Specialising in independent reviews aimed at streamlining quote and signup processes, enhancing user satisfaction and ease of use and increasing e-business with the methods of focus groups, task based usability testing and eyetracking.

Benchmarking against best practice and feeding directly into the design process.

Major Clients include:
IAG: We have been working with IAG for many years helping them understand customer reactions and improve online services for the brands NRMA, SGIO, SGIC and Buzz Insurance

SUNCORP: As their preferred supplier for usability services, we have worked extensively with the brands: AAMI, GIO, APIA, Just Car Insurance, and Insure My Ride.

RACV: We have been working with this iconic Victorian insurer to help make their new online self service portal best in class

• Don’t obsess over the visual design of your website
• Do obsess over the usability by your customers and prospects
• Don’t worry if you or the CEO think your website design does not look pretty
• Do worry about the conversion rate of your website (Are people finding what they need and completing their tasks?)
• Don’t use flash, heavy graphics, or tons of video
• Do use these things if it helps your customers get what they want from your website
• Don’t reinvent the wheel when it comes to design and layout
• Do use a basic layout that will be familiar to your customers
• Don’t differentiate with the design/functionality of your website
• Do differentiate your company by making it really easy for your customers to find what they want on your website
• Test, test, test! The only thing that matters is what your customers do on your website. Sit down with a potential customer, and watch them use your website. See if they can figure out how to get what they want; see if they can easily do the tasks you want your consumers to do. (e.g. “Show me how you would register for our free demo.”)

…And on that note; Merry Christmas 2011 from UX Research!

The annual AMBER awards recognise excellence in the eServices sector and highlight the work of the leaders in Australia and New Zealand in mainstream consumer services such as Online Banking, Online Retail, Online Travel and Online Government.  A number of finalists are independently assessed on criteria that include customer satisfaction and ease of use, through a survey and comparative usability testing.

UX Research has been assisting the e-commerce team at NRMA for many years to improve the usability of their online quoting and e-commerce systems. This great result for NRMA reflects their commitment to customer centred design and continuous improvement in line with best practice, and UX Research is proud to have offered our expertise to help achieve this.

• What functions, features and format do users expect of a self-service customer portal for insurance?
• What are the most effective methods for increasing online self-service?
• For online quotes, what is the relationship between a customer’s need, their search methods and their preferred formats for search returns?
• For combined Home and Contents insurance, what is an appropriate balance between having enough detail in a quote to promote feelings of completeness and accuracy, and brevity to make the process simple?
• What customer profiles value third-party multi-brand comparative quotes and what is the role of brand in the decision making process?

Usability reports provide both tactical advice to developers for design enhancements and strategic advice for business to improve brand positioning.

On some sites it’s a one-step process and clicking on a link at the bottom of the email unsubscribes directly, and gives me a verification that it has taken place. This is usually fine, although somewhat too abrupt, but so long as I am told which email address is being unsubscribed in the footer and given confirmation it is acceptable. Naming hyperlinks “click here” rather than the action “unsubscribe” seem to be a common problem.

A better and more common design is to have a link in the footer of the email that takes me directly to an unsubscribe page. On this page I should be able to can see what email is subscribed/to be unsubscribed, and what services (if there are multiple) I can stop. It also lets me know how to go about re-subscribing. A good example of this is Webjet:

Some require the entry of random security text (eg Woolworths everyday rewards) and others ask for a reason you have decided to leave. Asking for a reason is most likely to be disliked by users as its associated with marketing and is not central to the task.

With a few I have noticed that an email is sent to the subscribed email address and needs to be clicked on for confirmation, and this appears appropriate for mid to high security environments such as internet banking.

All of the above variations are satisfactory, provided:

1.  There is adequate security for the environment which should include email confirmation for mid to high security

2.  The email that is subscribed and is to be unsubscribed is shown prior to clicking unsubscribe

3.  There is confirmation of the change

4.  If the user is allowed to enter an alternate email, some security such as email confirmation is desirable

5.  Information on what services are current and what is being unsubscribed is shown

6.  Information on how to re-join is provided.

I was unable to complete the task on one site (Weatherchannel) due to a broken link in the email. Apple’s was very good. They dont use the word unsubscribe at all, and the process is about “managing subscriptions”. The page shows what your current subscriptions are (ticked) and you untick them and Update. So it uses a single column indicator quite successfully. This design avoids the whole problem of selecting items (a positive) to turn things off (a negative), and shows selected items as “on”.

Another problematic site I found was Paypal, which tries unsuccessfully to be very thorough in allowing the user to unsubscribe for particular services. My initial reaction on the page below was to uncheck all, but when I saw the button was called Unsubscribe I thought I should actually check them all. The heading is both “Unsubscribe “ and then “Subscriptions”, confusing in its own right, but on this page it appears as though I am only subscribed to News, as its the only one checked. Perhaps I should de-select News and press Unsubscribe? Unsure, I read more carefully. It says, “To unsubscribe, select a selection and click the button. Note: We’ve already checked the selection you made on the News and Promotions email you received.” This means that they have already agreed to unsubscribe me from News (that’s why its checked) and I can unsubscribe from others as well by selecting them. Wow – that’s confusing!

The problem is, the page does not tell me what I am subscribed to, or least I think it doesnt, and it does not make clear whether checking items is an act of unsubscribing from them, or subscribing to them. It brings over the users initial action to unsubscribe from a particular service from the previous page. Something no-one would ever know without reading the instruction. And who does that?

The superiority of the Webjet and Apple design now becomes obvious. No need to read two sentences to try to understand the page, and a clear indication of what is and is not subscribed shown in one or two columns, with the button is sensibly named “Save Preferences” or “Update”, to account for the overall action on the page.

We are pleased to offer proposals and quotes for usability services without obligation. However, we do require a clear statement of the requirement, and if the quote is competitive, explicit selection criteria and notification of the outcome and performance against the criteria in a timely manner.

Wishing you a very happy Christmas, a restful vacation and a busy 2011 in which we are heavily engaged!

UX Research is a proud supporter of the HCI International 2011 Conference

As Program Board Member for the Human Computer Interaction stream, currently reviewing paper submissions