If you navigate around travel-research site TripAtlas.com, you'll find the pages loading mighty fast.
The company says a redesign improved page load times to around 1.5 seconds from the previous seven seconds.
How was this done?
Part of the answer, TripAtlas says, was eliminating the site's reliance on Flash and adding CSS3 and JavaScript.
Removing the site's reliance on Flash, TripAtlas says, facilitates access to high-quality content regardless of how consumers are accessing the site.
"TripAtlas still serves rich-media ads, but no core functionality is Flash-based," a spokeswoman says. "It's all html, CSS and JavaScript."
Travis Snelling, the site's co-founder and general manager, elaborates on the site's use of CSS3.
"CSS3 lets us do all the fancy UI elements like rounded corners, dropshadows, toggle switches etc. without relying on Flash," Snelling says. "The subtle little details provide form with function to provide a better user experience overall."
"We also use it to employ custom fonts on the site without having to use the SiRF/Flash method, allowing for quicker and prettier pages," Snelling adds.
Snelling points to the site's Edit/Profile page as an example of the use of CSS3 sans Flash:
And many image galleries and animations on the site use CSS3, as well.
If page load times really were eclipsed from seven seconds to 1.5 seconds on average, then that would be a dramatic change.
One of the prime reasons behind the design changes was to accommodate a faster mobile experience for travelers on-the-go.
"While retaining much of the site's original look and feel, TripAtlas.com streamlined its means of accessing content, making it easier for visitors to locate the information they need without diminishing image quality, in addition to shorter page load times," the company says.
TripAtlas says it wanted to make it easier for users to navigate the site despite the fact that more than 1 million hotels, travel agencies, restaurants and tour operators etc. are listed in its directory and the site has "several million pages of content."
TripAtlas is a travel research and planning site which enables travelers to connect with more than 108,000 travel agents to get price quotes and advice.
Another key focus of the redesign was the site's My Trip Atlas section, which enables registered users to upload images detailing their past sojourns and upcoming trips.
To enable other people to track your travels, TripAtlas says it "uses a sophisticated geocoding process, along with the Google Maps API to convert 'Eiffel Tower, Paris' into a pinpoint on the map..."
The TripAtlas redesign, of course, is a work in progress.
"TripAtlas will be incorporating more features as more browsers adopt the new [CSS3] standards," a spokesperson says.
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Note: Some of these design issues as they relate to images, Flash and CSS were discussed in this post here.