at functions it will provide.After we chose which travel web sites to benchmark, the next step was to choose the attributes upon which the comparisons would be made. We chose seven attributes, which we felt encompassed what the typical consumer would look for in a travel web site. They were: 1) Ease of Use/Usability/Navigability/Site Map2) Info Content/Pricing Info/Content/Updates3) Appearance/Layout/Structure/Consistency/Graphics4) Site Speed/Download Time/Reliability5) Buying Online/Simplicity of Purchase/Member6) Site Support/Help Desk7) Products/Selection/Ability to CompareEach attribute has multiple descriptors because it is of our opinion that they are closely related. The "Description of Attributes Measured" section (C3) will describe these attributes in further detail.Each of the attributes was applied to the four web sites, and was rated on a scale of 1 to 5, with 1 being the best. Furthermore, each of the attributes was weighted, these weights can be found in the "Weighting Scheme" section (C4).Once all the information was gathered, conclusions were drawn on the quality of four web sites. Finally, drawing on those conclusions, advice was given to the consumer on the web sites, so they can make a more informed decision when choosing which of the top travel web sites they should use. These can be found in the "Findings" and "Advice" sections, which immediately follow. B2. Findings The goal of this "Findings" section is to set forth the information we gathered regarding each website after following our research methodologies. In surveying each of the aforementioned websites, many commonalities as well as differences were found. The areas the Findings are grouped into include: Overall format/Ease of use Relevant links presented Speed of site/linksFormatOverall, the sites were easy to use and for the most part uncluttered. The one exception to this was in Travelocity. This site, while informative, did result in sensory o...
