Comments on: User Experience Review: SeaWorld.com

By: Enrique Gutierrez

Enrique Gutierrez — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 16:52:26 +0000

1. Whoever designed this site is either very proud of their creation and think it’s “on brand” with SeaWorld’s Vision? Or they’re laughing all the way to the bank, and secretly hate Shamu.

2. Rich Media + Social Media… Not only did they miss the mark, but they went to the wrong “agency” to get consultation on this.

Whichever development team slapped this thing together, did NOT know what they were doing. Has anyone taken the time to look at the source code? Tables, embedded JavaScript, poor SEO practice, misaligned comments for page sections (smells like Dreamweaver 8 to me), anyone care to explain to me why there are inline styles on THE SeaWorld site?

This project is “FAIL” from end to end, and my guess is, SeaWorld went to the wrong people to get this job done; from the people making the decisions in-house, to the calls made by those people for who get’s the production job out of the house.

By: Alex Funk

Alex Funk — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 22:29:11 +0000

You guys are so right – they really missed the boat when it comes to incorporating more social media, fun elements into their site. These things are so easy!

I think because they are corporately operated and don;t have their ear to the ground on how to create a UX for today they just don’t get it. There is so much room for improvement, better planning and execution will give them a truly amazing website, one worth of praise from designers and users alike.

By: Rich Page

Rich Page — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 22:15:09 +0000

I couldn’t agree more about the social side of things. social communities are the biggest thing online right now. why would sea world not want to create a community of its own visitors/fans? surely a great way to market to them! There don’t even offer a newsletter or blog. Very strange. and no sticky content to make people want to come back. so many big companies dont ‘get it’ when it comes to online…

Rich Page (a web analytics fanatic)
http://www.rich-page.com

By: Linda Eskin

Linda Eskin — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 20:30:55 +0000

I’ve had to use the site myself, and I couldn’t agree more about the music that Will Not Go Away.

Props to them, however, on being able to offer e-Vouchers when you sign up for membership. (Possibly provided by a third party… I forget.) Just pay, print them (or email a link), and *voom* you’re off to the park. I’ve bought them myself, and sent them to others as gifts. It’s a great user experience indeed to be able to call someone on a lovely, sunny day, and tell them “Hey, check your email” and they find a nice surprise they can use right away.

The rest is just stuff I had to wade through to get to what I wanted.