Interactive Trip Planner

August 14, 2007 | In Travel | No Comments

With my trip to Mount Rushmore still somewhat in the planning stage, I thought I would check out some travel sites for ideas. I found this travel South Dakota site that looked promising. I clicked through and was greeted with a well designed and well thought out experience.

I then clicked on the “interactive trip planner,” and in a moment some disembodied voice began talking to me, encouraging me to explore the program. Admittedly, I was a little unnerved, but nothing could prepare me for this woman that walked across the screen. That’s right, this tourism guide suddenly appeared on my MacBook screen, strolling across as if this was something normal.

There seems to be this idea when it comes to some Web sites that we have to talk down to our readers. I don’t think that is really the case. Sure, portions of this tour experience were complicated, but nothing that required someone literally walking you through the site.

At any rate, check out the site for yourself, and remember – this scary person just appears all of a sudden. It’s supposed to be like that, it’s not a ghost. (I never thought she was a ghost. Really.)

Photo credit: Ben’s Guide to U.S. Government for Kids.