Two Airlines, Two Contrasting Approaches:
JetBlue’s Streamlined Sophistication Vs. Southwest's Outdated Overload
Nina Vizcarrondo and Rachel Lynch
Summary of good and bad elements
JetBlue and Southwest are both younger airlines trying to capitalize on their lower cost
services and rare benefits. In terms of their websites, however, the two companies have
very different ways of presenting themselves online. JetBlue makes a much better
impression and is easier to navigate and use. Southwest's site on the other hand, has an
out­dated underwhelming style and an overwhelming information architecture that is more
likely to confuse and frustrate the user. Below you will find screen shots of each airline's
home page and an elaboration on the pros of JetBlue's page and the cons of Southwest's.
Screen shot of thumbs up:
Analysis of 3 major ways JetBlue site excels
JetBlue’s homepage is aesthetically pleasing, streamlined, and user­friendly.
It excels aesthetically because it is clean and uncluttered, which makes the site less
overwhelming and the text easier to read. The concise text is also generally housed in
boxes, buttons and bubbles that help point to their different functions. And the font(s?) they
use seem to be the same as the logo, and when bold and sized up they form very strong
simple headers – such as the “Hi.” and “Buy.” headers. Also, color is used very wisely
here. The limited palette of 2 colors – blue and orange ­ in a few distinct shades, suggests
order and simplicity and invokes a sense of calm, yet the colors are also so vibrant that
they really catch and hold the eye. Furthermore, orange is far less prevalent than blue so
the orange buttons really stand out and help break up the page into defined sections.
These color choices, in addition to the consistent and distinct font all reinforce a strong and
recognizable brand identity.
The aesthetic simplicity and spaciousness also aid the streamlined experience of the
homepage by making it easy to scan and quickly grasp. The 6 categories of content that
are neatly laid out in the orange boxes (separated by whitespace) at the top of the page
make up a very intuitive navigation bar. And the categories themselves comprehensively
(“Manage Flights, Travel Information”) cover the most common needs of site users. The
two category titles that are slightly more vague —“Plan a Trip” and “Flying on Jetblue” —
have clarifying drop­down menus that are immediately triggered just by hovering the
mouse.
The content beneath the navigation bar is also easy to quickly digest, thanks to the neat
boxes that are juxtaposed in color and size and contain large text and enough “white
space” to differentiate each type of button or search field. And the “Buy.” box – which
addresses the fundamental goal of both the company and most of its users – is the most
prominent and navigable section of all. The entry fields are neatly labeled and substantial
and distinguishable from the drop­down fields.
The other major selling point of the JetBlue homepage is its user­friendliness – emphasis
on the friendly. Most simplistically there is the prominent “Hi.” towards the top of the page.
But practically speaking, there are several features on the page that are come off as being
particularly considerate to the users (and thus suggest that the company cares more about
its customers and less about its bottom­line than its competitors do). For example, at the
very top right of the page there is a “!TRAVEL ALERT” line that points to news that might
affect its customers upcoming flight experience (weather, terminal construction, etc).
Also, the language used on the site speaks directly to its users needs. Most users come to
the site proactively, looking for specific information (such as their flight status or baggage
allowance) or intending to carry out a specific action (buy a ticket, check­in online, etc).
And using headings like “Manage flights” and “Plan a Trip” are going to quickly resonate
with users who already have these actions in mind.
And if you go ahead and use the prominent flight search­engine (under the bold “Buy.”
heading), you are treated to a generous airport prediction feature. For example, if I type in
NYC or DC or FL (for Florida) into the “From” or “To” fields, a drop­down list of the airports
in the NYC or DC areas will appear – prime for a quick selection. AND the site will also
remember your “recent searches,” which means that if you’re not ready to buy yet but you
check the same itinerary options over a couple of days, the site will most likely let you just
click on that saved search option and not have to enter the same information over and over
again.
Screen shot of thumbs down:
Analysis of 3 major ways Southwest site fails
Southwest Airlines offers almost exactly the same services as JetBlue and is one of their
main competitors. Southwest’s homepage, however, is significantly inferior to JetBlue’s
because it is overwhelming, relatively outdated and not optimally geared for their users.
On first glance the page is overwhelming because none of the headings or buttons are
emphasized by size or demarcation and there is overall too much text. The navigation bar,
for example, is comprised of two different types of tabs that are crowded and poorly
organized. There are 4 smaller blue tabs for “Air, Hotel, Car, Vacations” which are
sandwiched between 3 larger black tabs for “Special Offers, Travel Guide and Rapid
Rewards.” There is no whitespace between the tabs and the text is too small to stand out.
In fact, throughout the page the lack of a consistent boxing style and heading font makes
the information feel disorganized. These categories are also not particularly user­friendly
because they do not allude to some of the main options users are looking for, such as how
to check­in, flight status or baggage allowance. These most common items are offered in
tiny text, squished into a side bar that looks like an afterthought.
One of the tackier aspects of the page is its most prominent features: the largest box
directly below the navigation bar, which appears to be an advertisement…for Southwest.
This “self­promotion” box uses colors that are splashy and at odds with the rest of the page
and the artwork looks like elementary clip­art. Another poor color decision is the use of
green for the “Hotels” heading below ­ it is the only splash of green on the page and is a
tone that is not complementary to the brand’s core colors of blue and orange/red. Nothing
about this site reinforces a brand identity that Southwest may intend to have.
Placing this “Advertising­Style” graphic” front and center and also has an aggressive tone
and it dwarfs the feature that most users are looking for: the search/book flights box. In and
of itself the search box is cramped and the entry fields lumped together. Functionally, it
also fails to recognize some of the common abbreviations JetBlue recognizes, such as
NYC, DC and FL. And nowhere on this page does it point out Southwest’s biggest
competitive advantage and user­friendly policy: the ability to change flights without a fee.