Comments on: Ticket to ride. Just. http://electronicmuseum.org.uk/2007/08/02/ticket-to-ride-just/ musings about electronic culture Mon, 09 Jan 2012 14:02:10 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.com/ By: Museums, labels and terrible histories in IT « electronic museum http://electronicmuseum.org.uk/2007/08/02/ticket-to-ride-just/#comment-2851 Wed, 26 Sep 2007 21:28:02 +0000 http://electronicmuseum.wordpress.com/2007/08/02/ticket-to-ride-just/#comment-2851 [...] their data could be sifted, filtered or presented. Sometimes, it’s the unforgivable sin of IT departments thinking they understand users when their competancy is, obviously, in IT. Usually, though, it comes down to cost, and as long as [...]

]]> By: Mike http://electronicmuseum.org.uk/2007/08/02/ticket-to-ride-just/#comment-772 Thu, 02 Aug 2007 17:54:54 +0000 http://electronicmuseum.wordpress.com/2007/08/02/ticket-to-ride-just/#comment-772 Oh yeah, don’t get me started on thetrainline site. The moment when I fell out with it big-time was the default “insure your journey” checkbox. Luckily they seem to have removed this now, undoubtedly because of the volume of complaints…

But yeah, all the login stuff is very mysterious – it almost feels like it should be quite useful but then isn’t because of the issues you outline above.

Oh well..

]]> By: Jeremy Ottevanger http://electronicmuseum.org.uk/2007/08/02/ticket-to-ride-just/#comment-765 Thu, 02 Aug 2007 11:30:58 +0000 http://electronicmuseum.wordpress.com/2007/08/02/ticket-to-ride-just/#comment-765 Never tried that but I have issues with the Trainline site. Maybe I’m being dumb, but then I’m just a user so that should be expected, but it’s the favourite journeys that gets on my wick. You should be able to look at your account details, see your saved journeys listed, and use them but no. There is a route, but My account won’t get you there.
What happens? If you click the “My account” tab, it opens in a new window to log you in. Why a new window? Once logged in, you cannot access anything on the site (even the logo doesn’t link to the main trainline site), only your account details, so you can change your profile but not buy a ticket, although you’re logged in. There’s a “back” link, which takes you back to the login form, and the option of adding, editing and saving journeys – but not using them. There is a link by the dropdown saying “use this favourite journey” but it doesn’t let you use it: it’s the form submission to select the journey you want to edit. ARRGHH!!!. And of course, since “My account” opened in a new window you can’t use the fact that you’re logged in in the original window.

The right route is to click the log in link low in the left column, which opens a different login page to the My Account link. Why is it different? This link at least opens in the same window, so that you can benefit from the fact that you’re logged in, if you’ve already put together a journey you want. Login form submission is a text link, not a button. Why? Once logged in you see the usual search form and a list of saved journeys. Hooray! in this instance “Use favourite journey” DOES mean use it. Though you can’t edit it… And still, there’s no link to the home page except right at the bottom of the page. Of course, if you click it you can’t get back to your personal search page, you’d have to log in again. Naturally, you might be tempted to use the My Account link, but we know about that already, don’t we?
In writing and rewriting this I’ve cleared up some of my own queries about how to use that damn site, which is good – but it shouldn’t be necessary, should it? I think what it comes down to is that they shouldn’t have two routes to log in, and they shouldn’t open one in a new window (which forces you to log in again). It’s easy, really. But christ, they make it counter-intuitive.

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