Testing Completed: November 1, 2013 Number of Users: 8

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Anna Merritt
5 years ago
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Testing Completed: November 1, 2013 Number of Users: 8 Participant Demographics Women ages 35-60

2 Testing Completed: November 1, 2013 Number of Users: 8 Participant Demographics Women ages Located on the East Coast Income $40k - $150k Average Web Expertise Average Daily Web Usage: 3-5 hours

1. Overall response to the site is positive 2.

Viewing the Attractions page, the page layout and learning attraction information remain a top priority

Signing up for the VisitWilliamsburg.com email is not appealing and difficult to find. 6.

3 1. Overall response to the site is positive 2. Almost unanimously, first impression is Wow, there is a LOT to do! 3. Viewing the Attractions page, the page layout and learning attraction information remain a top priority to visitors. 4. Looking for and researching Packages are also very important to site users. 5. Signing up for the VisitWilliamsburg.com is not appealing and difficult to find. 6. Users experienced some difficulty when selecting lodging during the booking tasks. 7. Photography is by far the most important feature on the site and received a significant amount of both positive and constructive comments.

4 All users had very positive feedback about the home page and the large scrolling imagery. There were frequent comments about there being a lot to do and the historical aspect of the region. My first impression is that it is very family oriented and there are a bunch of things to do. It just seems very warm & inviting. It s the history and the nostalgia and you know the Americana. I love the pictures. I love the way this flips and shows you not only the historical aspect but people enjoying it too. Looks like images from different times of the year. Right off the bat it looks like there s a lot to do, and you don t have to scroll below the fold in order to see that.

At this task, the users were split pretty evenly between looking for Things to Do in the area or checking out what different packages and pricing was available for a trip.

5 At this task, the users were split pretty evenly between looking for Things to Do in the area or checking out what different packages and pricing was available for a trip. As users moved deeper into the site, we hear more comments on items that need clarification or improvement. I might look for packages actually because a lot of times we try to do like a weekend to get away and see if there are any interesting packages. The attractions bar was very clear. What I like too is there s a little bit of information here, listed next to the attractions and the pictures are very nice. All these have a little bit of eye catching, intriguing things. It s catching you right off the bat. I see these 17 results, (Berkeley Plantation, Busch Gardens, Colonial Williamsburg, Historic ) I feel like this probably is the complete list of things to do in the area. While this is a pretty image, it is a little bit annoying that I have to scroll down especially since it s an image I ve already seen before. It s different when it s on the home page but once you re actually working on the website, I think I don t want to have to scroll.

6 Users leaned towards looking for Things to Do or researching lodging / packaging options. Comments regarding the photography were frequent and both positive and constructive; more clarity explaining tickets included in packages would help consumer unfamiliar with the area. Okay, so I m going to go to attractions; wow, there s so much here. I m looking at these packages because I always want to see if they are money saving deals. Oh, it s making fall look very nice there. And I guess I have thought of this not as much of a fall place. I saw a lot of pictures & which is necessary to make it inviting but there s no pictures on the specific attraction page, there s a lot of reading. You would think an attraction would show a picture of it. The thing that I m missing is photos instead of just spelling it out in words, I wish it showed specific photos of these different things mentioned in the text. That would inspire me to come visit more. [At the packages section] Christmas Town, I don t even know what that means. I would have to look that up.

7 At this stage of the test, we are asking for suggestions for improvements. Users articulated some of their main points of frustration: better photography, overwhelming amounts of information, and the need for more information before purchasing tickets. I like these Sample itineraries. I really like someone spelling it out & I can kind of picture my family there & seeing how long each thing is going to take. Maybe [itineraries] should go on the home page. I really feel like I d have to spend a lot more time on the website. There s just so much information involved & in order to like disseminate how I would want to plan a vacation. It s just a little bit unclear, the coordination between the attractions page and the tickets page. When you advertise the historic triangle pass, what is the advantage of doing that [purchasing HTP]? I wouldn t want to see these pictures, I would want to see pictures of some of the things that go on the tour. I don t care about pumpkins when I m looking for something that has to do with [the Civil War tour]. When I want to pick a restaurant, I m less likely to want to read all this text as I am to want to see some really compelling images.

8 Several of the users failed this task, i.e. were not able to complete it. There was much confusion about the language Updates versus Newsletter. Users also commented there needs to be a reason to encourage sign ups. I think I would have to do updates. You might want to make this bigger & you might want to give people a reason to sign up there was no compelling reason to sign up. For example, be sure you hear about all the latest art events or be among the first to know about our golf weekend packages. And a bigger button: Sign up for our newsletter here. I don t see anything so far that says newsletter. A little frustrating trying to find this I don t see a way for a newsletter, unless it s in updates. Is an update considered a newsletter? Let s just go to updates. I m not sure what I just signed up for. And, since I don t know what I m signing up for, I probably wouldn t have got it. You just never know what you going to get, who knows if you going to get maybe a coupon offer or just more information if we re not planning on going for several months.

9 Users had very different levels of success and strongly varying opinions here. Some felt the packaging was simple and clear, others struggled to organize the options and in particular, to select and/or find a particular lodging property. Yes, very clear. I can change the hotel if I wanted, it showed how much more it would cost me if I made any changes, everything that s included, tickets, the dates. $379 for the three of us for a hotel & the tickets. That s exceptional, that is so affordable. Here s my check in & check out, here s packages that match my criteria, there s 12 of them, so that s not an overwhelming number to look at. I am huge on reviews. Especially hotels & places to stay - I probably would go by reviews. [User came across a time share earlier in the test] I m going to tell it two rooms & would love if it gave me a condo option again. Hotels. I guess it pulled this [specific] one up & I m not sure why. Maybe that is a sponsored one. I wish I could remember the name of that place that had the condos. Somewhat clear. I would like to see a way that you can organize this so that hotel & attractions would be available all in one. Also, I would like to be able to comparison shop a little bit more easily which package is a better deal, etc.

10 The mixed reviews continue through to checking out. In general, most users felt the actual checkout was very straightforward. Confusion on lodging selection was still a point of concern for some users. This is beautiful. All of my questions were answered as I went along through the checkout process. It was picking the packages & hotels that was not user friendly & frustrating; checking out was simple. It looks like I can pick any day I want, just general tickets. I can print them at home. Very easy. Hmmm didn t realize I clicked the Best Western, I thought I clicked something else. That is not what I selected. I m not sure how that happened, I m going to need to go back & figure out how, when I picked the hotel, I didn t select it, yet I thought I did. [at checkout] If this was required, why didn t it have an asterisk people? So, I m not happy I ve got to go do it again.

12 Username: cookie5611 Age: 36 Location: Virginia Experience: Average Income: $100,000 + Daily Web Usage: 3-5 hours Operating System: Windows Browser: Chrome/

13 Username: cookie5611 What wasn't on the site that should be for you to plan a vacation to the Williamsburg, VA area? reviews & ratings for restaurants, reviews for hotels. While it's nice to be able to book the latter right from this site, most travelers are probably going to research on trip advisor or something else before committing. What frustrated you most about this site? That large slider image -- it should be on the homepage only. What did you like about the site? easy to find links to attractions and activities right on the home page above the fold.

14 Username: epattyj Age: 58 Location: Florida Experience: Average Income: $40,000 to $100,000 Daily Web Usage: 3-5 hours Operating System: Windows NT (unknown) 6.2 Browser: Mozilla/5.0

15 Username: epattyj What wasn't on the site that should be for you to plan a vacation to the Williamsburg, VA area? The one thing that I always need when I travel is a place to shop for food. I like to stop at a local grocery store to bring back snacks and water to our room to save money and to find items that I cannot buy in Florida. I would love to see a menu item that lists/maps local grocery shops including the larger chains. What frustrated you most about this site? The Sports link threw me. I was expecting to see info on recreational sports. But what I found was for organized sports and sporting events. I was not exactly frustrated but it did take more effort then I would have liked to find recreation sports and the results were more of a list of locations in lieu of highlighting the locations, spots and fun. There were no pictures and nothing to invite me in outside of reading the small blocks of text. What did you like about the site? When I was shopping for a package I found the PERFECT vacation within seconds. Outside of the Sports link, the links flowed smoothly and brought me to areas that not only caught my interest but got me excited as well.

16 Username: Kc2955 Age: 59 Location: Florida Experience: Average Income: $40,000 to $100,000 Daily Web Usage: 1-3 hours Operating System: Windows Browser: Mozilla/5.0

17 Username: Kc2955 What wasn't on the site that should be for you to plan a vacation to the Williamsburg, VA area? The site included everything needed as far as I could see. What frustrated you most about this site? It took extremely long to go to the different pages--i retraced my steps to do the booking because I couldn't get it done the first time. I could not find where to sign up for the newsletter. What did you like about the site? The site contains a lot of info and good pics that would entice prospective visitors to the area.

18 Username: houkhouse Age: 44 Location: Tennessee Experience: Average Income: $40,000 to $100,000 Daily Web Usage: 1-3 hours Operating System: Windows Browser: Firefox/21.0

19 Username: houkhouse What wasn't on the site that should be for you to plan a vacation to the Williamsburg, VA area? I really feel like nothing was missing. I might have liked a "start here" button. What frustrated you most about this site? Not saving my room correctly the first time...which I really feel like was my fault. What did you like about the site? photos, wallpaper, inviting. Lots of info in one spot versus other places that I go site to site.

20 Username: giiv Age: 45 Location: New Jersey Experience: Average Income: $100,000 + Daily Web Usage: 4-6 hours daily Operating System: Windows Browser: Chrome/

21 Username: giiv What wasn't on the site that should be for you to plan a vacation to the Williamsburg, VA area? If there was some sort of interactive map so I could see where the hotels are relative to the attractions that would be helpful. If the site has one, it was buried somewhere where I wouldn't have seen it. What frustrated you most about this site? I couldn't stand the very large pictures that loaded especially while I was trying to book my package. Also, when I'm looking at attractions information, why am I seeing pumpkins and not things that are relevant to the specific attractions. What did you like about the site? I thought it was warm and inviting. The pages loaded quickly. The package finder was very easy to use, although it would be nice to sort packages by price once they are found.

22 Username: rjvdw Age: 43 Location: Tennessee Experience: Average Income: $100,000 + Daily Web Usage: 1-3 hours Operating System: Windows Browser: Chrome

Username: rjvdw What wasn't on the site that should be for you to plan a vacation to the Williamsburg, VA area? I would have liked to have seen more pictures as I looked at the individual attractions.

23 Username: rjvdw What wasn't on the site that should be for you to plan a vacation to the Williamsburg, VA area? I would have liked to have seen more pictures as I looked at the individual attractions. When I'm on the Attraction page and it's telling me about Jamestown, I want to see a couple of pictures of Jamestown. Same with Yorktown or Williamsburg or Busch Gardens. Photos as well as the written words would have been helpful in letting me understand what the sites are like and would help me picture my family at those locations. What frustrated you most about this site? I was very frustrated that I had entered 2 adults and 4 children, and it was showing me a "total price" that was inaccurate. It was something I didn't know until I got to the bottom of the page where it was only showing 2 adults. When I had entered the information at the top of the page, I would assume the site is using that information to calculate my total price (because it must be getting that total price from somewhere, and what other information would it use?), and it wasn't. It was confusing and frustrating to me that I wasn't really being shown my total price, even though that's what it said. What did you like about the site? I really like how much there is to do in the area, and how well the site conveys that. I wouldn't have thought there was so much to do there, yet the site did a good job of helping me understand all the many options available. I liked the itineraries to help me understand the different things we might do and the time it would take to visit the different sites. I liked the descriptions of the attractions that really helped me picture my family there. I liked that I could book a complete package right from the site, including hotel and attractions.

24 Username: sekaz99 Age: 43 Experience: Average Income: $40,000-$100,000 Daily Web Usage: 3-5 hours Operating System: Windows Browser: Firefox/25.0

25 Username: sekaz99 What wasn't on the site that should be for you to plan a vacation to the Williamsburg, VA area? I would have like to have seen a live chat feature where I could ask a live rep any quick questions that I had while searching the website. What frustrated you most about this site? I couldn't find the newsletter sign up page. What did you like about the site? I liked the package option where I could book lodging and then go right on to find attractions in that area and could go ahead and pay for everything at once.

26 Username: lisaw Age: 50 Location: North Carolina Experience: Average Income: $40,000 to $100,000 Daily Web Usage: 1-3 hours daily Operating System: Windows Browser: Firefox/24.0

27 Username: lisaw What wasn't on the site that should be for you to plan a vacation to the Williamsburg, VA area? The site was very comprehensive. It seemed to include everything I would need to plan a vacation. There was so much information I feel I would need to spend a great deal of time going through everything in order to plan the best vacation for us. I can't think of anything that wasn't included that I would need to help plan the trip. I would just need to filter through all the information given in order to make the best plans. What frustrated you most about this site? I had some trouble trying to book the package as I didn't know I had to pick the hotel first and then choose the attractions I wanted to see. I was expecting to get a choice of a comprehensive package to choose from(which I later saw was available). I liked the idea of being able to make my own plans, though and appreciated being able to customize my own vacation. I was frustrated by trying to sign up for the newsletter. I could not find it anywhere until I was prompted at checkout. I did sign up for the , however. What did you like about the site? I especially liked being able to design my own vacation. It was easy to picture myself participating in the activities of Williamsburg because of the bright pictures of others enjoying themselves. I can see spending some time on the site customizing exactly where to stay and what to do while we are there.

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