A competitive analysis of the of Wildframe Ecotour site.

The aim of this document is to provide Wild Frame Ecotour with an overview of the features and functionality of their competitor sites. This will aid Wild Frame in specifying the desired functionality and features on their existing site. The sites listed below have been chosen from a selection of brochures promoting Bus and Walking tours of specific areas of the Blue Mountains. These tours operate from the Sydney C.B.D., transporting guests to particular locations throughout the Blue Mountains central tourist region. Guests are then taken on a variety of walks through the wilderness, provided with Lunch and refreshments and then returned to the original point of departure. From the brochures provided, the following list of operators and their associated sites has been formulated:

Wild Frame Tours R Us FJ Tours OZ Trek Adventure tours Dal Myles Tours Sydney Wilderness Tours Downunder Day Tours Frontier Photographic Safaris Blue Mountains Explorer Bus Simpsons Outback Safaris Trolley Tours

www.wildframe.com.au www.fjtours.com.au www.oztrek.com.au www.dalmylestours.com www.sydneyadventuretours.com www.explorerbus.com.au www.trolleytours.com.au

From the list several of the operators have been eliminated (grey) due to circumstances that limits their potential impact on the operations or potential billings of Wildframe in relation to their web presence. These are: No current Web presence, Operate from within the Blue Mountains - (no Sydney C.B.D. pickup) Some organisations built into the Blue Mountains Tourism and associated sites. For these reasons the following sites have been review and presented in comparison to WildFrame.
Wild Frame FJ Tours www.wildframe.com.au www.fjtours.com.au

OZ Trek Adventure tours Dal Myles Tours Frontier Photographic Safaris

www.oztrek.com.au www.dalmylestours.com www.sydneyadventuretours.com

Functional Comparison
The functional comparison section of this document will present a comparative analysis of the features and functionality that are found in the five sites (see below). These sites will also be compared on the basis of their standard functions and configurations i.e. Home button, Primary and Secondary Navigation etc. The sites to be compared are: Wild Frame
www.wildframe.com.au

OZ Trek Adventure tours

www.oztrek.com.au

Frontier Photographic Safaris

www.sydneyadventuretours.com

FJ Tours
www.fjtours.com.au

Dal Myles Tours

www.dalmylestours.com

Having downloaded the sites for off-line evaluation, each site has been compared with regard to a list of common or essential features based on isolated content or the language used in the navigation of the site. In addition the sites will be appraised on their conformity to what can be regarded as standard configurations and functionality for the web. Following this each site will be appraised with regard to it off-line equivalent and the general ease of use and aesthetic appeal. The individual features are as follows:
Home Button, Contact Details Search Bread Crumb trail Site Map History or Overview Bookings - Off-line Bookings - Online Quick Bookings Link Tours Listing Terms and Conditions (Legals) Fire Warnings Gallery Testimonials Maps Supportive Images - Buses, - Walks, - Wildlife etc. Interactive Maps etc. Health Issues

 Weather and Climate Data Wildlife

Brochure Downloads Thing to Bring

FAQs Multi Lingual

www.wildframe.com.a u

www.fjtours.com.au

www.dalmylestours.co m

www.oztrek.com.au

www.sydneyadventuretours.com

Site Features
Prim. & Sec. Nav Contact Details In-copy Links Bread Crumb Site Map History or Overview Bookings - Off-line Bookings Online (Sec) Quick Bookings Link Tour Sections Terms & Conditions Fire & Weather Data Image Gallery Testimonials Maps Supportive Imagery Interactive Elements Health Warnings Brochure Downloads Things To Bring FAQs Multi - Lingual E-mail a Friend Flash Intro Pick -up Details

Comparative Findings
From the above table ot is clear the the Wildframe site lacks a significant number of features and relative content areas in comparison to its competitors. The overall structure of the competitor sites is relatively similar, offering a common set of content areas, features and functionality: History or Overview Bookings - Off-line Quick Booking Link Tour Sections In-copy Supportive Imagery Image Galleries Testimonials Maps - Interactive elements Pickup Details Contact Details The two most sophisticated of these sites are www.dalmylestours.com and www.sydneyadventuretours.com. They each have a relatively clean and uncluttered interfaces, presenting reasonably well segmented content. They also provide users with several ways to navigate the content and a very clear and efficient mechanisms for online fulfilment of their services. These sites also use imagery to clearly promote and support their services. One very strong feature of the www.sydneyadventuretours.com site is the segmentation of the navigation where across the top supplementary information bout the staff, Transport, Flora and Forna is presented. This information almost appears as a complimentary feature in addition to and in support of the primary navigation down the left side of the interface. Unfortunately the Dal Myles site has a tendency to present it content in a very cluttered and poorly structured manner, leading to confusion and frustration. On the whole all the listed sites use relatively similar structures which in-turn present several usability issues. The usability decreases with the reduction in content segmentation and is further exacerbated by the lack of process flow at the interface. Many of these sites have very poorly structured interfaces, some requiring the user to scroll significantly lengthy pages of text to reach the navigation located at the bottom of the page. Of the Five site reviewed, only one of the sites segments content from the home page to reduce user scrolling. Many of the pages have all the related tour information in one page. Much of this information can be divided and presented to the user more efficiently via sub-navigation or embedded links. Of all the sites reviewed, the www.oztrek.com.au site is arguably the easiest to use and navigate. From the home page the user can jump directly to specific features from within the body of the page, in a less structured more relaxed style. The following pages, although lacking in the online fulfilment side, make up for it with a very clean and consistent interface. Poor grouping makes some of the pages lengthy, however the experience is simply rewarding and very easy.

Many of the sites incorporate rich interactive technologies from 360 panoramas through to interactive maps with moving dots and sequential imagery from key places on the tour. Many of these technologies provide a richer experience to the user and aid comprehension of the region and the specific tours (www.dalmylestours.com and www.sydneyadventuretours.com), however many of the sites fail to provide users with very simple yet arguably far more useful or important information.

Wild Frame Site: Heuristic Analysis

Always

Sometimes

Never

Notes or Examples

Navigation
Navigation is Clear and well indicated Wording used on Navigation is intuitive Navigation clearly indicates the current location All main features of the site are accessible from the home page Navigation is consistent throughout the site Consistent link and visited-link colours are used Links match the titles they refer to
Yes, however it is arguably difficult to read due to contrast issues and the orange background texture on which it appears At times the wording is less than standard i.e. - E-mail Us is usually Contact Us - More Pictures - What pictures and Gallery or just pictures. There is no indication as to the current location - no highlight on the nav., no bread crumbs and there is a lack of clear headings and their consistent positioning on the page. There seems to be some compatibility issues between the browsers due to irregular placement of graphics and links. There is no feedback to the user of this kind at all. Yes, however their placement on the resulting page varies in position and size

Functionality
Functions are clearly labelled All site functions are available without leaving the site Are there any Plug-ins used ( Flash, Java) Is the user informed if the plug-ins are required
No, again due to inconsistencies in the presentation of the HTML, its size, position and formatting the functionality is not at all clear - Underlines mean links! No the user is required to leave the site to send an e-mail enquiry. This function needs to be integrated into the site interface Yes - on the intro page Yes, however the value of the intro is very questionable.

Language
The language used throughout the site is easy to understand The Language throughout the site is too technical Dose the Language used suite the Target Audience Terminology is consistent with general Web usage
There are issues of the Grammar and the structuring of/or grouping of information could be improved. Arguably was, however at times it appears to be too objective. The descriptions are dry, at times challenging to read. No. As described above, the use of e-mail us as opposed to Contacts or Contact us and the lack of interaction feedback is frustrating.

Interface/Graphics
Is the formatting and structure of the pages consistent Are the pages clear and comprehensible in this format Is the text clear and legible Are the colours used dominating the interface Are images used sufficiently to support the copy
No - The headings appear in different positions, sizes also Caps and Lower Case. Body Copy appears Centred, Left and Right Range - none at all! No - the layout severely effects the users ability to comfortably read the content and the grouping of content is poorly architected. No Again due to inconsistencies in the formatting and browser compatibility issues, the text is not clear or legible - poorly formatted Arguably yes - the colours a fine, its the size and treatments ie, textures, embossing etc. that adds weight and visual confusion - the contract of the copy may be an issue. The site lacks emotive imagery to support the presentation of the tours etc., The site is tired and boring.

Wild Frame Site: Heuristic Analysis Continued

Always

Sometimes

Never

Notes or Examples

User Control
The user is able to cancel all operations There is a clear exit point on every screen Page size is limited to approximately 50 Kb per screen All graphic links are also available as text links The site supports the users workflow All appropriate browsers are supported
n/a Yes, the site has a limited number of functions available, so there is little sequential processes if any that require an exit. The site pages vary from Yes, At the bottom of the page. Additional links enabling users to complete the task as part of the current window/screen could be an improvement. No - not at all. The user needs to return to the primary navigation to make a booking there are no links on the pages describing the tours No I believe this is not the case. No there are no mechanisms that provide any suggestion in the body copy or below the related copy that suggests the next step of a process. Yes - it is arguable that the site could be made to be presented at 8-- x 600 and then scalable for larger sizes.

Does the site provide visual clues to aid process comprehension

The site fits into an 800 x600 configuration

Ease of Use
The Wildframe site is relatively easy to use, this is largely due to its limited amount of content it presents and the relative grouping of this content. The greatest issues that relate to the ease of use come from the content/interface formatting and the information groupings relative to the process flow. This presents the user with an inconsistent flow of information that is presented in an order that is not necessarily in keeping with the process flow required to learn about and then book Wildframe services. The overall structure of the site is relatively clean, however the proportional relationship of the content elements and the inconsistency of their formatting is of serious concern. The header band and left hand nav. are too large. The colours they employ are appealing, however they are overpowering for the areas they in-which they are used. The texture in the nav. is distracting and the navigation is not bold enough. The navigation provides no feedback to the user that they have changed pages and there is not reference or bread crumb showing where you are within the site. The body of the site is presented to the user in two sections. It is arguable that these sections could be expanded to form an additional two or three pages that would improve comprehension whilst breaking up the content to aid the process flow whilst providing a more rewarding user experience. The content formatting lacks any consistent structure or hierarchy so as to aid comprehension and present suitable visual mechanisms that assist user to find and interact with the site. The copy is formatted in a different way for each page of the site, forcing the user to relearn the structure at each page, presenting not only a very tiring and frustrating user experience, but a lack of flow from one page to the next.

Usefulness
A site is not only measured on its ability to present and facilitate interaction, it is also gauged on the basis of how useful the features are in fulfilling the needs and goals of the user as well and those of the business. The wildframe site lacks significant number of features intended to aid the fulfilment of services or support the communication efforts of the site, contributing to its overall usefulness. These include: Online Bookings and payments, Maps, Relative imagery, Brochure Downloads, The facility to E-mail a friend Postcards etc. The lack of these simple features hinders the overall usefulness of the Wildframe site, whilst presenting a confused message of the services on offer.

Quality of Design
The design quality of the wild frame site directly impacts the user experience. The design is a window to the Wildframe business promise, its values and the perceived quality of its services. It is therefore imperative that the message On and Off-line be consistent. It is therefore suggested that the following attention be given: The redesign of the Wildframe Site be undertaken in concert with all other off-line communicators. The site use the same colour ways, however in a lesser concentrated amount The Wildframe brand and branding elements need to be articulated and incorporated throughout the site The formatting of the content needs to be clearer, utilising colour and type styles to more effectively segment content. The interface is to use greater levels of coded colour and text over image maps and graphics due to weight, download and content management issues. The content needs to be supported with rich and relative imagery to aid comprehension and the overall emotive experience. A unified style is to be developed for Typography, Proportionality of graphics, colours, the tone and manner of imagery and illustrations.

Suggestions for Wildframe Content and Functionality

Having reviewed the the 5 sites listed above it is very clear that many of the sites use the medium very effectively, whilst others fail to understand the true capability of the internet and its ability to seamlessly integrate with business processes. The first and most important requirement of the Wildframe site is to efficiently and clearly communicate your services allowing visitors to the site to enquire about or engage these services from the interface. The second most important requirement is to provide an interface that enables the user to effortlessly interact with the site content, building the users knowledge and confidence in Wildframe and its services. The third and arguably the most important requirement from the operational side is to enable as many of the existing manual business processes like bookings, Enquiries, scheduling and collation of data to be automated by the system. To achieve these goals it will be necessary to implement as many of the following suggestions, along with others that will arise from additional discussions with key stake holders within Wildframe and their hosting partners. Undertake a complete audit of the Wild frame site content. Providing a more ecologically rich presentation - 2 hrs from Sydney and sometimes it snows in Winter! Organise content so it best presents the features and benefits of Wildframe. Review the interrelationships of the information and the process flow of the site to make education and online fulfilment more efficient. Review and document the business processes of Wildframe in relation to bookings, scheduling, ordering etc. that can be handled online. Separate content into primary and secondary groups and present the two groups separately on the interface. Review the existing acquisition techniques used by Wildframe to get bums-on-seats as evaluate the possibility of having these processes enabled online via an extranet etc. Review the types on information that could assist Wild frame in better planning and tracking bookings and resource requirements i.e. visual seating allocation etc. Source or shoot an array of imagery that reflects the true Wildframe experience. All images would be taken on both of the current tours as well as the surrounding environs. Start to introduce surveys to some of the customers on their way home in an endeavour to better understand their behaviour, needs and selection criteria when choosing a tour operator. Use rich and relevant imagery to enliven the wildframe site Redesign the Wildframe site and brochures so as to provide a consistent message and increase the strength of the brand and its exposure. Broaden the site content and its functionality with the following: Fire & Weather Data, Health Warnings, Bread Crumbs, Seasonal climatic data, In-copy Links, Brochure Downloads Ecological info

Things To Bring, FAQs, Multi - Lingual sections, E-mail a Friend function,

Bookings - Off-line, Bookings Online

(Secure - Encrypted),

Quick Bookings Link Pickup Maps Tour Maps

Additional recommendations Keyword Search Comparison of Wildframe and its competitors.

In an effort to improve Wildframes position on search engines like MSN, Yahoo, Alt Vista, Google, All the Web etc. it is necessary to understand what people are searching for, what key words they are using to do so and where they are looking. Blue Mountains Tours Bush Tours Sydney Mountain Tours Sydney Day Tours Day Trips Sydney Wilderness Tours Day Tours Katoomba Day Tours Eco Tours Sydney Day Bush Tours Bush walking Tours Guided Bush Walks Canyon Blue Mountain Tours Adventure Tours

Meta Data Review

A large proportion of sites built today comply in one-way or another to a variety of international cataloguing and accessibility standards. One of these standards is: AGLS - Australian Government Locator Service Meta Data Standard 1.2 Meta data is data that is used to describe site resources so that people searching for electronic information can find what they are looking for more efficiently. Meta data helps search engines to accurately and efficiently identify and retrieve web-based resources in response to search requests. To ensure that Meta data is as useful as possible, it is important that it is applied consistently. AGLS Meta data, which is usually invisible to the end user, can be stored in HTML meta tags or in a Meta data repository or directory that can be interrogated or harvested by external search engines. Below I have included two examples of the source code for the home page of 1) Wildframe, 2) Dale Myles and 3) Online Publishing Association sites respectively. 1)
<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0//EN"> <HTML> <HEAD> <META name="GENERATOR" content="IBM NetObjects TopPage V4.0.3 for Windows"> <LINK REL="SHORTCUT ICON" HREF="favicon.ico"> <TITLE>Welcome To Wildframe Ecotours</TITLE> <SCRIPT language="JavaScript">

2)
<HTML>

<HEAD> <META HTTP-EQUIV="Content-Type" CONTENT="text/html; charset=iso8859-1"> <TITLE>Dal Myles Tours - Homepage</TITLE> <META NAME="KEYWORDS" CONTENT="4 wheel drive; 4wd; 4WD; accommodation; adventure; anvil rock; Australia; australia; australia tours; australian wildlife; australian wines; blue mountains; boomerang; boomerangs; coach; coach tours; cruising; dal; dal myles; dal myles tours; deep sea; dolphin; dolphin tour; dolphins; excitement; fauna; fishing; fishing tour; flights; four wheel drive; four wheel drive tour; fun; harbour bridge;hot air balloons; hotel; hunter valley; kangaroo; koala; leisure; manly; mardi gras; national park; native animals; nature; nelsons bay; new south wales; newcastle; ocean; olympic; olympic games; opals; overnight tours; port stephens; sand dunes; scenic railway; small group; special; spectacular; sydney; Sydney; sydney day tours; sydney harbour; sydney history; sydney hotel; sydney information; sydney olympics; sydney tourist;"> <META NAME="DESCRIPTION" CONTENT="The entry page to Dal Myles Tours Web site. Find information about Tours around Sydney."> <META NAME="CATEGORY" CONTENT="home page"> <STYLE TYPE="text/css">

3)
<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <html> <head> <title>Online Publishers Association</title> <META name="description" content="Information for and about the online publishing industry from the leading trade association dedicated to representing the interests of high-quality online publishers before the advertising community, the press, the government and the public. Includes recent news and latest research on the industry, as well as membership information."> <META name="keywords" content="Online Publishers Association,OPA,online advertising,paid content,online publishing,Internet,Internet media,media business,advertising services,editorial content,quality online content,journalism,trade association,media research,media consumption,communications,OPA Intelligence Report,news and information sites,Internet usage,broadband,Web sites,trust,credibility">

These three examples clearly illustrate the detail and diversity of meta data and the potential of these modifications can have on the search engine sniffers scouring the internet. The following pages include simple representation of the Five sites reviewed as part of this documents creation and are intended to aid the visualisation and recognition of some of the site features