So lastminute.com is making a fair bit of noise about its latest piece of functionality - a box that allows users to type in structured sentences when looking for products rather than old school keyword-based seaches.
Pronto - not sure about the name - is the latest attempt in online travel agencyland to bring about a far more human approach to searching. Expedia's Inspiroscope (...and what about that name?!) was another fantastic piece of functionality when it launched almost two years ago.
So what we do think?
Pronto - not sure about the name - is the latest attempt in online travel agencyland to bring about a far more human approach to searching. Expedia's Inspiroscope (...and what about that name?!) was another fantastic piece of functionality when it launched almost two years ago.
So what we do think?
I think it needs a sense of humour
Once you start typing you are quite restricted as to what you can type..... and you end up creating a sentance that is quite dull.
Would be much more fun if they introduced some more amusing vocabulary.... or something unexpected.
Alex: What kind of amusing vocabulary would you expect to see on an OTA?
As an example, type in "fantastic".
What you get is "Sorry, we don't understand fantastic"....
The opportunity there is to say "We have fantastic hotels - but please blah blah blah".
I think it needs to be more quirky. Maybe also give it a "character" who is giving the results.... so it has some personality that can be put into the words.
Also, if you use a qualifier - for example "Best hotel in Southampton" - it swaps the Best for Brest... (France presumably!!) - and then says "Sorry we don't understand 'hotel'"
Not quite ready for primetime yet (but at least they are trying, so we shouldn't be too hard on them. Far too many companies don't try at all)
Hi Alex,
We love quirkiness and character - and in fact we already have something along these lines under development - will let you know when it launches. In the meantime, during this beta period we'll be keeping an eye on what people are trying or asking for, and extending it where we can, so thanks for the feedback!
Marko: Thanks for your comments.
It's good to see LM getting back into the innovating again.
I like the concept. Understanding sentences is not a new thing but this is a nice application.
Having said that I managed to break it several times but as Marko says - if they can learn form that an improve it will be a great tool.
Sorry Marko - an example - it doesn't understand NYC for New York City.
Kevin - your 'remember personal info' on your comments is not working.
http://www.hotelpronto.com/ might not like the name very much!
Tamara and all: we are working on a fix for the "remember personal info?" error.