Originally Posted by
RandomBaritone
FT is overpopulated with a certain kind of travel hobbyist who only cares about expert functions and would be just as happy if the site were only accessible via a terminal window. Hell, they might even prefer it. But that's not the world we live in. Look and feel are incredibly important, especially for an ecommerce segment like travel: it leads directly to increased bookings and revenue. Sneering at those of us who compliment the tremendous strides UA has made in design is simply short-sighted.
#facepalm
I can assure you, after 20 years spent in ecommerce and related industries, that design improvements lead to increased revenue. Do you really think this is just an "obsession " with "how pretty the site is"?
First, to qualify my comments, I am not one of the "travel hobbyists". About 90% of my trips are for work.
And I have to say, I don't understand why you, as a customer, care so much about UA increasing its revenue with a web site. As I stated earlier, I can fully understand why someone in the industry would have a professional interest in the design. The other 99% of us want high functionality with an easy to use design.
I have no interest in helping UA increase revenue if it means I have to use a clumsy (clearly an opinion), buggy website. As a customer, I care about my experience using the site. If it's a good experience and UA increases revenue, that's a winning website.
I have no other way to answer your question, but it does seem like there are supporters of the site just because it's new and pretty. I doubt a lot of us customers are saying "wow, how great is it that this new site will help UA to get more money from us".