One of the interesting things about working for Xero is the experience of working with a team of Interaction Designers (Usability experts). It certainly makes me look at websites from a different perspective.
The other day I needed to change my life insurance policy.I talked to my insurance broker (as you do) who recomended that we change all our policies to a new provider as it was (marginally) cheaper. However the media had done a good job of convincing me that this may have been due to a differrent commission structure rather than for my own benefit (whether the recomended changes was for his commission benefit I don’t acually know).
So I googled for an online insurance provider after remember hearing an ad somewhere earlier and found http://www.pinnaclelife.co.nz/
Things I liked:
- The site layout was simple and uncluttered
- The site made a great use of flash to make things interactive without going over the top
- They don;t hit you with all the medical quiestions till 1/2 through the process (after you have mentally signed up) and didit with a little bit of humour
- They had price comparisons with alternative offerings
- They allowed me to create a draft policy and gave me 14 days to think about it before it expired
- They sent me a friendly followup email a couple of days after I completed the draft policy
One of the preconceptions I had about Website Usability before joingin Xero is that it was all about site layout and images. As you can see from the list above it is more about ensuring the user has an experience that is succesfull for both them and you.
