Last year we designed a unique airport portal concept (see draft) for one of the leading travel search engines. The idea was to create a content hub for business travelers that would bring together all the relevant travel information by focusing on their point of departure and their final destination - airports. The airport portal would provide information on average check in times, flight delays, security alerts, airport productivity tips, airport maps and other information, as well as access to airline flight schedules and reservations.
During the design process, we tried to incorporate as many Web 2.0 portal best practices as possible, some of these include:
- Enabling Personalization and Customization
- Integating Ecommerce
In today's web economy, monetization is key. Incorporate as much revelent ecommerce and advertising in your portal. - Incorporating User Generated Content
User-generated content can key to a successful web-based community. Having travelers blog about their airport experience in real-time provides other travelers with important, time-saving information about what is going on the ground. - Mashup, Mashup, Mashup
Mashups allow you to deliver compelling applications quickly and cost effectively. - Keeping it Graphic
There is nothing more boring than an all text portal. Try and tell your story using more graphics and less text. - Using Free Content
There is a lot of free content either in the public domain (airport information), from the government (airport updates), or generated by users (forums, blogs) than you can incorporate in your portal. Identify it, make sure its free, and incorporate it properly into your portal. - Using Widget and Portlets
Packaging applications and information as widgets, modules or portlets not only makes them easier to develop and deliver but also allows users to better customize their online experience.