install WordPress for all the top hosting providers.
Now that you have successfully set up WordPress, you are ready to start building your automotive parts website.
WordPress themes are professionally-designed templates that change how your automotive website looks and acts.
By default, each WordPress site comes with a basic theme. If you visit your website now, then you will see something like the following image.
If you want to make a great first impression with customers and get more sales, then it’s a good idea to replace the default WordPress theme.
There are lots of different premium and free WordPress business themes to choose from. You can generally categorize these as niche industry themes or multipurpose WordPress themes.
Your typical automotive website needs special features, like the ability to show listings, support for popular eCommerce plugins, and a VIN decoder tool.
With that in mind, it makes sense to look for a theme that’s designed for the car industry. To help you out, we have collected the best WordPress themes for car dealerships and the best themes for auto repair.
You can also use a website and landing page builder plugin like SeedProd.
SeedProd is the best drag and drop WordPress page builder and comes with built-in templates that you can use to create a professionally-designed car parts website.
It even has a template that’s designed specifically for the car industry.
Once you have chosen a theme, check out our step-by-step guide on how to install a WordPress theme. After installing your theme, you can customize it by going to Appearance » Customize in the WordPress dashboard.
This will open the theme customizer, where you can fine-tune the theme settings and see your changes instantly, thanks to the live preview.
If you are using one of the newer full site editing themes, then you can customize your theme by going to Appearance » Editor. This launches the full site editor, which uses blocks similar to the content editor.
Pro Tip: No matter which theme you are using, you can’t edit it by default using advanced drag and drop. For that reason, we recommend using a page builder like SeedProd instead.
WordPress has two default content types called posts and pages.
You will typically use posts to create articles and blogs. By default, the home page will show these posts in reverse chronological order, so the newest content appears at the top of the home page.
Blogging can help you build a stronger relationship with your customers, improve your WordPress SEO, and get more traffic to your automotive website.
For example, you might share tips on how to diagnose common car problems or blog about the latest industry trends.
However, even if you plan to blog, you typically don’t want to show those posts on your automotive website’s home page. Instead, we recommend creating a custom home page that introduces your car parts business to potential new customers.
For step-by-step instructions on how to create an attention-grabbing auto parts home page, please see our guide on how to create a custom home page in WordPress.
Once you are happy with how the page looks, it’s time to set it as your home page. To do this, head over to Settings » Reading in the WordPress dashboard.
On this screen, you need to scroll to ‘Your homepage settings’ and select ‘A static page.’
With that done, just open the ‘Homepage’ dropdown and choose the page you want to use.
After that, scroll to the bottom of the screen and click on ‘Save Changes.’ Now, if you visit your auto parts website, then you will see the new home page in action.
If you are going to write blogs, then you should also make sure to create a separate blog page to show your posts.
WordPress doesn’t have eCommerce features by default, so you will need a plugin to sell car parts online. The easiest way to sell physical products is by using WooCommerce.
WooCommerce is the most popular eCommerce plugin in the world and has everything you need to sell car parts online.
First, you will need to install and activate the WooCommerce plugin. If you need help, then please see our guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.
Upon activation, you will see the WooCommerce setup wizard. The first thing you will need to do is type in your store’s location.
After that, click on the ‘Continue’ button.
On the next screen, you can select your industry. Since you are going to sell car parts online, you will typically want to check the box next to ‘Other.’
After that, type your industry into the ‘Description’ field.
With that done, click on ‘Continue.’
You can use WooCommerce to sell all kinds of products, including digital downloads, bookings, and WooCommerce subscriptions.
However, since you are selling automotive parts, make sure to check the ‘Physical products’ box.
When you are happy with the information you have entered, click on ‘Continue.’
With that done, you can choose how many products you plan to sell and whether you are currently selling anywhere else.
After entering this information, just click on the ‘Continue’ button.
The setup wizard will now recommend some business features that you can add to your online store. These features are free, so we recommend selecting the following checkbox ‘Add recommended business features to my site.’
When you are happy with the information you have entered, simply click on ‘Continue’ to set up your online store.
Next, you can add shipping options by going to WooCommerce » Settings.
Here, you need to click on the ‘Shipping’ tab.
With that done, select ‘Add shipping zone.’
On the next screen, type in a name for the zone and select one or more regions from the dropdown menu.
Once you have done that, simply click on the ‘Add shipping method’ button.
Now, you will see different shipping methods in the dropdown menu. You can choose between a flat rate, free shipping, or even offer local pickup.
Select your preferred shipping method and click ‘Add shipping method.’
WooCommerce will now add your chosen shipping method to the shipping zone.
To configure the shipping method, simply hover over it and then click the ‘Edit’ button.
You will see a popup with more settings you can use.
The settings will vary depending on the shipping method you choose. For example, if you select ‘Flat rate’, then you can change the method title, add a tax status, and enter the total shipping cost.
After entering this information, go ahead and click on ‘Save changes.’
You can create as many shipping zones as you want by repeating these steps.
Next, you need to add payment options so that customers can buy your car parts online. To get started, head over to WooCommerce » Settings and select the ‘Payments’ tab.
This opens a screen with all the different payment methods and WooCommerce payment gateways that you can use.
Simply find the method you want to enable and click on its ‘Finish set up’ button.
You can now set up this payment method by following the onscreen instructions.
When you are finished, don’t forget to click on the ‘Save changes’ button.
To make the payment method live on your site, click on the ‘Payments’ tab.
Then, simply click on the method’s toggle so it turns from grey (disabled) to purple (enabled).
To get more sales in your online store, you may want to offer multiple payment methods. For example, you might accept credit card payments on your WordPress site, plus cash on delivery.
To add more payment methods, simply follow the same process described above.
By default, WooCommerce creates each product as a ‘Simple Product.’ However, you will probably want to offer the same car part for multiple models or brands.
The easiest way to do this is by creating a variable product. This allows customers to visit a single product listing and then choose the right product variation for their car, as you can see in the following image.
To create variable products, you will first need to set up attributes and attribute terms.
For example, if you are selling tires, then you might make a ‘Season’ attribute and then add ‘Winter’ and ‘Summer’ as the attribute terms.
This will allow customers to choose between winter tires and summer tires.
You might also create a ‘Model’ attribute and then add each car model as an attribute term.
By adding attributes and attribute terms to your online store in advance, you will find it easier to create variable products later.
With that being said, head over to Products » Attributes. You can now type a title for the attribute into the ‘Title’ field. This will appear on your product pages, so make sure you use something descriptive.
For more on this topic, see our guide on how to add product attributes to WooCommerce.
When you are happy with the information you have entered, click on ‘Add attribute.’
This attribute will now appear towards the right of the screen.
Next, go ahead and click on the ‘Configure terms’ link.
This brings up a screen similar to the main attribute screen, where you can start adding attribute terms.
To start, type the term’s title into the ‘Name’ field.
When you are happy with the information you have typed in, just click on the ‘Add new…’ button.
Simply repeat the above steps to create more attribute terms. You can also create as many product attributes as you want and then add unique terms to those attributes.
After creating some product attributes and terms, you are ready to start adding car parts to your online store. You can add each product manually or import WooCommerce products from a template, CSV file, or another service.
In this guide, we will show you how to add car parts to your store manually, so start by going to Products » Add New.
On this screen, start by typing in the product name. This will appear at the top of the product page, so visitors will be able to see it.
After that, type in a description and add a product image.
If you want to show multiple images, then you can click on ‘Add product gallery images.’ You can even add interactive 360-degree images in WordPress.
After that, it’s a good idea to add categories and tags to the product. These will help customers find the right products on your car parts site, like categories and tags for WordPress pages.
Simply click on the ‘Add new category’ link and then create a new category for the car part you are adding.
After that, you can type each tag into the ‘Product tags’ box and click on ‘Add.’
To add multiple product categories and tags, simply repeat the same steps described above.
After that, scroll to the ‘Product Data’ box.
To create a variable product, simply click on the dropdown that shows ‘Simple product’ by default. Then, select ‘Variable product.’
You can now select the product type, add pricing, shipping costs, grouped products, and other information.
After entering all this information, you are ready to create variations by selecting the ‘Attributes’ tab. Here, open the ‘Add existing’ dropdown menu.
You can now go ahead and select the product attribute you want to use.
In the ‘Value(s)’ field, type in each term you want to use. When the right term appears, click to add it to the product.
With that done, click on the ‘Save attributes’ button.
To add more product attributes and terms, simply repeat the above steps.
With that done, click on the ‘Variations’ tab.
On this screen, go ahead and click on ‘Generate variations.’
WooCommerce will now create variations using all the attributes you added to the product.
To set up each variation, click on its ‘Edit’ link.
You can now add the variation’s price, upload an image, set the shipping options, and more using the settings in this section.
Simply repeat this process to configure each product variation.
There are lots more settings you can use to fine-tune the variable product. However, this is all you need to add a car part to your online store.
When you are ready to make the product live, go ahead and click on the ‘Publish’ button.
If you visit your online store, you will see the variable product live.
To add more car parts to your online store, simply repeat these steps.
Customers might sometimes need to talk to you directly. For example, they may want to find out when a particular part will be back in stock or get some advice on a mechanical problem.
While visitors could call your business phone number, it’s still a good idea to add a contact form to your website.
Most of the best contact form plugins come with built-in spam protection, so you won’t get any contact form spam. A form will also collect consistent information, so you will have all the data you need to write a helpful reply.
The easiest way to create a contact form is by using the free WPForms plugin. This plugin has a built-in Simply Contact Form template that you can quickly customize using the drag and drop editor.
After that, just add the form to any page, post, or widget-ready area using the ready-made WPForms block.
For detailed instructions, see our guide on how to create a contact form in WordPress.
After adding some content to your car parts website, you will want to help visitors find their way around those pages and posts by adding a navigation menu.
No matter which theme you are using, it’s easy to add menus and sub-menus to your automotive website.
For a complete guide, please see our post on how to add a navigation menu.
WooCommerce has a built-in search feature, but it’s not very good at finding products. It doesn’t look for matches in product attributes, reviews, custom fields, or product descriptions.
By replacing the default search with a smarter and faster search, you can help customers find the exact car parts they need. This will improve the customer experience and help you get more sales.
The easiest way to create a smart WooCommerce product search is by using SearchWP. SearchWP is the best WordPress search plugin on the market and puts you in complete control of the WordPress search algorithm.
By default, SearchWP will look at the product title, content (description), slug, and excerpt (short description) for matches.
Plus, you can customize the SearchWP settings to look for matches in custom fields, taxonomies, customer reviews, product tags, and more.
For more information, please check out our guide on how to make a smart WooCommerce product search.
Reviews are some of the best ways to earn customer trust and convince visitors to buy car parts from your website. After all, we are more likely to buy things that we see other people buying, using, or recommending.
If you already have reviews on platforms like Facebook, Yelp, and Google, then it’s easy to display them on your WordPress site using Smash Balloon Reviews Feed Pro.
Reviews Feed Pro is one of the best customer review plugins for WordPress that you can use.
It will collect reviews automatically and then organize them into a nice layout on your automotive website. You can also completely customize the review feed so that it perfectly fits with your site.
For more details, please see our guide on how to show Google, Facebook, and Yelp reviews.
We hope this tutorial helped you learn how to sell car parts online with WordPress. You may also want to learn how to create a WooCommerce popup to increase sales or check out our list of the best WooCommerce plugins for your store.
If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.
The post How to Sell Car Parts Online With WordPress (Step by Step) first appeared on WPBeginner.
The topic of flight search has been on our workbench before. Back in 2015, part of us worked on the design strategy of Lufthansa Group. In 2017, airberlin became one of our first clients. Together with the team, we redesigned their digital world from scratch: flight search, booking process, homepage, and much more.
What was considered too progressive in 2016 celebrated its first successes in 2017. Six years later, in 2023, it is now being expanded as a case study by DUMBO.
Note: This is a fictitious case study undertaken on our own initiative and was neither developed nor launched. With this study, we want to question habits, break down barriers and offer new food for thought to improve interactions.
A Flight Search ObservationIf you, like most, have searched for a flight at some point, you are familiar with the usual song and dance involved with playing with the search criteria in order to score an optimal search result. If I change the travel date, will it be cheaper? If I depart from a different airport, will the flights be less-full? As a result, the hunt is a never-ending combination of viewing results, making further refinements, and constantly changing the search criteria. So, do you see yourself here? Twenty-nine students who took part in the study “Online Search Behaviour in the Air Travel Market: Reconsidering the Consideration Set and Customer Journey Concepts” certainly did.
According to the 2017 study, flight search algorithms cover a dynamic solution space with often more than a thousand possibilities that can change rapidly, cutting it down based on user criteria. Users, on the other hand, go through three rounds of refinement on average, filtering and refining search criteria, comparing possibilities, and making trade-off judgments. The analyzed flight searches are insufficient to support the final decision: users must still make judgments and trade-offs depending on their personal preferences and priorities. The study emphasizes the importance of improved interfaces with decision support up to the final decision in order to improve the flight search experience.
Frontstage: What We Can SeeWhen we observe people booking flights, we notice unpleasant side effects and interesting user hacks.
It takes a look behind the curtain to find out that there are numerous technical and business constraints that have an enormous impact on flight search. Rather than years of usability engineering, the search experience is largely determined by third-party booking systems, dynamic pricing, and cost-per-request mechanics.
The classic flight search pattern inevitably leads to a frustrating trial-and-error loop.
Flight searches are structured in such a way that it is highly unlikely that a customer can find a suitable flight straight away because it presupposes that the traveler has entered all price-relevant information before submitting the search query.
The dilemma: this price-relevant information affects availability, travel time, and service. At the same time, they are factors for the traveler that can be changed depending on the result and personal preferences and flexibility. As a result, travelers develop their own user hacks to compare different search parameters and weigh the trade-off between price and convenience.
How can we give travelers a better flight search experience? Our pitch is The Balancing Act: a guided dialogue between traveler and airline. Strap in — we’re taking a deep dive.
The Flight Search Redesign: Introducing The “Balancing Act”What makes a search successful? It’s an increasingly important question in the age of global travel and its limitless possibilities. We focus on finding your personal solution. It puts the traveler, their occasion, and their budget at the center of the interaction and looks at how well the flight offer fits. To do this, we fundamentally change the tailoring of the interaction with travelers. We break down the search form into individual tasks and change the sequence of interactions. This allows a more balanced approach between friction and progress.
Let’s start the flight search with the only question whose answer is not up for discussion: Where to? Knowing where you want to go, we might be able to help you to weigh up every further detail in terms of cost and convenience. This will allow you to make conscious decisions.
DUMBO (2023). Enter flight search by entering the destination. [Design Mockup] (Large preview)
We will find the best departure point for you. Depending on where you want to go, where you plan to stay, and at what prices and conditions, we might be able to offer alternative routes that are easy on your wallet and get you to your destination comfortably and quickly.
DUMBO (2023). Origin airport selection, including alternatives. [Design Mockup] (Large preview)
Airplanes are almost always in the air, but they are not always the same. For some journeys, you are time-bound; for others — not. Best-price calendars, travel times, expected load factors (and much more) might help you to find the best flight for your journey.
DUMBO (2023). The date picker includes different views to highlight data according to personal preferences. [Design Mockup] (Large preview)
We will react as quickly as possible. Even before we talk about the number of passengers, deposit access codes, or create multi-stop flights, you should have an idea of whether there is a suitable flight for you.
DUMBO (2023). Flight plan with prices being subsequently loaded. [Design Mockup] (Large preview)
This Is How We Get There: Step By Step
To redesign the interface, we need to uncover the structure of the interaction moment. For this, we use the Interaction Archetypes framework to help us align our design with the underlying usage intention — the strongest driver for user interaction.
The task is to find a suitable flight. We see that this usually takes several attempts and is achieved with the help of different search platforms and flight brokers. This shows that we are clearly in a weighing phase when searching for a flight. Different flights, routes, and times are weighed against travel planning criteria as well as personal preferences and limiting factors of the traveler.
The intention of use is a key determinant of interaction. The better we tailor our interface to the intention of use, the higher the probability that the interaction will be successful. Research findings show that usage intentions for digital applications can be assigned to three categories: “Act,” “Understand,” and “Explore.”
In our case, we can clearly attribute the flight search to the “Act” usage intention: users have a specific task and want to make progress in completing that task as quickly as possible. Flight search is characterized by a clear goal. Travelers want to get an overview of the available flights to find the best option for their specific solution space. They take a structured approach and selectively change search parameters to uncover inconsistencies and explore the limits of what is available.
Changing various parameters shows that the solution space for this task is multi-dimensional. And not just that, on closer inspection, it becomes clear that a flight search is a hierarchical step process: a so-called “Analytic Hierarchy Process.” We assume that decision-making tasks are sequential. The traveler works his way from decision level to decision level. All levels of the flight search are causally related.
Flight search is inextricably linked to flight booking, which in turn is linked to travel to and from the destination. The primary goal of travelers is “to arrive.” Here, we observe the same causal relationship that we have already seen with the success factors. We are also dealing with a hierarchical step process.
This means that before they start looking for a flight, travelers have already considered the destination, the time of travel, the duration of the trip, and the travel costs. Travelers, therefore, usually have a kind of hidden agenda, which they consciously or subconsciously review in the course of their flight search.
If we consider the problem and the context in which the interface is used, three hypotheses emerge. They open up a solution space for the flight search:
What we currently see in the airline and flight industry space is that search now assumes that its parameters meet fixed criteria. Accordingly, a “successful” search is given if it is able to deliver a result based on the ten declarations. In interaction, however, travelers behave in a way that contradicts this assumption.
The decision-making levels through which travelers approach their destination provide information about it. They are hierarchical and causally related.
Each individual decision is the result of a trade-off between price and convenience. A successful search is, therefore, the smallest compromise.
So if we create space for trade-offs through interaction, we should be able to make the flight search more targeted to the traveler’s needs. This raises three major design opportunities:
We say goodbye to the predominant route indication of a flight search and ask in the first step: Where do you want to travel to? We quickly realized that the “where to” question fits the mental model of travelers and can serve as a springboard for goal-oriented interaction. Only if we bring travelers closer to their destination can the airline make a relevant offer.
But that’s not all: We completely remove the search form and lead travelers to their flight in a dialogue. Following the decision-making levels, we ask for four pieces of information one after the other, on the basis of which we can generate a suitable flight plan:
Each entry is given our full attention. This reduces the cognitive load and creates space for content, even on small devices. This, in turn, is only possible if the effort per input is less for the user than the added value generated in each case.
If we orchestrate this information along the decision-making levels of travelers and understand their causality, we can consciously bring about partial decisions. Meanwhile, on the way to the individual solution space, we create four moments of success:
Further queries are refrained from in favor of the offer. All other criteria can be used to adjust the results while maintaining the flight schedule. These criteria are preselected based on the most frequent flight bookings or personal flight behavior.
To make well-informed decisions, travelers need to be aware of the consequences of their choices in the flight booking process. This means they need to understand the impact of their partial decision (date, departure location, airport) on the expected outcome. The better they can do this, the easier it is for them to weigh up. Ultimately, the best flight is the result of a personal trade-off between convenience and cost.
If you live in western Germany, there are five possible departure points within a 90-minute radius. Frankfurt and Düsseldorf are two major hubs among them. So the departure airport is extremely flexible and raises questions:
Based on geolocation and the route network, conclusions can be drawn about a suitable departure airport depending on the destination. To do this, we look at nearby airports and rate them according to comfort and price. In addition, the travel time and the airline also play a role.
And that’s not all. We could place targeted offers, which could allow the airline to drive competition or control the load factor across the organization. In this way, attractive incentives can be created with the help of discounts, therefore positively influencing the actions of travelers.
The travel period is probably the most obscure and yet most important parameter for travelers, yet it is also the most essential factor in determining airfare and availability. A single day earlier or later can quickly add up to several hundred euros. This can have a critical impact on travel planning.
We don’t want travelers to have to correct their search later, so we add additional indicators to the date selection. First and foremost, there is a price display that is broken down daily for outbound and return flights.
Travel planning does not always leave room for maneuver. Therefore, early indicators of availability are all the more important. For this purpose, we mark days on which the destination is not served as well as days with particularly high load factors. In this way, we can set impulses at an early stage of travel planning to avoid negative booking experiences.
A “One-Way Flight” can be more expensive than a “Return Flight.” We consider the option “One-Way Flight” within the date selection. This is because it is an alternative to a return flight. And the associated price is an important piece of information to consider when travelers are weighing options.
Even before the flight plan has been loaded, we put all options on the table. This is how we offer maximum price transparency.
Disclaimer: Multi-stop flights were not considered in this case study.
If we communicate flights and their prices prior to checking whether the flight is not yet fully booked or the prices have changed, there is a risk that the offer will have to be corrected. Usually, all of us want to make statements that can be fulfilled. But it needs a tolerance for errors in communication in order to provide volatile flight data as quickly as possible.
The following example: A flight is supposed to have a price of 300 euros, or so it was the day before. In the meantime, the prices have changed, and the flight costs 305 euros. As a result, the assumption based on the information was wrong and had to be corrected to the disadvantage of the customer.
Stupid. But: One was already in a situation to give a price indication. After all, the flight before and after might cost 600 euros and is therefore even more irrelevant than a flight for 305 euros if one had assumed 300 euros.
The communication error is less important than the added value at the moment of interaction. We can only overcome technical and business constraints with the help of estimates and assumptions.
In order to achieve price transparency, we have to refrain from requesting price calculations. Due to the costs per request and the loading times, it is not possible for us to communicate prices as they currently are. Therefore, we have to cache prices from previous searches, at least until a flight selection can be made.
This could also mean that we know that prices may change once the final flights are selected. The requirement for accurate price communication is sacrificed in favor of relevant selection criteria and fast landing times. After all, price is typically the most important factor in weighing any partial decision.
To speed up the interaction, we need to put the availability check at the end. The route network has been determined; the flight plan has been drawn up. With the route information and travel times, we should have the corresponding flight plan immediately available. The availability check can be either downstream or simultaneous. In this way, we enable systems to communicate without being a hindrance to travelers.
Geolocation data can be used to draw conclusions about the departure airport. We do not necessarily have to use the geolocation API for this. It should also be possible to achieve sufficient localization with the help of IP address search so that we can immediately create added value. Once we have identified the airports in the vicinity, we can evaluate potential connections in terms of cost and convenience.
Anyone who has ever had to search for and book a flight surely knows: it is nerve-wracking and time-consuming. Before you can even start the search, you have to enter ten details in the search form. This means that in the very first stage of the search, you’ve already had to make ten decisions. Unfortunately, and often, only one thing is certain: the destination of the journey.
Along our thought process, we have shown that the classic flight search pattern is broken, often because external factors such as technical and business constraints influence the flight search experience. However, we have shown that airlines and searches can break the pattern. This can be achieved by entering into a dialogue with the user and leading them from one decision level to another to eventually fit their specific needs and goals.
If you found this approach useful or interesting, I recommend our guide to developing your own Interaction Blueprint. It is based on our “Interaction Archetypes” framework that allows you to strategically illuminate a user’s behavioral patterns, as well as their interactions with digital interfaces. It has greatly transformed and improved our design process. We hope that it could transform your design process, too.
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