Kayak Redesigns Travel Search Portal ; Now Consistent With Mobile UI

After redesigning its iPad app and consolidating the app with its iPhone cousin, travel search company Kayak is updating the UI for its web search portal today. The aim with the redesign is to create a more universal and comprehensive consumer experience across all Kayak platforms: web, mobile web and apps.

One of the biggest changes users will see is that there is considerable more white space on the search results page. Kayak is also using bold fonts less often. As co-founder and CTO, Paul English explains to us, the company studies what users are clicking on and realized that putting less information on the page would provide a better user experience for consumers.

Kayak will now be showing people fewer results by default, says English. For example, with flight search, Kayak will show a smaller set of results that give the greatest set of options for users. And there are fewer filters that are shown by default as well. For example, with hotels the filters that will be shown in results by default include star rating, price, brand and location. By clicking on a link, users can add more filters such as amenities, type of property and more.

English says that Kayak will also be more strict about which display ads will be shown to users. The aim is for ads to be more aesthetically consistent with the site to improve the user experience.

We know that Kayak has been eyeing a public offering for over a year now, filing its S-1 in 2010. As AllThingsD reported in September, the company put its IPO on hold until market conditions improved. In a recent S-1 filing, the company revealed that revenue and profits are up. One obstacle that could stunt Kayak’s growth is Google’s entry in the space with it its flight bookings and search portal.

Updating mobile offerings as well as cleaning up the web product and search to create a better user experience could be one factor in helping Kayak remain competitive in the long term.

Here are before and after pictures of the redesign:

BEFORE

AFTER