Will someone please tell Ryanair that ‘No Travel Insurance’ is not a country of residence, and therefore should not appear as an option in the drop-down list.
Is it designed that way deliberately? Probably. Ryanair’s form is tortuous, full of sneaky ways to get the user to unwittingly pay add-ons.
Ironically, if the form experience were more pleasant (without changing the prices or options), I bet their online sales, which I’m sure are already astronomical, would further increase. But try telling Michael O’Leary that.
Comments
Paul Kinghan / Mar 24th, 2011 / 10:13 am /
Good day to you Mr Heraghty
It’s been a while, has it not? I sincerely hope you’re well!
I just HAD to reply to this comment as I have used more exotic language looking at this drop down than any other! Havind some experience of O’Leary in business circles, business breakfasts etc, I am geuinely of the opinion that this is deliberate – it smacks perfectly of the perverse, “we’ll do it our way/f*** the begrudgers” psyche that seems to pervade Ryanair.
As much as I detest them, their belligerence in business intrigues me. As far as I’m concerned it’s primarily a marketing tool; nothing more. Could it be there’s a perverse, sadistic pleasure in the fact that the pay off for booking cheap fares, is that you put up with ridiculous, glaringly obvious mistakes on their website – “look everyone, we put deliberate websites on our website – real humdingers, and STILL you book, have you NO self respect?!”.
(I’ll get me cloak)
Michael, seriously, if you’re ever up north, please give me a shout – it would be delightful to meet up after what must be close to 20 years.
PK
Michael Heraghty / Mar 24th, 2011 / 11:48 am /
Hi Paul,
Yes, it’s been way too long. I’ll definitely let you know the next time I’m in Belfast, which will hopefully be soon.
As for Ryanair, I think you’re right. Their website user experience is a reflection of their general customer experience. Enough said.
Michael
John Donagher / Mar 30th, 2011 / 11:01 am /
Hi Michael,
I’d read your blog post and just came across this article so I thought I’d pass it on.
http://www.tnooz.com/2011/03/22/news/booking-com-first-ryanair-last-in-uk-website-usability-study/
Cheers,
John
Michael Heraghty / Mar 30th, 2011 / 2:43 pm /
Hi John,
So Ryanair scored lowest out of 51 travel websites in a usability survey? That doesn’t surprise me.
I think they would make even more money if their website was usable and availed of persuasive design techniques. See: http://www.slideshare.net/dings/persuasive-web-design-how-to-separate-users-from-their-bad-behaviours
Michael