Case Studies - Paper Prototyping: The Fast and Easy Way to Define and Refine User Interfaces - page 32

for future reference. At present, the site has a help section that addresses a number of questions
( Figure 2.5 ), including some that arose during the paper prototype tests. Naturally, the content of the
help section has evolved over the years along with the site and the Web-using population.
Figure 2.5: This page from Priceline.com, April 2002, explains the trade-off between flexibility and
ticket cost—a question that came up in paper prototype testing 5 years earlier, before the site had
even launched. Also note the explicit mention that Priceline doesn't show flights, which at least
prevents users from continuing to search for this information.
We conducted these usability tests of Priceline in early 1997, well in advance of their initial launch. Six
years later, the site is still in business. Although I can't claim that those early paper prototype tests were
solely responsible for the viability of the site, I'd like to think that they helped at least as much as
William Shatner's singing in their TV commercials!
[ 1 ] So unique, in fact, that it's patented. (Patent Number 5897620: Method and apparatus for the sale of
airline-specified flight tickets. Issued April 29, 1999.)
[ 2 ] E-commerce didn't appear in the Oxford English Dictionary until September 2001.