AirTran Reporter

Joined: 17 Jun 2005
Posts: 341
Location: Indianapolis

The clock that was counting down the time to the new website launch is gone but the old site is still up. I know that it is sometime today or maybe tomorow that the new site is supposed to launch. Anyone know any details or anymore details?

Member

Joined: 11 Oct 2006
Posts: 248
Location: Lexington ky

its 6:30 AM and its still the old site

AirTran Reporter

Joined: 17 Jun 2005
Posts: 341
Location: Indianapolis

and as of 8:58, still the old site...what kind of morons do they have running that ship over there?!?!

AirTran Reporter

Joined: 17 Jun 2005
Posts: 341
Location: Indianapolis

I just sent an email to the airport asking about the site, hopefully, one of these centuries, i will get a response.

Member

Joined: 15 May 2006
Posts: 728
Location: West Lafayette, IN

Dude! Its okay, its just a website. Don't worry, they will get it up when its ready.

AirTran Reporter

Joined: 17 Jun 2005
Posts: 341
Location: Indianapolis

Here is the response:


Thank you for your feedback and visiting the Indianapolis Airport website. Unfortunately, we encountered some last minute issues that were too important to put aside for the launch of the redesigned website. Right now we are fixing these issues with the intent of providing the same service on the existing site in hope to provide better service online in a secure environment. We apologize for the misconception the countdown has portrayed and removed it from the existing website as soon as we found out about the delay. Please join us in looking forward to the launch on or about the beginning of February 2007. We will be launching a new and improved look and feel hoping that you will find the redesigned website more suitable to your needs. If you have any other questions, please feel free to contact me.

Member

Joined: 11 Oct 2006
Posts: 248
Location: Lexington ky

2 MONTHS OMG

Member

Joined: 15 May 2006
Posts: 728
Location: West Lafayette, IN

See... no point in getting your hopes up.

Site Admin

Joined: 17 Jun 2005
Posts: 949
Location: Carmel, IN

I would expect the same kind of delays for the opening of the actual airport, too.

Site Admin

Joined: 15 Jun 2005
Posts: 2316
Location: Indianapolis, IN

Boofer wrote:

I would expect the same kind of delays for the opening of the actual airport, too.

I was just thinking that the other day. Somehow they'll drag it out until 1Q 2009.

Member

Joined: 22 Dec 2006
Posts: 1
Location:

Everyone on the Project will tell you that 4Q08 (Oct or Nov) is a very firm opening date, and it is. The website design is handled by an entirely different group of consultants and managers.

Site Admin

Joined: 15 Jun 2005
Posts: 2316
Location: Indianapolis, IN

We were kidding about 1Q 2009.

BTW is the web design work being done in house?

Also an additional note... welcome aboard. Good to have you here. The project looks outstanding. I cannot wait for the new facility to open. I think many of us check the web cam every day for new images. It would be nice if the images updated every 5 minutes or so like the stadium cam does. I've offered a few times to host the cam feed. All they have to do is say the word.

BTW what would it take to be able to get access to the construction site to take photos? Or is that even possible? I'd be happy with frequent cam updates.

AirTran Reporter

Joined: 17 Jun 2005
Posts: 341
Location: Indianapolis

2008 is going to be a great year...a new airport, new stadium, and the construction of the expansion of the convention center and hotel...i would love to be on the first passenger flight that departs from the new terminal

Site Admin

Joined: 15 Jun 2005
Posts: 2316
Location: Indianapolis, IN

I see the clock is back online with 11 days on it.

Site Admin

Joined: 15 Jun 2005
Posts: 2316
Location: Indianapolis, IN

Ok. The new site is up. I was excited to see what it would have to offer given the big countdown clock.

Lets start with the positive:

It has interesting effects.

I had to really stretch with that. I'm quite honestly in shock. I don't know where to begin. The navigation on the site has to be the biggest mess I've ever seen. Websites should be easy to navigate. Your target user should be able to find the important information they are looking for quickly. Looking at the site I have no idea who the target audience. As a traveler I don't feel it is me. But pretending it is me I have to hunt to find what I'm looking for. Perhaps the old website wasn't pretty. But you knew where everything was. It was quick and easy to use. It would have been of benefit to spend less time on the glitz and more time on organizing the content in an easy to navigate layout. There is nothing more frustrating as a user than to have to hunt links on a site to try and find where you want to go. Its like that endless maze of prompts you get when you try and call customer service and all you want is an operator.

If I were the one paying for this and the design team gave me this I would have sent it back. To quote Simon Cowell the new layout is "utterly a mess."

Focus...

It is an airport website. Your target audience is the traveling public. This means you are dealing with 3 types of people.

1. Arriving passenger
2. People picking up arriving passengers.
3. Departing passengers.

What is important?

Passenger type #1
Where will I arrive? Where might I expect to tell people to pick me up? Tell me about ground transportation. Are there any hotels in the area? How to get downtown.

Type #2 (picking people up)
How to get to passenger pickup. Convenient parking for arrivals. In the event the flight is delayed where is a good place to wait at the terminal.

Type #3 (departing passenger)
Tell me where I should be dropped off at. Who offers curbside check-in. What part of the airport does my airline serve? Will my flight be on time? What service are available air side that aren't available land side?

One other thing. Since for whatever reason international arrivals is on the other side of the field it would be a really good idea to have a very detailed map online so people can find this place. It might be good to educate people as to the fact this building even exists.

All I can say is rethink the layout. Eliminate the mess of links. By the way. How many times do you need an About link on one page? It exists 3 times on the home page. Many links are duplicated.

AirTran Reporter

Joined: 17 Jun 2005
Posts: 341
Location: Indianapolis

Ok...i see the spot where it says "The Day is Here," but it is the exact same site! At least that is what i see on my computer.

Site Admin

Joined: 15 Jun 2005
Posts: 2316
Location: Indianapolis, IN

You have to dump your cache.

Member

Joined: 15 May 2006
Posts: 728
Location: West Lafayette, IN

Well, the site looks nice. Is that the only positive thing I can say? IMHO the site is quite confusing, some of the links don't work, and many of the other links show up in multiple different menus. On the plus side however, the site has great potential, and I hope that it continues to get better.

Member

Joined: 27 Jun 2005
Posts: 333
Location: St. Louis, MO

Interesting website. It reminds me of a Hearst-Argyle television station website.