American Airlines Web Site: The Product of a Self-Defeating Design Process | Design & Innovation | Fast Company

This article outlines what is wrong with many businesses approach to the Internet.

There doesn’t need to be a dramatic change in leadership or a monumental failure to come to terms with how business is being done online.

That American Airlines website still looks and functions in the same way this designer complains about is sad.

All you need to know how things are working and changing online but is a level of engagement that can’t be approached with superficial knowledge, opinion or hubris. The Internet changes constantly and if you want to be a part of it you must constantly adapt or watch as some small two-man operation like Google becomes, well… Google.

We’ve seen it over the past decade as we moved from Friendster to MySpace to Facebook. Each new service outpacing the previous that refuses to evolve. The Internet will always win and never waits, but also makes all the tools readily available for success if you are willing to be decisive, creative and progressive.

Knowing your goals for a site is imperative, as well as making it easy for users to help you achieve those goals. Are you promoting one product? Are you a social network? Are you a commerce site?

That is pretty much the magic formula, Clear goal + Ease of use = Success.

In this case, it takes very little thought to conclude that people  would come to American Airlines to book a flight. Which the designer makes the main focus of his redesign. He’s not some expert in business, he’s a web designer. That does make him an expert in customer psychology, which allows him create a design that appeals to a users’ needs.

In today’s business world, you need to see your customer psychologist regularly.