Travel review site TripAdvisor launched the full version of its mobile website recently, having already tested the concept with a beta version.
I've been trying the new mobile site out...
The app helps users to find hotels, restaurants and things to do, either near their current location, or for any location they type in. It's a well-designed site too; with a clean and simple interface that has been stripped down for mobile users:
Rather than replicating the full TripAdvisor website, which includes flight searches, holiday rentals and more, the mobile site is restricted to searches for something to do, eat, or somewhere to stay.
Using the site on an iPhone, you can either search from your current location, or else enter a place or postcode. Search results are useful, and provide enough detail (price, rating, brief testimonials etc) to help you decide whether to click and find out more.
There are also some useful filters, which are especially handy if you are searching for a hotel in London:
On results pages, for both restaurants and hotels, a phone number is provided for bookings, while you can also get directions via Google Maps.
The wide range of reviews is what makes TripAdvisor a useful resource, as you are likely to find a range of detailed reviews to help you decide whether to use a hotel or visit a particular restaurant:
In the case of hotels, you can also check for available rooms and make a booking, though completing the booking does mean visiting an external website, most of which have not been optimised for mobile phones, which makes the booking process a little tricky.
Conclusion
The TripAdvisor mobile site is very impressive, it's simple and usable and provides an excellent resource for travellers.
I also like the fact that TripAdvisor has decided to broaden its reach and appeal by creating a mobile site rather than an app. This is something that retailers should think about before simply opting for an iPhone app.
The beta version of the mobile site has been getting around 1m monthly unique users, so there is clearly a demand for this kind of service. It's an impressive mobile site, and the only thing which really lets it down is the booking feature, since it has to send users to external sites that are hard to use on a mobile.
Reader comments (7)
2:49PM on 12th April 2010
Yes very cool - looks and feels like an "app", but is a proper mob site - that's what we like. Recommended viewing...
3:59PM on 12th April 2010
Nice service. Good to see that they have got some of the features of 'mobile' right. Shame on the mobile website version you can't click on the phone number to call to make a reservation and annoyingly some listings don't even have phone numbers.
4:12PM on 12th April 2010
Looks good. Did they develop this in-house or did they use an agency?
Editor at Econsultancy
8:29PM on 12th April 2010
Martin - good spot, that is a drawback.
1:59PM on 13th April 2010
For an alternative, what do you think of SmartStay? This one is an app -- but includes the 'tap on' phone connection, as well as the localized city guide and content-management by subscribing hotels (the business model) to allow social media directed offers, invitations, etc.
CEO at Econsultancy
9:50AM on 19th April 2010
So this is a website (HTML) which mimics an app...? Pretty cool. Looks like it's 'stolen' the UI/design protocol of the iPhone and applied it to a website.
It will be interesting to see if this happens more i.e. where users expect websites to 'work' like their phone does because it is more intuitive (e.g. the date/time scrollers etc.) and therefore app design will actually drive web design?
3:14PM on 14th May 2010
On the iPhone, phone numbers are linked and clickable. I think it's just on non-phones like iPod Touch that they aren't linked.
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