Southampton, United Kingdom - July 2, 2002 (PRN):Hotel-booking websites are failing their customers according to a report published today by Travel UCD. The report, based on original research conducted by Travel UCD into the design aspects of date-entry functionality, is freely downloadable from the Travel UCD website (http://www.travelucd.com).

At the heart of the report lies a first-hand evaluation of 109 hotel websites (19 travel agencies, 68 hotel-booking agencies and 22 hotel chains), together with a usability test conducted on four websites. On the basis of the research, Travel UCD devised 25 design guidelines to minimise the chance of users entering stay dates incorrectly.

According to the report, only 9% of hotel-booking websites follow the most important guidelines.

Report author, Alex Bainbridge, said, "The report shows that hotel website designers have a lot to learn about web usability."

This is the first of many such reports from Travel UCD. To hear when more travel website design research is released, subscribe to the email newsletter at http://www.travelucd.com.

About Travel UCD

Travel UCD is a usability design consultancy specialising in travel and hospitality websites.

For more information, contact: