Bringing multiple methods to bear on a problem reveals more

This page shows a redesigned customer experience from LTSave's Online Retirement Planner Web application. To get started, we built a wizard process that guided people through a series of steps. However, user testing of the application's home screen showed that customers were discouraged from continuing.

We discovered when testing an unrelated part of the Web site that a graphical presentation encouraged more customer engagement. By using the graphical presentation on the home screen, we encouraged customers to engage with the product and as a side benefit were able to present more information, encouraging repeated use. Discovering what appealed to customers let us focus on the right improvements.

Usability methods employed during the design included:

  • Cognitive walkthrough
  • Expert evaluation
  • Task-based user testing

Before

Challenge:

  • Customers need to complete complex sequence, but often stop (logout) and return.
  • Home page is not encouraging process completion - Why?

See full-sized original (new window)

After

Resolution:

  • User testing showed fixation on percentage and underlying numbers.
  • Redesign encouraged users to think about goal attainment.

See full-sized redesign (new window)