heuristic evaluation of...

Heuristic Evaluation of

HolidayInn.com.cn Holiday Inn Hotel Booking Site for Chinese Speaking Users

Completed by Team CBR:

Yufei Duan Yina Li Ying Li

Qianying Liu Niven Sellars

Michael Somer

February 7, 2008

Heuristic Evaluation February 2008 www.HolidayInn.com.cn

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TEAM CBR Yufei Duan, Yina Li, Ying Li,

Qianying Liu, Niven Sellars, Michael Somer

Table of Contents

Heuristic Evaluation Overview for www.holidayinn.com.cn ..................................................................................... 3

Introduction ............................................................................................................................................................................................ 3

Purpose .................................................................................................................................................................................................... 3

Methodology ............................................................................................................................................................................................ 3

Heuristic Evaluation Findings ..................................................................................................................................4

1. Visibility of System Status ................................................................................................................................................................. 4

2. Match Between System and the Real World ..................................................................................................................................... 6

3. Consistency and Standards .............................................................................................................................................................. 13

4. Error Prevention .............................................................................................................................................................................. 19

5. Aesthetic and Minimalist Design .................................................................................................................................................... 20

6. Help Users Recognize, Diagnose, and Recover from Errors ............................................................................................................ 21

7. Help and Documentation ................................................................................................................................................................ 23

Findings and Conclusion ......................................................................................................................................... 24

Key Findings .......................................................................................................................................................................................... 24

http://www.holidayinn.com.cn/�


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Conclusion ............................................................................................................................................................................................. 28

Heuristic Evaluation Overview for www.holidayinn.com.cn Introduction This heuristic evaluation of the www.holidayinn.com.cn was completed on February 7, 2007, as a preliminary step in the preparation

for a usability test of the site. The evaluation was completed by the project team after a careful review of the website. From the

information provided by the sponsor, the project team learned that the audience of the website is mostly domestic Chinese (mainland)

users. They book hotel rooms online for business and/or leisure purposes. Their ages span from the mid-twenties to the fifties. Most

of them are not comfortable using computers. The majority of them do not speak or read English.

To accomplish the users’ goal of booking rooms on the website, the Holiday Inn (China) website must successfully guide users

through the site.

Purpose The purpose of this heuristic evaluation is to discover any potential usability weaknesses that might confuse users. The findings from

the evaluation will be used to design appropriate scenarios for the usability test.

Methodology The project team evaluated the website from a Chinese user’s point of view. In our preliminary meeting, the team reviewed the overall

structure and content of the site and determined our scenario, which is the process of booking or modifying a hotel room on the site.

Then the team completed individual heuristic evaluations. In the follow-up meeting, the team compiled the individual evaluations.

The site was evaluated based on Jakob Nielsen’s 10 Heuristics, which have been adapted for the web and presented in Dr. Carol

Barnum’s text, Usability Testing and Research.





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Heuristic Evaluation Findings 1. Visibility of system status

The system should always keep users informed about what is going on, through appropriate feedback within reasonable time.



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A. URL file name

mismatch

When the URL

www.holidayinn.com.cn is

opened, the URL at the top of

the page changes into

http://www.ichotelsgroup.co

m/h/d/hi/280/zh/home.

This may confuse users,

causing them to think this is

not a legitimate site.

Suggestion:

Do not redirect the URL to a

different name; instead keep

the address at

www.holidayinn.com.cn



http://www.ichotelsgroup.com/h/d/hi/280/zh/home�




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B. No obvious way to go

back to Holiday Inn

site from Priority Club

site

Users may not understand the

relationship among Holiday

Inn, Priority Club, and other

IHG hotels. In China, people

are not familiar with the

concept of one corporation

owning multiple brands. If

the users are directed to the

Priority Club site, they can

easily get lost. The only way

they can go back to the

Holiday Inn site is to hit the

Back button or the Holiday

Inn icon near the bottom of

the site.

Suggestion:

Create an easily identifiable

button that will take users to

where they were before they

were directed away from the

Holiday Inn site.



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2. Match between system and the real world The system should speak the user’s language, with words, phrases, and concepts familiar to the user, rather than system-oriented

terms. Follow real-world conventions, making information appear in a natural and logical order.

A. Unrecognizable logo

Users may not recognize the

Holiday Inn logo because it

is displayed in English. The

only way users will know

they are on a Holiday Inn

website is if they look at the

words displayed in the

header.

Suggestion:

Design a matching

logo in Chinese

Have a brief

description in

Chinese underneath

the logo

The English logo is not

recognizable for the

Chinese audience.

The audience must go to one

of these two locations, which

give the hotel name in

Chinese.



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B. Awkward phrasing

This translation does not make sense. It is awkwardly phrased as “receive Holiday Inn promoted sales (discount) activities.”

Suggestion:

Use localized language, not

just direct translation. It should read, “receive promotional sales discount information.”



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C. Awkward phrasing

When searching for hotels,

users are sometimes

requested to enter “State.”

“State” has a different

meaning for Chinese users.

The equivalent word for

Chinese users is “province.”

Since the number of Holiday

Inns is limited in China, it is

easier for the user to just

select the city without being

asked to select a province.

Suggestions:

Use “Province”

instead of “State”

Provide a dropdown

menu of the

locations/cities, and

do not include the

option of

province/state

In this screen, instead of asking

for “Province,” it asks users to

enter “State (US/Canada)”. This

may confuse Chinese users,

since the word “State” refers to

the government level between

city and province in some

provinces.



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D. Awkward phrasing

The option in this dropdown

menu translates into “a

super large bed.” This

translation does not make

sense to a Chinese user.

They refer to bed size by

measurements.

Suggestions:

Use localized language for

sizes of beds:

King size: 1.98mx2.03m

Queen: 1.50mx2.00m

Single: 1.20mx1.90m

One of the options in this

dropdown is “one super large

bed,” which is a direct

translation of “king size bed.”

Instead, use “bed size: 1.98m

x 2.03m” to make sense to

the Chinese user.



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E. American currency

Much of the pricing information refers to American currency. Users

may have to calculate the

actual cost in Chinese

currency, and this can be

time consuming or

impossible when they do not

know the exchange rate.

Some screens use CNY. This

may be an acronym for

China’s Yuan. However, it is

not readily understood by

Chinese users.

Suggestion:

Use “元” (yuan) or

￥instead of dollars and $.

In the parking information,

“Parking Fee/day: CNY 34.0”

does not make sense because

CNY is not terminology used

by Chinese people.

The Chinese user has to

calculate American dollars

into Chinese Yuan.



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F. Phone number display

The phone number displays

as “1 888 HOLIDAY”. Most

users in China do not know

how to numerically enter

“HOLIDAY” on their

telephones. Also, this is not

the booking phone number

for mainland China. Users

who dial this number will be

connected to U.S.

representatives. The users

will not expect to reach a U.S.

representative, nor will they

be able to successfully book a

hotel room.

Suggestion:

Use a localized number so

that users can speak to

someone who speaks Chinese.

Most Chinese audience

will not know how to

numerically enter

“HOLIDAY” on their

telephones.



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G. Unrecognizable trust

organization

Users may not know what

this icon means.

Suggestions:

Explain the icon

within a sentence in

Chinese

Use a comparable

trust organization in

China

The English icon may not be recognizable

for the Chinese audience if they do not

speak English.



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3. Consistency and standards

Users should not have to wonder whether different words, situations, or actions mean the same thing. Follow platform

conventions.

A. Buttons that are not links

These buttons in the

Chinese map are cities and

provinces of Holiday Inn

locations in China. They

look like they are links to

other pages, but they are

not. Users may be confused

by this map.

Suggestion:

Make the buttons links.

The buttons on the map are

cities and provinces having

Holiday Inns. However,

these buttons are not links.



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B. Inconsistent language

On the top of the home

page, the Priority Club is in

English. Down at the left

column, it is spelled out in

Chinese characters. Users

will not recognize the

English “Priority Club.”

Suggestion:

Use Chinese characters for

all the information in this

site.

Priority Club is displayed in

both English and Chinese

on the home page. It may

confuse the audience.



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C. Inconsistent navigation

The navigation on top of

the subpages is different

from the home page.

Suggestion:

Use consistent navigation.

Navigation on the home page reads “Hotel Reservation,” “Phone

Services for Hotel Reservation,” “Conferences,” and “Destination

Information.”

The navigation on the subpages reads “First Time Here,” “Hotel

Reservation,” “Special Offers,” “Phone Services for Hotel

Reservation,” and “Destination Information.”



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D. Confusing search results

In the search results by

hotel, the hotel’s

information is

displayed with two

distinct background

colors: one color for the

Holiday Inn logo, and

another for the specific

hotel. Users may think

that there are two

hotels being displayed.

Suggestion:

Use a consistent

background color for a

hotel, and change it for

the next one in the

search results.

The hotel is displayed

in two background

colors, making it look

like two hotels. This

may confuse users.



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E. Incorrect order of information

The left column is the

information on Holiday

Inn locations outside of

China. The right

column is a list of

locations in mainland

China. Chinese read

from left to right. Most

Chinese people travel

within the country, but

not outside the country.

The users want to see

domestic hotel

information first.

Suggestions:

Present domestic hotel

information on the left

and international hotels

on the right.



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F. Unclear information

structure

The first navigation link

translates to “book a

hotel room.” The

second translates to

“book a hotel room by

calling.” The

difference in these two

options is not clear.

Suggestion: The first

navigation link should

be “Book a hotel room

online.”



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4. Error Prevention Even better than good error messages is a careful design, which prevents a problem from occurring in the first place.

A. Unlisted city options

The hotel locations are

limited to some big cities,

such as Beijing and Shenyang.

Users may not know if their

destination city has a Holiday

Inn. If the city they enter in

the input box does not have a

Holiday Inn, an error message

appears. [Also see item #6]

Suggestion:

List the cities where hotels are

available by using a dropdown

menu.

The user may enter a city that does

not have a Holiday Inn. The response

is an error message, which does not

give them relevant information. List

the cities that have hotels.



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5. Aesthetic and minimalist design Dialogues should not contain information which is irrelevant or rarely needed. Every extra unit of information in a dialogue

competes with the relevant units of information and diminishes their relative visibility.

A. Same pictures on the

home page

On the home page, the exact

same pictures are displayed

just a few inches apart. These

two pictures convey the same

information. Users may see

this as a design mistake, which

could be interpreted as

unprofessional.

Suggestion:

Replace one of the duplicate

pictures with another graphic.

Two identical advertisements are

displayed on the home page.



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6. Help users recognize, diagnose, and recover from errors Error messages should be expressed in plain language (no codes), precisely indicate the problem, and constructively suggest a

solution.

A. Error message without

a solution

The error message is very

general. User will not know

which part of the information

they entered is incorrect. They

may try and correct

information that does not need

to be changed. In the example,

the error message is displayed

because the selected city does

not have a Holiday Inn. The

error message should read,

“ Could not find a hotel in

selected city, sorry for the

inconvenience.”

Suggestion:

Specify the error and/or

provide a solution.

The error message “Could not find

matching hotel, please change your options

and try again” appears when the selected

city does not have a Holiday Inn.



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B. Confusing error

message

The error message is displayed

as a code. Users will not

understand what this means

and will not be able to correct

their error.

Suggestion:

Avoid using codes in an error

message. Use plain language.

The error message is

displayed as a code. Users

will not understand the

meaning of the code.



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7. Help and documentation Even though it is better if the system can be used without documentation, it may be necessary to provide help and documentation.

Any such information should be easy to search for, and should focus on the user’s task. It should also list concrete steps to be

carried out, and the font should not be too large.

A. No online help

Online help is not

provided. Limited

assistance in the form

of FAQs is provided in

some places.

Suggestions:

Provide a link to

online help on each

page

Provide a phone

number to call for

help on each page

At the end of the page “Lowest Internet Rate

Guarantee,” a Frequently Asked Questions

link is provided.



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Findings and Conclusion Key Findings Below is a ranking of our findings based on our evaluation of the website. We have prioritized the findings into three categories: high

priority, medium priority, and low priority.

High Priority Issues

Localization

Several problems within the website deal with translation issues that have not been properly localized. For example, the

Chinese audience will not understand the translation of “king size bed.” There is no direct translation for this phrase; instead,

the website calls it a “super large bed” (from the advanced search option). Similarly, when trying to communicate the idea of

receiving information on the home page, it has been translated as “receive promoted sales (discount) activities.”

On some pages, when trying to select a hotel location, the user is asked to enter a state instead of a province (customer service

page). Another example of localized language problems is the sporadic use of either USD or CNY. This usage will potentially

cause conversion or confusion problems for the user (search and result page / lowest internet rate guarantee page).

On the home page, a U.S. phone number is given: “1-888-Holiday”. Chinese users will not understand how to numerically

enter “Holiday” on their telephones and they will not understand that they are making a call to the United States.

Error Messages

Some of the error messages do not specify what the error is. For example, one error message reads, “Could not find

matching hotel, please change your options and try again.” At this point, the user will not know what information he/she



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needs to modify to conduct a successful search. Some of the other error messages are displayed as codes that the user will

not understand.

Layout Design

When the search results for hotels are displayed, the hotel’s information is displayed with two different background colors.

This may confuse the user into thinking that two hotels are being displayed.

Navigation

Upon visiting the Priority Club website, there is no clear option to return to the Holiday Inn website. This can potentially

confuse users and leave them thinking they have arrived at a completely different website that is not affiliated with the

Holiday Inn site. The branding and visual differences between the two sites can present users with a sense of confusion as to

where they are. Aside from the selecting the “back” button on the browser (which should not be assumed that users will do),

the only other option users have to return to the Holiday Inn site is at the bottom of the page, which cannot be seen on all

computer displays without scrolling down.

Visual Language

Upon entering information to search for a hotel, the location overview page displays a map with cities and provinces where

Holiday Inn hotels are located. Currently, the map displays gray icons that contain the province where a Holiday Inn is located.

The visual language presented by the map leads users to believe that they can click on one of these icons to view more

information about that specific Holiday Inn location.

Content

When a user enters information in the data collection form on the homepage, there is a box where the user is required to enter



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a city name. Since Holiday Inns are not in all cities or even many cities in China, this will result in a lot of errors for users.

Currently, if a user enters in a city where a Holiday Inn is not present, it will tell the user that the search results were

unsuccessful, without stating that there is no hotel in that city and without giving the user options to see where hotels are

located.

Medium Priority Issues

Localization

On the homepage, Priority Club is written in English as well as in Chinese. Users who do not read English will not understand

the English or know what it means.

Branding

The homepage displays the Holiday Inn logo in English as well as in Chinese. The audience may be confused by this.

Navigation

There is inconsistency in the top navigation bar options on the Holiday Inn landing page and the subpages. When users click

on a navigation option on the home page, such as “Hotel Reservation,” the navigation on the new page is completely different

from the home page.

The home page has the following options in the top navigation menu:

• Hotel Reservation

• Phone Services for Hotel Reservation

• Conferences

• Destination Information



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Subpages list the following options in the top navigation menu, which shares the same look as the home page:

• First Time Here

• Hotel Reservation

• Special Offers

• Phone Services for Hotel Reservation

• Destination Information

To illustrate the problem, suppose that a user wishes to view the contents of the “Conferences” button that was seen on the home

page. The user will not be able to click it from a subpage because it is not in the top navigation bar, where they expect it to be. It

can’t be assumed that the user will know to return to the home page to make this choice because the navigation menus look similar

but contain different information choices.

Low Priority Issues

Localization

When the user is required to put in confidential information during the hotel-booking process, an icon appears to indicate to

the user that the site is trustworthy. The words on the icon are written in English. Chinese users will not recognize this icon

means without translation or because it is not from a local trust organization.

Online Help

There are very few options for help on the website. The closest example of online help is the FAQ link at the bottom of the

“Lowest Internet Rate Guarantee” screen.



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Layout Design

On the home page, the exact same pictures are used in close proximity. The two pictures convey the same information, so

users may be confused by this.

On the home page, the Chinese hotel locations are listed to the right of the international hotel locations, as opposed to being

listed first.

Navigation

The URL that the user enters in the web browser is not consistent with the URL that is displayed. The URL in the address bar

on the home page is http://www.ichotelsgroup.com/h/d/hi/280/zh/home; yet what is visible on the page is the address

www.holidayinn.com.cn. (Located under the Holiday Inn logo.) This difference in the URLs could lead users to believe that

they might be at a scam site due to the mismatch of the web addresses.

Content The home page navigation options have a redundancy issue. Currently the first navigation choice reads “Book a Hotel Room”

and the second choice reads “Book a Hotel Room by Calling.” The distinction between these 2 links needs to be made clearer

(or merged into a single link).

Conclusion Our heuristic evaluation of the Holiday Inn China website revealed that there are a number of usability issues that our team can test

with participants. The high-priority issues will be part of the scenarios used in the usability testing. The project team looks forward to

testing the above findings with actual users of www.HolidayInn.com.cn.




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