42244

econsultancy_xml

<ul> <li> Improve the colour scheme White text on a black background is rarely a good idea from a user experience perspective. It is harder to read and can cause eyestrain. This may work for some sites, but is inadvisable for banking and e-commerce offerings with a lot of text content. <img alt="Northern Rock homepage" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2361/2278635357_b9ea8a6570_o.jpg" /> </li> <li> Create a more useful homepage Other financial sites like <a href="http://www.abbey.com">Abbey</a> and <a href="http://www.natwest.com/">Natwest</a> devote their homepages to useful links to the rest of the site and various products. Northern Rock, however, chooses to put all the navigation links in a small area at the top and gears the rest of the page towards promoting its fixed rate access bond. A better balance is needed. </li> <li> Add a site search option Many users <a href="/blog/2121-ten-site-search-tips">prefer to use the search tool</a> to find what they are looking for on a site, rather than the navigation links. Other banking sites have a search box, but not Northern Rock. Nor is there a site map. These are two fundamentals of best practice, with regards to websites. </li> <li> Ditch the registration process Ok, this even more stupid than the chancellor's dithering. To view any information on loans, accounts or mortgages, visitors to the site must register first. Utter, utter madness, and clearly no good for Google. Registration is a lengthy process and seems completely unnecessary, especially if you simply want to browse the loan rates on offer (which, under EU guidelines, should become less competitive, in case you were wondering). </li> </ul> <img alt="Northern Rock registration" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2371/2278618487_4c637f0df7_o.jpg" /> <ul> <li> Drop the annoying mortgage application pop-ups Brace yourself, for this is truly pathetic. Click on 'apply online' and you see a pop-up message, which tells you that you have two and a half minutes to wait while it downloads: <img alt="Mortgage application pop-up" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2061/2277294208_a21ce666e1_o.jpg" /> Natwest, Abbey and so on make their forms appear almost instantly and waiting this long is annoying. I would love to know the dropout rate here. Surely this is terrible coding? Why must it take so long? This is truly a sub-prime experience. In fact, it's even worse than that. Here I am, still waiting, some five minutes later, staring at a blank screen (PS - my connectivity is cable broadband, so this really is unforgivable): <img alt="Northern Rock " src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2356/2276501185_db67118408_o.jpg" /> </li> <li> Sort out the loan and bank account applications Similarly, if you apply for a loan or savings account, you get the same pop-up screen which fails to load, meaning that online applications are impossible at the moment. Can you believe we taxpayers now 'own' this junk? </li> <li> Server strain When the Northern Rock crisis initially began back in September, the <a href="/blog/1747-northern-rock-website-struggles-to-cope-with-strain">website was unable to cope with the strain</a>, taking around four minutes to load up. Business will have dropped off since then, but it is crucial that websites can be accessed at all times, and that they can deal with traffic spikes. </li> <li> Sort out the public ownership announcement Currently, clicking on Northern Rock's Google result takes you straight to this page: <img alt="Northern Rock message to customers" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2298/2276484523_99ea900356_o.jpg" /> This is fine, and is obviously crucial information for customers. The problem is that the message comes up again when you click on other options, such as 'company info' or the link back to the homepage, so you end up seeing the same message again and again. Groovy. </li> <li> Crack down on brand-bidding Nobody at Northern Rock <a href="http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&q=northern+rock&meta">seems to be monitoring Google</a> too closely, judging by the number of other, unrelated finance sites bidding on the company's brand name. <img alt="Google search: Northern Rock" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2387/2276500663_d09790c3fd_o.jpg" /> </li> <li> Change the shareholder page This <a href="http://companyinfo.northernrock.co.uk/shareholders/ ">page</a> should be replaced with something aimed at the bank's former shareholders. A 'bad luck' message perhaps. </li> </ul> Related stories: <a href="/blog/1240-ten-years-of-online-banking-yet-concerns-persist">Ten years of online banking, yet concerns persist</a> <a href="/blog/1677-online-banks-see-growth-among-older-web-users">Online banks see growth among older web users</a>

<FormattedContent xmlns="http://www.e-consultancy.com/schema/formattedContent/"> <List Type="Disc"> <ListItem> <Emphasis>Improve the colour scheme<LineBreak /><LineBreak /></Emphasis>White text on a black background is rarely a good idea from a user experience perspective. It is harder to read and can cause eyestrain. <LineBreak /><LineBreak />This may work for some sites, but is inadvisable for banking and e-commerce offerings with a lot of text content. <LineBreak /><LineBreak /><Paragraph><Emphasis><Image AlternateText="Northern Rock homepage" Source="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2361/2278635357_b9ea8a6570_o.jpg"></Image></Emphasis></Paragraph><LineBreak /></ListItem> <ListItem> <Emphasis>Create a more useful homepage<LineBreak /><LineBreak /></Emphasis>Other financial sites like <Link URL="http://www.abbey.com" Window="Self">Abbey</Link> and <Link URL="http://www.natwest.com/" Window="Self">Natwest</Link> devote their homepages to useful links to the rest of the site and various products. <LineBreak /><LineBreak />Northern Rock, however, chooses to put all the navigation links in a small area at the top and gears the rest of the page towards promoting its fixed rate access bond. A better balance is needed.<LineBreak /><LineBreak /></ListItem> <ListItem> <Emphasis>Add a site search option<LineBreak /><LineBreak /></Emphasis>Many users <Link URL="/blog/2121-ten-site-search-tips" Window="Self">prefer to use the search tool</Link> to find what they are looking for on a site, rather than the navigation links.<LineBreak /><LineBreak />Other banking sites have a search box, but not Northern Rock. Nor is there a site map. These are two fundamentals of best practice, with regards to websites.<LineBreak /><LineBreak /></ListItem> <ListItem> <Emphasis>Ditch the registration process <LineBreak /><LineBreak /></Emphasis>Ok, this even more stupid than the chancellor's dithering. To view any information on loans, accounts or mortgages, visitors to the site <Emphasis>must register </Emphasis>first. Utter, utter madness, and clearly no good for Google.<LineBreak /><LineBreak />Registration is a lengthy process and seems completely unnecessary, especially if you simply want to browse the loan rates on offer (which, under EU guidelines, should become less competitive, in case you were wondering). <LineBreak /><LineBreak /></ListItem> </List> <Paragraph Align="Center"> <Emphasis> <Image AlternateText="Northern Rock registration" Source="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2371/2278618487_4c637f0df7_o.jpg"> </Image> </Emphasis> </Paragraph> <Paragraph> <LineBreak /> <LineBreak /> </Paragraph> <List Type="Disc"> <ListItem> <Emphasis>Drop the annoying mortgage application pop-ups<LineBreak /><LineBreak /></Emphasis>Brace yourself, for this is truly pathetic. Click on 'apply online' and you see a pop-up message, which tells you that you have <Emphasis>two and a half minutes to wait</Emphasis> while it downloads: <LineBreak /><LineBreak /><Emphasis><Image AlternateText="Mortgage application pop-up" Source="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2061/2277294208_a21ce666e1_o.jpg"></Image><LineBreak /><LineBreak /></Emphasis>Natwest, Abbey and so on make their forms appear almost instantly and waiting this long is annoying. I would love to know the dropout rate here. Surely this is terrible coding? Why must it take so long? This is truly a sub-prime experience.<LineBreak /><LineBreak />In fact, it's even worse than that. Here I am, still waiting, some five minutes later, staring at a blank screen (PS - my connectivity is cable broadband, so this really is unforgivable): <LineBreak /><LineBreak /><Image AlternateText="Northern Rock " Source="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2356/2276501185_db67118408_o.jpg"></Image><LineBreak /> </ListItem> <ListItem> <Emphasis>Sort out the loan and bank account applications<LineBreak /><LineBreak /></Emphasis>Similarly, if you apply for a loan or savings account, you get the same pop-up screen which fails to load, meaning that online applications are impossible at the moment. Can you believe we taxpayers now 'own' this junk?<LineBreak /><LineBreak /></ListItem> <ListItem> <Emphasis>Server strain<LineBreak /><LineBreak /></Emphasis>When the Northern Rock crisis initially began back in September, the <Link URL="/blog/1747-northern-rock-website-struggles-to-cope-with-strain" Window="Self">website was unable to cope with the strain</Link>, taking around four minutes to load up. Business will have dropped off since then, but it is crucial that websites can be accessed at all times, and that they can deal with traffic spikes.<LineBreak /><LineBreak /></ListItem> <ListItem> <Emphasis>Sort out the public ownership announcement</Emphasis> <LineBreak /> <LineBreak />Currently, clicking on Northern Rock's Google result takes you straight to this page: <LineBreak /><LineBreak /><Image AlternateText="Northern Rock message to customers" Source="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2298/2276484523_99ea900356_o.jpg"></Image><LineBreak /><LineBreak />This is fine, and is obviously crucial information for customers. <LineBreak /><LineBreak />The problem is that the message comes up again when you click on other options, such as 'company info' or the link back to the homepage, so you end up seeing the same message again and again. Groovy.<LineBreak /><LineBreak /></ListItem> <ListItem> <Emphasis>Crack down on brand-bidding<LineBreak /><LineBreak /></Emphasis>Nobody at Northern Rock <Link URL="http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&q=northern+rock&meta" Window="Self">seems to be monitoring Google</Link> too closely, judging by the number of other, unrelated finance sites bidding on the company's brand name. <LineBreak /><LineBreak /><Emphasis><Image AlternateText="Google search: Northern Rock" Source="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2387/2276500663_d09790c3fd_o.jpg"></Image><LineBreak /><LineBreak /></Emphasis></ListItem> <ListItem> <Emphasis>Change the shareholder page<LineBreak /><LineBreak /></Emphasis>This <Link URL="http://companyinfo.northernrock.co.uk/shareholders/ " Window="Self">page</Link> should be replaced with something aimed at the bank's former shareholders. A 'bad luck' message perhaps.<LineBreak /></ListItem> </List> <Paragraph> <Emphasis>Related stories:</Emphasis> <LineBreak /> <Link URL="/blog/1240-ten-years-of-online-banking-yet-concerns-persist" Window="Self">Ten years of online banking, yet concerns persist</Link> <LineBreak /> <Link URL="/blog/1677-online-banks-see-growth-among-older-web-users" Window="Self">Online banks see growth among older web users</Link> </Paragraph> </FormattedContent>

2008-02-19T13:44:00+00:00

econsultancy_xml

We're all Northern Rock 'shareholders' now, thanks to its nationalisation earlier this week. So we've done our bit and had a look at <a href="http://www.northernrock.co.uk/">its website</a> for some suggested improvements...

<FormattedContent xmlns="http://www.e-consultancy.com/schema/formattedContent/"> <Paragraph> <Emphasis>We're all Northern Rock 'shareholders' now, thanks to its nationalisation earlier this week.</Emphasis> </Paragraph> <Paragraph>So we've done our bit and had a look at <Link URL="http://www.northernrock.co.uk/" Window="Self">its website</Link> for some suggested improvements...</Paragraph> </FormattedContent>

false 2191

365090

Northern Rock: 10 things it can do better online false

2008-02-20T13:27:00+00:00

northern-rock-10-things-it-can-do-better-online

2009-04-28T23:05:45+01:00

1078