Website Usability & Design

Service: The Value of a Search Box within Online Banking for the DIY Crowd

By Jim Bruene Posted on
Categories: Capital One, Service, Travel, Website Usability & Design

image I’ve always disliked toll-free (telephone) customer service. You have to find the number, identify yourself repeatedly, choose from confusing categories, then wait on hold until you finally get the honor of pleading your sorry case to someone who has all the power. I usually end up feeling like an idiot or a third grader asking for a bathroom pass.

Before the Internet, call center service was a necessary evil. Going forward, let’s get rid of it. Self-service, whether completely automated or “guided” by real humans, saves money, and done right, can be a more satisfying customer experience.

Back to my sample of one. When I have a question, I always look for the webform, email address, or even the live chat button; anything that keeps me from dialing 1-800-IMAFOOL.

But when you want to do something at your bank that’s relatively complicated, such as investigate a suspicious charge, change your credit limit, etc., it can be difficult to figure out how to do that on your own. That’s why I like Capital One’s “Ask a question…” box in the middle-right of all its credit card management pages (see first screenshot).

Today, I wanted to tell the bank I might be using its card internationally. I was already logged in to pay my bill, so I simply typed “travel” in the right-hand box (see first screenshot) and a link to the correct online form was delivered in the “answers” section (see second screenshot). It worked just like I expected.

So kudos to Capital One for making it easy to navigate to the right page, and more importantly, handling the entire travel notification process online. Of course, I’d prefer the bank just tracked me automatically via GPS (note 2), but we’ll get back to that another time.  

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Capital One aids do-it-yourselfers with a prominent search box on every page (28 Jan 2012)

Capital One main account page with "site search" box

Search results for “travel”

Capital One site search results for "Travel"

Notes:
1. Western Electric ad from 1959 (from eBay)
2. At FinovateEurope next week, one of the presenting companies, Finsphere, offers just such a technology. Capital One, you should give them a call.

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Design: Lose the Combined "Investments & Insurance" Navigation Category

By Jim Bruene Posted on
Categories: Insurance, Website Usability & Design

image I spent many hours in November looking at how banks and credit unions position insurance offerings online (our report here). Many banks don’t even mention insurance. And those that do often bury it under an “investments & insurance” tab. Wells Fargo is the most notable example (screenshot below).

While I understand the need to keep navigation choices to a manageable number, these two really shouldn’t be lumped together. It’s like Amazon having one tab for “Shoes and Goats.” It’s confusing for both the shoe buyer and goat shopper.

Although a number of investments contain an insurance component (e.g., annuities), for most shoppers, this is unclear. Usually investing comes first, so it’s unlikely the auto insurance shopper is going to pay much attention to a navigation item beginning with “investments.” That’s the furthest thing from the mind of someone trying to save a few bucks to keep the family fleet running.

imageBottom line: If you are serious about selling insurance, it needs proper attention in website layout and navigation. Notice how Wescom Credit Union (Pasadena, CA) splits investments and insurance into two categories, with appropriate calls to action at the bottom of each column (second screenshot). The CU has some work to do on the landing page (it’s cluttered and hard to find the quote I was promised), but it’s still better than most.

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Before: Wells Fargo’s personal homepage with combined “Investing & Insurance” category (13 Jan 2012)

Wells Fargo homepage with combined "Investing & Insurance" category

After: Wescom Credit Union has separate columns for insurance and investments 

Wescom Credit Union homepage with both Insurance and Investment categories

Wescom CU insurance landing page (link)
Note: The only thing that stands out on this page is the Purina Care pet insurance. The all-important quote function is buried at the bottom.

Wescom CU insurance landing page

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Notes:
1. Image courtesy of 1st Guard Truck Insurance 
2. See last month’s Online Banking Report Selling Insurance Online (for FIs) for more info.

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Happy New Year!

By Jim Bruene Posted on
Categories: Advertising Age, Holiday promotions, Website Usability & Design

imageOn the first day of 2012, we found a few financial institutions wishing their customers well, while also informing them of holiday branch closures. Always festive Amplify Credit Union (Austin, TX) had a great look as did First Federal Bank of Florida (see below). 

First Federal also remembered to address New Years Eve hours on Saturday, a more likely question. 

Final note: While you’re at it, also mention holiday hours in your call center and online banking support.

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Amplify Credit Union (1 Jan 2012, link)
Note: Amplify switches out its header graphic and logo treatment on major holidays. Here was their Valentine’s look in 2010.

Amplify CU homepage on New Years Day

First Federal Bank of Florida (1 Jan 2012, link)
Note: First Florida had the best New Years graphics. They not only ran two banners, but also used subtle animation to cause the logo and top banner to twinkle when it was moused over. The bank also addressed Dec 31 hours along with those on the official holiday.

First Federal Bank of Florida homepage on New Years day


U.S. New Mexico Federal Credit Union (1 Jan 2012, link)

US New Mexico FCU homepage on New Years Day

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Design: Financial Websites that Work on PC Monitors, Laptops, Tablets and Smartphones

By Jim Bruene Posted on
Categories: Discover Card, Square, Website Usability & Design

imageThe browser was supposed to make web design simple, at least in terms of page layout. But it’s always been tough to keep up with changing screen sizes, varying resolutions, and frustrating differences between browsers.

Liquid layouts that adjust automatically to the available screen real estate have been a huge help. But then along came the mobile browser, complicating everything both by their small size and by the two viewing modes, portrait and landscape. 

But it’s not an insurmountable problem. Square is one financial company that’s doing it right. It’s website looks just as good on a 10-inch iPad2 screen as it does on a 24-inch monitor (see screenshot #1 to 4 below).

To make it work, copy and navigation options must be kept to a bare minimum. Square uses a catchy background image of its reader in use, then has an info box that "floats" depending on the screen size. It even works in portrait mode on the iPad (screenshot #4).

Of course, it’s much easier to pull off for a one-product company like Square than for a commercial bank with dozens of business lines.

But even Square had to make compromises on its smartphone layout (see inset above). Instead of asking for contact info, the company simply instructs users to download one or both of its apps: Square or Card Case.

Relevance for Netbankers: We are about to see a flood of redesigned websites using new design and programming techniques (e.g. HTML5). Citibank was the first major U.S. bank to simplify its design. Discover just emailed users today with a sneak preview of its pared down design (screenshot #6). And it already had a relatively clean design (screenshot #5).

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1. Square homepage on 24-inch monitor

Square homepage on 24-inch monitor

2. Square on 12-inch laptop

Square homepage on 12-inch laptop

3. Square iPad landscape

 Square homepage on iPad landscape

4. Square iPad portrait

 Square on ipad (portrait)

5. Discover homepage (current)

Discover current homepage (18 Oct 2011)

6. Discover new (coming soon)

New Discover homepage

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Note: We cover financial website and mobile design issues periodically in our Online Banking Report (subscription).

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Design: Bank of Internet Puts "Request More Info" on New Homepage

By Jim Bruene Posted on
Categories: Sales Techniques, Website Usability & Design

image Citibank wasn’t the only one with a new homepage this week. Bank of Internet also launched a new look today.

It’s more traditional than Citibank’s, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. There’s more copy, but it’s still pleasing to look at it, easy to navigate, and focuses attention on two core products:

  • 1.25% APY rewards checking
  • 4.10% APR mortgage refinance

I like the bank’s new Request More Information box in the lower left corner. It allows visitors to quickly request more info on the following three topics simply by typing in their email address. 

  • Deposit accounts
  • Mortgage loans
  • Multi-family loans

Bottom line: While most financial institutions invite visitors to call, few make it easy to leave your email address for a future discussion. I’m not sure how many people will see this box tucked away in small type below the fold. But with a little more emphasis, it could be an effective sales tool.

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New Bank of Internet homepage (6 Oct 2011)

New Bank of Internet homepage (6 Oct 2011)

After submitting an info request the box changes to a thank-you message

after submitting info request, box area changes to thanks

Previous homepage (2 March 2011; Source: Internet Archive)

Previous Bank of Internet homepage (March 2011)

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Design: Citibank Remodels Main Consumer Homepage

By Jim Bruene Posted on
Categories: Citibank, Website Usability & Design

image The folks in charge of Citibank’s website are sure brave. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen this dramatic of a change overnight in a major banking website (see before and after screenshots below). The bank rolled out the new site Sunday night and it seems to be running smoothly today.

My first impression is positive. Banking websites tend to be too cluttered. So they either overwhelm prospective customers or cause existing customers to tune the whole thing out. This seems like a step in the right direction, but only the company’s web analytics team knows for sure. I’m sure it’s been an interesting Monday for everyone involved.

The bank moved the majority of the previous homepage links (see last screenshot) into drop-down "mega menus" that are only displayed when clicking on one of the seven primary navigation items at the top of the page (see second screenshot). The drop-downs only appear after an actual click, so the don’t cover up the page when you accidently hover over them with the mouse.

Citi.com homepage in iphone While the new site is clearly less busy overall, the bank has actually added two new items on the main (top) navigation bar:

  • Rewards & Offers: Highlights the bank’s ThankYou rewards program, AAdvantage co-branded card, and other programs. Given the bank’s emphasis on rewards, this is a good addition.
  • Services: This is a catchall leading to sections on online banking, mobile banking, and unusual features such as PopMoney p2p payments. Most items are repeated in the main Banking navigation item. While it seems redundant from a navigation perspective, perhaps it’s a marketing tool for prospects looking for "banking services."

The new site renders nicely on an iPhone, displaying the login box, then navigation items in a vertical format (see inset). I’m not sure if this is a change from the previous site. Note the banner ad at the top promoting the bank’s @AskCiti Twitter site.

There are also numerous changes in the online banking area, notably the addition of PFM features powered by Yodlee’s FinApp development platform. I’ll look at those in a future post.

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1. New: 3 Oct 2011
Note: The main graphic, a young woman feigning delight over a bag of gift cards from Citi, is the same in both the before and after shots. But the new version is a mirror image of the old. 

New Citi.com homepage 3 Oct 2011

2. New design with Banking "mega menu" displayed over graphic

Net Citibank homepage with Banking menu displayed

3. Previous: 30 Sep 2011 (from Google cache) 
Note: The yellow highlights are on Google’s cached copy only, they would not have appeared on the actual Citi website.

Previous Citi.com as of 30 Sep 2011

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Design: BillShrink Uses Splash Page to Introduce New Corporate Website and Truaxis Name

By Jim Bruene Posted on
Categories: BillShrink, Website Usability & Design

imageYou may not be changing your corporate name like BillShrink (press release), but you can use their technique any time you do a major website remodel. Throw a splash page on top of your old design highlighting the change(s), then redirect users to the new site (note 1).

The explanation on the splash page will reassure users that they have not landed on a fake site. And it provides an opportunity to highlight improvements and do some brand reinforcement.

You could use the same technique with major promotions, but the key word is MAJOR. It should be used VERY sparingly, or you will annoy customers while diluting its effectiveness.

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Truaxis/BillShrink splash page (15 Sept. 2011)
Note: In this case, BillShrink is still operating its old site. So consumers clicking on the right button will be sent to <billshrink.com>. Merchants and financial institution visitors will go to the new corporate site, <truaxis.com>.

Truaxis/BillShrink splash page

BillShrink consumer site

Billshrink consumer site

Trueaxis corporate site
Note: Naturally, we love the Finovate Best of Show logos at the bottom (note 2), even if they are below the fold.

image

Notes:
1. In BillShrink’s case, they are still operating the old site. But they want their B2B prospects (merchants/banks) to visit their new corporate site, Truaxis.com.
2. Truaxis will be busy next week, presenting a new twist on in-statement rewards at our Finovate (see our sneak peek post). It’s also a finalist in Innotribe’s competition (here).

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Simplifying Product Search: PickHealthInsurance.com Delivers Relevant, Clean Results in Seconds

By Jim Bruene Posted on
Categories: Sales Techniques, Service, Website Usability & Design

image It’s been years since we did a deep dive into what I call “site search,” trying to find answers using a banking site’s own search and navigation tools. While things have gotten much better, most financial sites still have plenty of room for improvement (note 1).

And it doesn’t seem like a monumental problem. Even a large bank has how many retail products? 50? 100? Even if five times that, it’s TINY compared to other ecommerce sites. Amazon.com has 9,070 results just for “toaster.”

Consumers should be able to quickly find appropriate banking products by inputting four or five data points: age, ZIP code, family size, home ownership, annual income (for credit products), and average balance (for deposit products). Then, a list of relevant products should be returned in tabular format with a clear link to more details.

To see how this works, stripped of all ads and cross sales, check out the side project of Seattle entrepreneur Adam Doppelt, PickHealthInsurance.com. Users enter four pieces of info: ZIP code, age, family size, and whether they smoke. A few seconds after pressing Find Plans!, the site returns a table of potential choices (second screenshot).

It’s a very Google-like experience, something you can’t say about most banking sites.

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PickHealthInsurance input form (14 Sept. 2011)

PickHealthInsurance input form

Results page

image

Plan details page

Plan details page

Note:
1. Many financial institutions have sophisticated product comparisons, but it’s not always easy to find the tool to begin with.

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Reviewed: The American Express Gift Card Store and its New eGift Card Option

By Jim Bruene Posted on
Categories: American Express, Credit/Debit Cards, Website Usability & Design

imageThe banking website is a unique animal. Part account management. Part service. Part sales. Part consumer. Part business. And it all must pass muster with the CEO, IT, marketing, customer support, heads of business lines, the board, and about 2,000 regulatory agencies. It’s no wonder that it can be difficult to keep up with ecommerce Web-design standards. 

When I started this post, the intent was to show how American Express had overcome typical banking shortfalls and was doing ecommerce right. I liked what I saw at first glance. But after diving in and actually using the gift card site, I have to say that the company still has quite a ways to go to equal Amazon.com, Buy.com or even Etsy.

My take: Overall, it’s a good structure for selling gift cards. But there are a number of things to clean up, mostly in the purchasing and fulfillment process. And the mobile option didn’t work at all, at least on the iPhone 4. For now, I’ll give it a B+ for layout/design and a C- for execution.

Let’s start with the good parts:

  • New virtual gift card costs $1 less ($2.95), has no shipping charges (which range from $2 to $8.95 per order), and can be emailed in near real-time
  • Option to create a “gift card account” to save payment info and make purchasing into a “1-click” process (only available to AmEx cardholders though)
  • Easy to find business or personal options by choosing the correct tab near the top
  • Shopping process uses cart system to order multiple designs and denominations
  • Ability to shop for cards for specific occasions (birthday, wedding, etc.)
  • Signup for email offers (bottom of main page)
  • Mobile shopping link to open a mobile-optimized site (bottom of page…which actually didn’t work on my iPhone 4, see below)
  • Personalization options including uploaded photos and recipient name embossed on card
  • Click-to-call (powered by Oracle) offered when arriving via Google AdWords ad
  • Link to purchase gift cards with Membership Rewards points
  • Unlimited next-day shipping option. Pay $99, and for the next year, all gift cards will be delivered for no charge via next-day shipping
  • Link to buy Gift Cheques for old-school users

What needs to be improved:

  • Inconsistent fee disclosure: Although the site discloses the $2.95 to $6.95 processing fee as items are selected, this fee is NOT shown in the cart totals before checkout. And I couldn’t find an answer on the site to the simple question I had: Is it $3.95 per card or per order?  
  • Card terms not explained: There is lots of confusion in the gift card market about expiration dates, monthly fees and such. In the traditional plastic gift-card area, AmEx does virtually nothing to help users understand what they are buying; however, it’s new virtual gift card is explained well.
  • Lack of direct customer service: When navigating to the site through organic search, there is no way to get a quick question answered via live chat or email. Users must follow the Contact Us link in the upper right to find contact info.
  • Obtrusive banners: The banner section (in upper left) is too large for a focused microsite and distracts from the task at hand. And one of the three is way off topic, touting an AmEx award from PayBefore for the “Best Web Sales Channel.” That has absolutely zero interest to buyers and is one of the odder banner ads I’ve ever seen run on a major financial website (although I expect AmEx tested it and found some sales lift). 
  • Clunky checkout process: The form-design itself is adequate, but is missing a few features such as an immediate error message if you type in a dollar amount that does not work. I also found myself clicking Continue at the bottom of the page which won’t work until you first press Add to Cart.
  • Slow website: I tested the site several times over a two-day period and consistently had trouble completing an order. Without more research, I don’t know if it’s an AmEx issue or just unfortunate timing on my part; in either case, it was pretty frustrating. 
  • Too many navigation options: The top of the gift card page contains AmEx’s normal page navigation options: My Account | Cards | Travel | Rewards | Business
    While those are helpful for cardholders looking to access other services, they distract from the task at hand, selecting a gift card(s). 
  • Boring gift card email (screenshot #3): The email went out right away and there was nothing technically wrong with it. But I would have expected a little more excitement and design pizzazz. After all, it’s not every day that someone sends you real money. Also, I was really surprised that the email did not contain the amount of the gift card or the personal message that I composed. That info eventually shows up during the activation process.
  • Bizarre activation screen using Google Chrome for PC (screenshot 4): At first the page came up with a congratulations message, and an error message, even though I hadn’t completed the authentication step of entering the captcha info. However, after the page fully loaded, all the extraneous messages disappeared. Also, it looked fine on Chrome on my Mac (I didn’t test other browsers).
  • Virtual card itself is a “low-tech” PDF (screenshot 5): I’m not sure what I was expecting at the end of the process, but having a PDF version of my virtual gift card seems anti-climactic. And the PDF popup (again in Chrome) doesn’t have the usual save/print function along the top, so initially I was stuck as to how I would remember the card info to actually use it. By accident, I found that if I moved my mouse over the lower right part of the popup, that the print/save functions all of a sudden appeared as floating controls. It would be a whole lot better for the user if the card info was simply contained in the original email or if you could at least email the info to yourself after activation. I think a lot of these cards are going to end up lost as PDF files on the hard drive, the modern equivalent of the old paper travelers cheque being socked away in a drawer for decades.
  • Mobile site was unusable (unless logged in): On the online site, there’s a link promoting mobile ordering of gift cards by navigating to <americanexpress.com/gift> on their phone. I manually entered that URL in my iPhone 4 and was taken to a site dominated by a login screen (screenshot 6). There is a link to gift cards below the fold, but pressing it just reloaded the same page (evidently you have to log in first). This was a total mobile fail.

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1. American Express Gift Card landing page <americanexpress.com/gift-cards> (8 Sept. 2011)

1. American Express Gift Card landing page <americanexpress.com/gift-cards>

2. Personalized photo gift card order form
Note: Shipping fees are disclosed at the bottom, and the purchase fee pops up after you select a dollar amount.

Anex Personalized photo gift card order form

3. Recipient email notification they’ve received an eGift Card

3. Email to recipient of American Express eGift Card

4. Activation process starts with a bizarre screen that eventually renders correctly, but not before thoroughly confusing the user
Note: Eventually the lower half of this screen disappeared and only the top activation portion remained

4. Activation process started with a bizarre screen

5. The virtual card is downloaded as a PDF which can be printed or saved by the recipient

5. The virtual card is downloaded as a PDF which can be printed or saved by the recipient

6. The American Express “Gift Card site” as seen through an iPhone 4

6. The American Express "Gift Card site" as seen through an iPhone 4

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Bank Website Redesigns are Back: Salem Five Outdoes Itself

By Jim Bruene Posted on
Categories: Salem Five Savings Bank, Website Usability & Design

image Unless it was mission critical, or compliance mandated, there is a good chance your pet project was put on hold during the 2008-2010 financial crisis. Most website-redesign projects, despite good ROI, drop into that “discretionary spending” bucket.

But as we approach the one-third-mark of 2011, we are starting to see the results of design projects green-lighted in the last budget cycle. Bank of America, the most-visited financial website, rolled out its new design late last year.

But smaller financial institutions are also doing great work, ofttimes offering a better user experience than the big brands, which must be all things to all people. The Financial Brand rounded up a half-dozen great examples in a March 23 post.

One that I particularly liked (note 1) is Salem Five’s new homepage (shown below). Not only is it gorgeous, the navigation is outstanding with a large box containing key info (see points A and B below) and drop-down mega-menus (second screenshot) for everything else.

A few highlights of the new design (letters correspond to those shown on the screenshot):

A. The small outlined box on the left contains important info including the online banking login and current rates for key products.

B. The bank makes it easy to find contact info by listing the toll-free number at the bottom of the box. The bank also features LivePerson-powered click-to-call, one of the recommendations from our most recent report (note 3).

C. Despite the minimalistic design, the bank still has four low-key, text-based promos running across the screen.

D. Users can choose from 19 background themes to use as the backdrop (note 2).

Salem Five homepage with customizable backgrounds (18 April 2011)

Salem Five homepage with customizable backgrounds (18 April 2011)

Salem Five uses drop-down “mega menus” to help users navigate to the far corners of its website

Salem Five uses drop-down "mega menus" to help users navigate to the far corners of its website

Notes:
1. I’m a bit biased because I’ve been following Salem Five since the summer of 1995 when we both spoke at the first-ever conference on Internet banking.
2. I’m not sure many users really want to choose their homepage backdrop; I personally prefer that the images be randomly rotated. However, it does show considerable web-savvy that the bank offers a customizable design option. After Salem Five is done showcasing the feature, the option to change pics should probably be taken off the homepage. It’s taking up prime real estate in the upper-right corner. 
3. For more info on click-to-call and other “live help” techniques, see the most recent Online Banking Report (March 2011).

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USAA is Amazing

By Jim Bruene Posted on
Categories: Service, USAA, User-Generated Content, Website Usability & Design

imageHow did USAA become the most innovative bank in America? I guess its big-bank competitors have been kind of preoccupied with other matters the past few years. And because USAA serves most of its 5 million banking customers remotely, it stands to profit from pushing the envelope in online/mobile delivery. 

The latest proof that the bank is both innovative and adored? Posting user reviews right in the middle of the homepage, an inventive and unique approach. And with an average score of 4.7 out of 5 for both checking and auto insurance, the reviews serve as a transparent and effective mass endorsement.

Here’s the breakdown of scores received on 6,350 total reviews for USAA’s free checking account (as of 12 Aug 2010):

     5 stars (excellent) >>> 5,550  (87% of total)
     4 stars (good) >>>>>>    329  (5%)
     3 stars (average) >>>>   154   (2%)
     2 stars (fair) >>>>>>>    110   (2%)
     1 star (poor) >>>>>>>     214  (3%)

Relevance for Netbankers: Frankly, I never thought I’d see user reviews posted anywhere on a bank site, let alone the homepage (note 1). If your customers love you, I mean really love you, customer reviews posted directly to an in-house site is a great way to prove it (note 2).

USAA homepage (12 August 2010)
Note: Ad on top for its new Auto Circle car-buying service, complete with its own iPhone app.

 

image

Notes: 
1. Bank of America also posted user reviews on its site, but the feature appears to have been discontinued a while ago. The last reference I could find on Google about the reviews was in Jan. 2008.
2. This would not be an easy project and would require a significant investment in ongoing monitoring and maintenance. More importantly, it requires a thick skin; your organization would have to be comfortable with a certain amount of complaints being posted. As good as USAA’s overall score is, there are still 314 poor reviews posted, 3% of the total. But allowing customers a salient vent-fest on your website may keep them from doing so in more public venues such as Twitter. It also gives you a chance to respond to and resolve posted problems.

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