COMPARING THE DESKTOP

AND TABLET BANKING EXPERIENCE

USER INSIGHTS ndash VOLUME TWO

ALAN MAGINN

DIRECTOR USER RESEARCH

JUNE 2013

Introduction

2

The tablet has seen a meteoric rise in popularity since the launch of the iPad in early 2010 While technology analysts debate the extent to which these devices will impact desktop and laptop computers in terms of sales the effects are already abundantlyclear According to a recent International Data Corporation (IDC) report1 tablet sales will outpace portable computer sales by the end of 2013 By 2015 they are projected to exceed the entire personal computer market This begs the question will the tablet replace desktops and laptops as the consumerrsquos primary device for day-to-day activities like surfing the Web Or will it complement it

While the debate over the long-term impact of tablets plays out in the short term users havenrsquot shown signs that theyrsquore ready to abandon their desktops or laptops en masse Instead of replacing their traditional computers with tablets many users are simplyadding these devices to their technology toolbox employing a particular device ndash computer tablet or smart phone ndash based on factors such as their location or the task at hand

With that in mind Corporate Insight designed a usability study to understand how mobile applications match up against traditional website interfaces both in terms of usability and functionality This latest in our ongoing series of usability studies focuses on the offerings of five leading banks ndash Bank of America Chase Citizens Bank US Bank and Wells Fargo As always our findings highlight problems users encountered with these particular firmsrsquo offerings Our real goal however is to demonstrate the value that can be gained when you take the time to observe real users interacting with an interface

For each of the five banks we met with five participants all of whom had experience with online banking but little or no priorexperience with the interfaces they used in their test session These sessions were broken into two parts During the first portion participants were asked to complete eight common banking-related tasks on one firmrsquos website viewed on a desktop computer For the second half of the session these same participants attempted five similar tasks using a firmrsquos tablet or mobile application viewed on an iPad

This report provides a summary of the key findings from our latest usability study For more information regarding our user testing and user research services please contact Alan Maginn Director User Research at 2128322002 ext 116 or amaginncorporateinsightcom

INT

RO

DU

CT

ION

1 ldquoIDC Forecasts Worldwide Tablet Shipments to Surpass Portable PC Shipments in 2013 Total PC Shipments in 2015rdquo IDC May 28 2013 Accessed June 13 2013 httpwwwidccomgetdocjspcontainerId=prUS24129713

Introduction

2

The tablet has seen a meteoric rise in popularity since the launch of the iPad in early 2010 While technology analysts debate the extent to which these devices will impact desktop and laptop computers in terms of sales the effects are already abundantlyclear According to a recent International Data Corporation (IDC) report1 tablet sales will outpace portable computer sales by the end of 2013 By 2015 they are projected to exceed the entire personal computer market This begs the question will the tablet replace desktops and laptops as the consumerrsquos primary device for day-to-day activities like surfing the Web Or will it complement it

While the debate over the long-term impact of tablets plays out in the short term users havenrsquot shown signs that theyrsquore ready to abandon their desktops or laptops en masse Instead of replacing their traditional computers with tablets many users are simplyadding these devices to their technology toolbox employing a particular device ndash computer tablet or smart phone ndash based on factors such as their location or the task at hand

With that in mind Corporate Insight designed a usability study to understand how mobile applications match up against traditional website interfaces both in terms of usability and functionality This latest in our ongoing series of usability studies focuses on the offerings of five leading banks ndash Bank of America Chase Citizens Bank US Bank and Wells Fargo As always our findings highlight problems users encountered with these particular firmsrsquo offerings Our real goal however is to demonstrate the value that can be gained when you take the time to observe real users interacting with an interface

For each of the five banks we met with five participants all of whom had experience with online banking but little or no priorexperience with the interfaces they used in their test session These sessions were broken into two parts During the first portion participants were asked to complete eight common banking-related tasks on one firmrsquos website viewed on a desktop computer For the second half of the session these same participants attempted five similar tasks using a firmrsquos tablet or mobile application viewed on an iPad

This report provides a summary of the key findings from our latest usability study For more information regarding our user testing and user research services please contact Alan Maginn Director User Research at 2128322002 ext 116 or amaginncorporateinsightcom

INT

RO

DU

CT

ION

1 ldquoIDC Forecasts Worldwide Tablet Shipments to Surpass Portable PC Shipments in 2013 Total PC Shipments in 2015rdquo IDC May 28 2013 Accessed June 13 2013 httpwwwidccomgetdocjspcontainerId=prUS24129713

About Corporate Insight

3

Corporate Insight provides competitive intelligence and user experience research to the nationrsquos leading financial institutions For over 20 years the firm has tracked technological developments in the financial services industry identifying best practices in online banking and investing online insurance mobile finance active trading platforms social media and other emerging areas There are no assumptions in Corporate Insightrsquos work ndash we use live accounts at all of the firms we research providing our clients with unparalleled unbiased intelligence on the competition

Corporate Insight welcomes the opportunity to speak with the media If you are interested in citing our research or would like to schedule an interview with one of our analysts please contact Intermarket Communications at 2128886115 or corporateinsightintermarketcom

AB

OU

T U

S

Media Inquiries

Connect With Us

ALAN MAGINN

Director User Research

2128322002 ext 116

amaginncorporateinsightcom

BEN POUSTY

Marketing Manager

2128322002 ext 134

bpoustycorporateinsightcom

Table of ContentsTA

BLE

OF

CO

NT

EN

TS

Why Is User Testing Important

When Should You Test Your Interface

Test Design

bull Our Objective

bull Methodology

bull Tasks

bull Issues Related to Test amp Interface Design

bull Study Participants

bull Data Collection

Findings

bull P2P Payments

bull Account History

bull ATM Locators

bull System Usability Scale Results

Corporate Insight Is Here to Help

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

23

27

32

33

4

5

WH

Y I

S U

SE

R T

ES

TIN

G I

MP

OR

TAN

T

In an industry as competitive as financial services user experience plays an important role in the clientrsquos overall satisfaction with their firm Financial institutions may use products and pricing to gain new customers but a user-friendly online experience has become critical to both retention and engagement And with the rise of the smartphone and the tablet the mobile experience is fast emerging as another key competitive battleground

With so much riding on the quality of your mobile website or apps itrsquos imperative that you understand what happens when real world clients and prospects interact with your designs By performing user tests throughout the design lifecycle you can answer the following questions

Is it easy for your audience to learn to use your interface

How quickly do users complete common tasks

Do users make any errors as they work to complete common tasks

How satisfied are users with your design

The value of user testing doesnrsquot stop at improving client satisfaction The following examples from the Nielsen Norman Group report Usability Return on Investment2

demonstrate the impact an improved user experience can have on your companyrsquos success

In the early 2000s MasterCard hoped to redesign its business site to increase its usability and encourage more small business owners to get business cards The design team brought more content to the homepage presented direct links to common tasks and provided targeted content to various groups of users During user testing customers were 300 more likely to be able to find the products they were looking for

Insurance provider New York Life changed the location of product links and brought more content up front on their homepage Total sale leads per day increased by 213

In the 1990s over 2 million pages of IBMrsquos website were separately owned leading to huge design and navigational inconsistencies When the design and architecture of the site was unified in 1994 online sales increased by 400

Why Is User Testing Important

2 Jakob Nielson JM Berger Shuli Gilutz and Kathryn Whitenton Usability Return on Investment (ROI) 4th Ed (Freemont CA Nielsen Norman Group)

6

WH

EN

SH

OU

LD Y

OU

TE

ST

YO

UR

IN

TE

RFA

CE

When Should You Test Your Interface

There isnrsquot any one particular time when it makes the most sense to test your interface Instead user tests should be performed throughout the design process from conceptual prototypes through the implementation of final designs to ensure your interface is user friendly

And testing shouldnrsquot stop just because your website or app has been released to the public As new devices come to market and mobile operating systems evolve itrsquos important to understand how these changes impact the user experience Testing your current offering can also be a helpful first step as you look to update your current interface and testing competitor apps may reveal alternative approaches to some of the design challenges you face

But wonrsquot all of this testing slow down your design process while pushing your project over budget Not necessarily According to leading Web usability expert Jakob Nielsen the vast majority of usability issues can be discovered in as few as five tests3 and as we demonstrate in this report the tests themselves can be conducted over the course of just a few days

3 ldquoWhy You Only Need to Test with 5 Usersrdquo accessed October 15 2012 httpwwwuseitcomalertbox20000319html

Concept

Design amp Development

Deployment

Validation amp Assessment

User Testing

5

WH

Y I

S U

SE

R T

ES

TIN

G I

MP

OR

TAN

T

In an industry as competitive as financial services user experience plays an important role in the clientrsquos overall satisfaction with their firm Financial institutions may use products and pricing to gain new customers but a user-friendly online experience has become critical to both retention and engagement And with the rise of the smartphone and the tablet the mobile experience is fast emerging as another key competitive battleground

With so much riding on the quality of your mobile website or apps itrsquos imperative that you understand what happens when real world clients and prospects interact with your designs By performing user tests throughout the design lifecycle you can answer the following questions

Is it easy for your audience to learn to use your interface

How quickly do users complete common tasks

Do users make any errors as they work to complete common tasks

How satisfied are users with your design

The value of user testing doesnrsquot stop at improving client satisfaction The following examples from the Nielsen Norman Group report Usability Return on Investment2

demonstrate the impact an improved user experience can have on your companyrsquos success

In the early 2000s MasterCard hoped to redesign its business site to increase its usability and encourage more small business owners to get business cards The design team brought more content to the homepage presented direct links to common tasks and provided targeted content to various groups of users During user testing customers were 300 more likely to be able to find the products they were looking for

Insurance provider New York Life changed the location of product links and brought more content up front on their homepage Total sale leads per day increased by 213

In the 1990s over 2 million pages of IBMrsquos website were separately owned leading to huge design and navigational inconsistencies When the design and architecture of the site was unified in 1994 online sales increased by 400

Why Is User Testing Important

2 Jakob Nielson JM Berger Shuli Gilutz and Kathryn Whitenton Usability Return on Investment (ROI) 4th Ed (Freemont CA Nielsen Norman Group)

6

WH

EN

SH

OU

LD Y

OU

TE

ST

YO

UR

IN

TE

RFA

CE

When Should You Test Your Interface

There isnrsquot any one particular time when it makes the most sense to test your interface Instead user tests should be performed throughout the design process from conceptual prototypes through the implementation of final designs to ensure your interface is user friendly

And testing shouldnrsquot stop just because your website or app has been released to the public As new devices come to market and mobile operating systems evolve itrsquos important to understand how these changes impact the user experience Testing your current offering can also be a helpful first step as you look to update your current interface and testing competitor apps may reveal alternative approaches to some of the design challenges you face

But wonrsquot all of this testing slow down your design process while pushing your project over budget Not necessarily According to leading Web usability expert Jakob Nielsen the vast majority of usability issues can be discovered in as few as five tests3 and as we demonstrate in this report the tests themselves can be conducted over the course of just a few days

3 ldquoWhy You Only Need to Test with 5 Usersrdquo accessed October 15 2012 httpwwwuseitcomalertbox20000319html

Concept

Design amp Development

Deployment

Validation amp Assessment

User Testing

6

WH

EN

SH

OU

LD Y

OU

TE

ST

YO

UR

IN

TE

RFA

CE

When Should You Test Your Interface

There isnrsquot any one particular time when it makes the most sense to test your interface Instead user tests should be performed throughout the design process from conceptual prototypes through the implementation of final designs to ensure your interface is user friendly

And testing shouldnrsquot stop just because your website or app has been released to the public As new devices come to market and mobile operating systems evolve itrsquos important to understand how these changes impact the user experience Testing your current offering can also be a helpful first step as you look to update your current interface and testing competitor apps may reveal alternative approaches to some of the design challenges you face

But wonrsquot all of this testing slow down your design process while pushing your project over budget Not necessarily According to leading Web usability expert Jakob Nielsen the vast majority of usability issues can be discovered in as few as five tests3 and as we demonstrate in this report the tests themselves can be conducted over the course of just a few days

3 ldquoWhy You Only Need to Test with 5 Usersrdquo accessed October 15 2012 httpwwwuseitcomalertbox20000319html

Concept

Design amp Development

Deployment

Validation amp Assessment

User Testing

TEST DESIGN

7

IN THIS SECTION

bull Our Objective

bull Methodology

bull Tasks

bull Issues Related to Test amp Interface Design

bull Study Participants

bull Data Collection

Our Objective

8

TE

ST

DE

SIG

N

As with our previous syndicated user research studies the primary purpose of this white paper is to demonstrate the potential value of user testing However we also sought to compare the relative user friendliness of bank websites versus mobile applications and illustrate how the quality of these different interfaces can affect consumersrsquo impressions of the firm To accomplish this we had participants complete a series of common banking tasks such as transferring money between accounts and locating a nearby ATM first using the bankrsquos website on a desktop computer and then using a mobile application on an iPad

While our findings highlight specific problems users experienced while working to accomplish tasks on the interfaces provided by Bank of America Chase Citizens Bank US Bank and Wells Fargo our goal is not to critique these particular firms per se Rather our aim is to demonstrate the level of insight that can be gleaned from even a small-scale usability test and inspire you to test your own interfaces to understand what happens when real users interact with your designs

Methodology

9

TE

ST

DE

SIG

N

Participant meetings were conducted in Corporate Insightrsquos usability lab located at our offices in Midtown Manhattan These sessions were moderated by a trained usability professional who guided the participants through the 13 tasks (eight on the bankrsquos website and five on the bankrsquos mobile application) offering clarification when necessary and interviewing them once the test was complete A second analyst monitored the session and logged notes from an observation room separated from the testing room by a one-way mirror

Audio and video from each session was recorded using Techsmithrsquos Morae usability software For the website portion of the test users performed the tasks on any one of the three major browsers ndash Firefox Google or IE ndash of their own choosing For the tablet portion the participants worked with apps that were preloaded on an iPad 2 which was mounted to a specialized user testing ldquosledrdquo This sled features a webcam mounted at the top of the device to capture participantsrsquo activity within the app while a second webcam captures the participantrsquos facial expressions

As participants worked to complete the tasks they were encouraged to ldquothink aloudrdquo in order to understand their state of mind and gain more insight into their decision making process At the end of both portions of the test participants were asked to complete a standard usability scale (SUS) survey a ten-question Likert scale questionnaire that is used to determine individualsrsquo impressions of the overall usability of the interface

Tasks

10

TE

ST

DE

SIG

N

Our test focused on common tasks users are likely to attempt during a typical online banking session Due to the fact that websites offer a more robust experience than mobile applications participants faced more tasks during the computer-based portion of the session However the general workflow was similar for both the desktop and tablet experience

It should be noted that two of the website tasks ndash locate the nearest ATM and access CD rate information ndashwere intended to drive the user from the private site to the public site in order to help us understand how participants reacted to this challenge

Website Tasks

1 Login and check balances

2 Transfer money from checking to savings account

3 Review past debits from a specified time period

4 Locate the nearest ATM

5 Set an account balance alert

6 Send money to a friend using an email address

7 Access CD rate information

8 Update email address

iPad Tasks

1 Login and check balances

2 Transfer money from savings to checking account

3 Review past debits from a specified time period

4 Send money to an existing contact

5 Locate the nearest ATM

Issues Related to Test amp Interface Design

11

TE

ST

DE

SIG

N

By design each task could be completed on both interfaces for all five firms That being said there were a few idiosyncrasies that resulted from functionality issues or limitations related to certain interfaces including the following

Task number three on the website test ndash reviewing past transactions ndash proved problematic as the depth of account history varied from firm to firm as did the number of transactions in the accounts we used for this study As a result we altered the specific task requirements as needed Although these modifications had an impact on the data we collected for this task they did not limit our ability to uncover design issues related to the account history interfaces

During the two days we tested the Citizens Bank website participants were unable to access the page to modify their email address As a result we were forced to eliminate data from this task for this particular firm

Unlike the other banks included in this study Citizens Bank does not offer a specialized iPad app However the firmrsquos iPhone application offers the same functionality users needed to perform the required tasks As a result participants completed the tablet portion of the test using the mobile app on an iPad with the viewing size of the interface doubled to fit the larger screen

Three of the accounts used in the study ndash Bank of America Chase and Wells Fargo ndash feature linked brokerage or money market accounts In order to mitigate any confusion caused by these accounts the moderator provided additional guidance to participants in terms of navigation as necessary

Study Participants

12

TE

ST

DE

SIG

N

We tested five individuals per firm for a total of 25 participants These individuals were familiar with online banking and visited their personal accounts at least once a week They had very little or no previous experience with the bank they were tested on however

In terms of their familiarity with the hardware used during the tablet portion of the sessions all of the participants had some previous experience working with tablet devices though the vast majority stated that they had not used them to access their personal accounts As for the software most users were at least somewhat familiar with iOS-based products though the group was split in terms of their personal smart phones roughly three-fifths used an iPhonewith nearly all other participants using an Android-based product

When designing a usability test Corporate Insight can work with your firm to recruit study participants based on your target audience or such other factors as

Age

Experience with financial products

Trading style or frequency

Net worth

Vision issues

Data Collection

13

TE

ST

DE

SIG

N

Although this study was qualitative in nature our findings often refer to quantitative data collected during the course of our research While this data is not statistically significant it often reinforces our qualitative findings while demonstrating the type of data our clients can expect to receive from a user testing engagement with Corporate Insight The information collected for this study includes

Task completion times

Mouse clicks or screen touches

Number of pages visited and navigation trail

Time spent per screen or webpage

Mistakes and failures

User satisfaction ratings

In addition to this quantitative data we also collected and reviewed qualitative data ranging from participant facial expressions to anecdotal comments Following each portion of the test participants were asked to provide feedback including single words or short phrases to describe their experience Although they do not appear in this study these exercises can be used to develop word clouds which provide a powerful visualization of usersrsquo opinions

FINDINGS

14

IN THIS SECTION

bull P2P Payments

bull Account History

bull ATM Locators

bull System Usability Scale Results

Person-to-Person Payment Process Proves Problematic

15

FIN

DIN

GS

Overall study participants were familiar with nearly all of the assigned tasks having performed similar actions within their personal bank accounts in the past The one exception was person-to-person (P2P) payments While several participants commented that they had experience sending money to friends via payment services such as PayPal none had prior experience using a P2P feature on their bankrsquos website Whatrsquos more most subjects were unaware that banks even offered this service

While itrsquos possible that their lack of familiarity with the P2P process may have affected participantsrsquo ability to complete this task we believe poor information architecture played a bigger role in making this the task with the highest failure rate at least in terms of the website portion of the test

0

25

50

75

100

Task1

Task2

Task3

Task4

Task5

Task6

Task7

Task8

0

25

50

75

100

Task1

Task2

Task3

Task4

Task5

Website Task Scores Tablet Task Scores

Categorizing P2P as a Transfer ldquoInside the bankrdquo Confuses Bank of America Participants

16

FIN

DIN

GS

On the Bank of America website the P2P interface is located within the Transfers area of the website Although this is the first place participants thought to look nearly every participant failed to recognize that the bank categorizes these transactions as a transfer ldquoInside the bankrdquo Users immediately navigated to the ldquoOutside the bankrdquo tab and when they couldnrsquot find the interface began browsing the Bill Pay section of the site all despite a message on the Transfer tab landing page that states ldquoNEW Transfer money using an email address or mobile numberrdquo Users failed to notice the message because the location within the ldquoInside the bankrdquo was so counterintuitive they immediately looked to other places on the site

Users failed to notice this message that related to the task at hand

Participants expected the P2P interface to be located in this tab

Bank of Americarsquos Transfers Interface

Location of P2P Interface and Menu Design Causes Problems for US Bank Participants

17

FIN

DIN

GS

In much the same way that the Bank of America participants expected the bankrsquos P2P interface to be housed within the Transfers tab US Bank participantsrsquo first instinct was to look in the Funds Transfer tab Unfortunately the firm places the P2P feature within the Bill Pay tab and although most of the test subjects eventually discovered the interface they commented that they thought the term ldquobill payrdquo suggested paying a company not a person

While the location within the site proved problematic several users who ended up on the Bill Pay page failed to notice the Pay a Person option in the left column and proceeded to navigate back to the main menu Only after viewing all other possible locations did these individuals return to the correct location In one instance the user returned to the page multiple times and failing to see the Pay a Person link elected to end the task without completing the P2P process

Even after navigating to the correct location within the site users had difficulty locating the ldquoPay a Personrdquo link

US Bankrsquos Bill Pay Center

Participants Locate Citizens Bankrsquos P2P Interface with Ease

18

FIN

DIN

GS

Much like US Bank Citizens groups bill pay and P2P payments within the same area of the website However while participants struggled to locate the P2P interface on the US Bank site the individuals who tested the Citizens Bank site had no trouble whatsoever And although itrsquos likely these users might associate P2P more with making a transfer than paying a bill (as their US Bank counterparts commented) Citizensrsquo menu heading ldquoPay Bills amp Peoplerdquo makes it abundantly clear that users can pay both bills and people from this area of the site

While itrsquos important that menu tab names be succinct this example demonstrates the impact that descriptive terminology even in the form of two simple words can have on the user experience

Citizens Bankrsquos Pay Bills amp People Main Menu Tab

P2P Is Easier to Find on Tablet App but Most Firms Donrsquot Allow Users to Add Payees

19

FIN

DIN

GS

Compared to the website participants found it much easier to send money to a friend via the tablet apps Of course this can be attributed in part to the fact that with the exception of US Bank users could not add payees through the app interface (in these instances participants were instructed to send money to a pre-existing contact) Still users found it much less difficult to locate the P2P interface on the app a result of the more streamlined and condensed tablet experience and this greatly impacted their ability to complete this task Without the need to fit this functionality into a large multi-level menu system firms like Chase and Wells Fargo group transfers and payments together limiting any possible confusion between the two categories

Chasersquos Payments amp Transfers Tab Wells Fargorsquos Transfers amp Pay Button

US Bank App Features Add Contact Capability but Suffers from Usability Issues

20

FIN

DIN

GS

US Bank stands out as the only firm that allows clients to add payees from the tablet app While this is certainly a beneficial feature and one that other banks should look to add we did uncover a few related usability issues that caused problems for some users

The first problem occurred when participants tried to access the AddEdit Contact interface While the bank does a good job listing pre-existing contacts users struggled to locate this feature due to the fact that the button is a small ldquo+rdquo sign positioned to the right of the Search Contacts entry field To improve the design US Bank might consider increasing the size of the button and replacing the ldquo+rdquo with a clear label such as ldquoAdd Contactrdquo

The second issue is related to the design of the AddEdit Contact input fields Several participants tapped repeatedly on the headings positioned along the left side of the fields expecting to launch the iPadkeyboard Unfortunately the interface is designed so that users must tap on the right side of the fields in order to input information To fix this issue US Bank should either make the entire entry field clickable or outline the input area to indicate where users should tap

Finally the Method entry field (displayed on the following slide) caused some confusion for participants Many users saw the ldquoEmail or mobile numberrdquo text in the input field and typed out either ldquoemailrdquo or ldquomobile numberrdquo thinking they needed to select a method type rather than provide the contacts address or mobile number We suggest providing an example of an email address or mobile number below the input field

US Bankrsquos Add Contact Button

US Bankrsquos ldquoAdd Contactrdquo Interface and Suggestions to Improve Usability

21

FIN

DIN

GS

US Bankrsquos Current AddEdit Contact Page

Suggestions for US Bankrsquos AddEdit Contact Page

Impact of US Bank ldquoAdd Contactrdquo Usability Issues on Number of Taps per Task

22

FIN

DIN

GS

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

20

Bank of America Chase Citizens Bank US Bank Wells Fargo

Nu

mb

er

of

Tap

s

Average Taps vs Minimum Possible Taps Required to Complete Task

Average Taps perTask

MinimumNumber of TapsRequired toComplete Task

Some Banks Offer Less Account History via Tablet Apps

23

FIN

DIN

GS

At Corporate Insight we regularly field surveys to understand what the most important website features are to financial services customers Time and again respondents rank account information at the top of the list Although itrsquos only one aspect of account information access to a deep account history is one of the key factors that make for an excellent account information experience

While there are still some firms that could stand to increase the amount of account history accessible from their websites ndash US Bank comes to mind ndash most banks we track through our Bank Monitor service now provide at least 12 months of online account history Unfortunately many of these same banks including Bank of America and Wells Fargo fail to provide the same historical archive via their tablet applications as they do online Although these two institutions offer 12 and 18 months of history via their websites respectively their iPad apps are limited to three months of history

To improve the user experience and provide banking customers with the information they find most valuable we suggest banks model themselves after Chase and Citizens Bank both of which provide over a year of history both on their website and tablet app

WebsiteArchive (mos)

iPad Archive (mos)

Bank of America 12 3

Chase 24 24

Citizens 18 18

US Bank 3 3

Wells Fargo 18 3

Account History Archives

Citizens Bankrsquos Calendar Interface Frustrates Users

24

FIN

DIN

GS

Like most firms Citizens offers a calendar tool in several areas of the website including the transaction history interface allowing users to select dates for future transactions or set a timeframe for viewing account history Unfortunately there are two aspects of the toolrsquos design that caused problems for users

When the tool first launches the current date is highlighted in green As users select a different date the number is updated in the date entry field at the bottom of the interface but the current date remains highlighted within the calendar Users expect a visual cue to verify that their selection has been successfully entered into the interface As a result many participants clicked on the appropriate date several times before noticing it had appeared in the date entry field

After selecting a date users are presented with two options at the bottom of the calendar interface ndash Close and Insert With the correct date appearing in the date entry field many users believed they had successfully inputted the date into the main interface they were working in and chose Close to shut the calendar window Unfortunately users must click Insert first and then Close to exit the window which again goes against the usersrsquo expectations Making matters worse the Insert button offers no visual cue to suggest it has been clicked meaning the user has to verify their selection has been added to the main interface before closing the window

Although these flaws didnrsquot have a major impact on participantsrsquo ability to complete the task it did frustrate users as the tool didnrsquot function the way they anticipated Citizens Bank Calendar Interface

Most Banks Fail to Provide Filter and Sorting Features on Tablet Apps

25

FIN

DIN

GS

Itrsquos essential that banks provide a deep archive of account information but itrsquos equally important for banking customers to have access to the tools they need to sift through their account history and locate information regarding specific transactions On the Web banks typically offer a combination of sort filter and search tools that enable users to quickly locate the account information theyrsquore looking for The best interfaces like those provided by Bank of America and Wells Fargo feature a combination of all three

Although these tools may be commonplace on bank websites they are far from prevalent within mobile banking apps In fact of the banks included in this study Citizens is the only firm that provides a filter tool within its apprsquos transaction history interface the firmrsquos Date Range button located in the top right corner of the app allows users to view transactions for a specified date range

Therersquos no doubt that the date range filter made it easier for our study participants to complete the third iPad task on the Citizens app That said Citizens along with all of the other firms we tested in this study does not offer sort or search functionality that would enable users to reorganize columns of data or isolate particular transaction types As a result participants were forced to scroll through their entire transaction history in order to complete the task an effort that proved especially frustrating for the individuals testing the apps that donrsquot feature a date range filter

In the short term it could be argued that this type of functionality might not be necessary as most firms only provide a limited amount of history through their app interface However as banks look to expand their history archive they should also look to incorporate sorting and filter capabilities to improve the user experience

Citizens Bankrsquos Mobile App Date Range Filter

26

FIN

DIN

GS

Access to Date Range Filter from Account Detail Screen Date Range Filter Calendar Interface

Date Range Filter Interface

Participants Struggled to Find Wells Fargorsquos ATM Locator

27

FIN

DIN

GS

For the fourth task in the website portion of the test sessions participants were directed to locate the bankrsquos closest ATM While we didnrsquot expect users to have much difficulty accomplishing such a basic task we were very interested to see what would happen when participants were directed away from the private site to the public site where most banks house their branch and ATM locator tools Similarly we were interested to see what would happen when the participants were faced with the following task ndash setting an account alert ndashwhich would require they navigate back to the private site Although moving between the two sites caused minor problems for some users overall navigation between the two sites had very little impact on participantsrsquo ability to complete the task

That said we were surprised when the individuals testing the Wells Fargo site had severe difficulty finding the firmrsquos ATM locator tool Unlike most banks which typically position links to this feature in a Help or Customer Service area of the site or provide Contact Us or similar links in one of the universal menus Wells Fargo does not provide direct access to a branch or ATM locator tool from the private banking website we use to access our account Instead users had to navigate to the firmrsquos public website on their own While each of the participants eventually completed the task it was only after an exhaustive search through the private site which had a major impact on the time it took users to complete the task

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

180

200

220

240

Task1

Task2

Task3

Task4

Task5

Task6

Task7

Task8

Bank ofAmerica

Chase

Citizens

US Bank

Wells Fargo

Average

Average Task Completion Times

Banks Make it Easy to Locate Nearby ATMs via Apps

28

FIN

DIN

GS

As with the bank websites we tested users were able to locate the nearest ATM via the tablet app with relative ease However the data collected during the sessions highlights some meaningful differences in terms of the comparative usability of the apps particularly in terms of the number of finger taps participants performed while completing the tasks and the total time US Bank users averaged just one tap and slightly over seven seconds to find the nearest ATM thanks to the fact that the firm positions its ATM locator interface in the static right column on the apprsquos homepage By comparison the participants who tested the Bank of America app averaged twelve taps and over 65 seconds to accomplish the same task

US Bankrsquos Sidebar ATM Locator Tool

Bank of America and Chase Offer Similar ATM Locators with Varying Results

29

FIN

DIN

GS

In general Bank of America and Chase take a similar approach to their ATM Locators Both firms offer a ubiquitous link to the tool and the underlying maps have a similar look and feel Yet while the general strategy is similar the firms vary significantly in terms of implementation

Chase provides one of the smoothest ATM location experiences The firm positions a large button with an image of an ATM on the bottom of the home screen making for one of the more easily recognizable options in our sample set As for functionality the app automatically launches a map highlighting the nearest ATMs and branches The interface also features a search field should the user wish to find other locations

Bank of America on the other hand uses a map pin icon positioned along the left column of the app to direct users to its tool While the pin icon is certainly common in location services it was not instantly recognizable to every study participant Bank of Americarsquos tool also suffered from functionality issues Like the Chase interface a map automatically loads when the user taps the map pin icon but instead of displaying nearby locations users were presented with a map of the entire United States Nearly every participant attempted to pinch-to-zoom to their current location and voiced their frustration with the process After zooming in all the way users discovered the map did not show any ATM locations at which point they realized they needed to manually enter their desired location or select the current location icon in the upper-left corner of the app

Chase Bankrsquos ATM Locator Interface

30

FIN

DIN

GS

ATMBranch Locator Button on Homepage ATMBranch Locator Interface

Bank of Americarsquos ATM Locator Interface

31

FIN

DIN

GS

ATMBranch Locator Map Pin Button ATMBranch Locator Map and Search Input Field

System Usability Scale (SUS) Survey Results Suggest Participants Prefer Tablet Experience Over Websites

32

FIN

DIN

GS

After completing the usability tests on both the website and the tablet application participants were asked to complete a standard ten-question System Usability Scale survey This common questionnaire is used to determine an individualrsquos perception of the usability of an interface both in terms of ease-of-use and learnability An average SUS score is 68 Based on our findings participants expressed a strong preference for tablet apps ndash865 average SUS score ndash over their traditional website counterparts ndash 611 average SUS score

Certainly there are a number of factors that affect their impressions not the least of which is the limited capacity of the apps in terms of content and functionality as compared to the wealth of resources available through banking websites Still the data seems to reinforce the concept that users prefer interfaces that are simple straightforward and predictable This suggests banks and other financial institutions should endeavor to employ these concepts in the design of their websites

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Bank ofAmerica

Chase CitizensBank

US Bank WellsFargo

SUS Scores

WebsiteScores

AppScores

68

611

865

Corporate Insight Is Here to Help

33

User testing is a powerful research tool that should be incorporated into your broader design process It can help you

Understand the needs and expectations of your clients

Prioritize improvements to your interface

Discover design flaws

Improve customer satisfaction

Corporate Insight is here to help with all of your user testing needs We can

Collaborate with you to design a study that tests the key features of your website or mobile app andor the platforms offered by your key competitors

Recruit participants that represent your target audience

Provide you with a detailed analysis of test sessions

Assist you with your existing usability efforts by moderating tests you have designed or hosting tests at our facility conveniently located above Grand Central Station in Midtown Manhattan

In addition to our user testing services we also offer Expert Reviews assessing your interface based on established usability heuristics design principles and industry best practices We also perform in-depth Website Audits benchmarking your customer website and mobile platform against peers in terms of design functionality navigation and usability and offering precise actionable recommendations to help you improve your offering

CO

RP

OR

AT

E I

NS

IGH

T I

S H

ER

E T

O H

ELP

Our Objective

8

TE

ST

DE

SIG

N

As with our previous syndicated user research studies the primary purpose of this white paper is to demonstrate the potential value of user testing However we also sought to compare the relative user friendliness of bank websites versus mobile applications and illustrate how the quality of these different interfaces can affect consumersrsquo impressions of the firm To accomplish this we had participants complete a series of common banking tasks such as transferring money between accounts and locating a nearby ATM first using the bankrsquos website on a desktop computer and then using a mobile application on an iPad

While our findings highlight specific problems users experienced while working to accomplish tasks on the interfaces provided by Bank of America Chase Citizens Bank US Bank and Wells Fargo our goal is not to critique these particular firms per se Rather our aim is to demonstrate the level of insight that can be gleaned from even a small-scale usability test and inspire you to test your own interfaces to understand what happens when real users interact with your designs

Methodology

9

TE

ST

DE

SIG

N

Participant meetings were conducted in Corporate Insightrsquos usability lab located at our offices in Midtown Manhattan These sessions were moderated by a trained usability professional who guided the participants through the 13 tasks (eight on the bankrsquos website and five on the bankrsquos mobile application) offering clarification when necessary and interviewing them once the test was complete A second analyst monitored the session and logged notes from an observation room separated from the testing room by a one-way mirror

Audio and video from each session was recorded using Techsmithrsquos Morae usability software For the website portion of the test users performed the tasks on any one of the three major browsers ndash Firefox Google or IE ndash of their own choosing For the tablet portion the participants worked with apps that were preloaded on an iPad 2 which was mounted to a specialized user testing ldquosledrdquo This sled features a webcam mounted at the top of the device to capture participantsrsquo activity within the app while a second webcam captures the participantrsquos facial expressions

As participants worked to complete the tasks they were encouraged to ldquothink aloudrdquo in order to understand their state of mind and gain more insight into their decision making process At the end of both portions of the test participants were asked to complete a standard usability scale (SUS) survey a ten-question Likert scale questionnaire that is used to determine individualsrsquo impressions of the overall usability of the interface

Tasks

10

TE

ST

DE

SIG

N

Our test focused on common tasks users are likely to attempt during a typical online banking session Due to the fact that websites offer a more robust experience than mobile applications participants faced more tasks during the computer-based portion of the session However the general workflow was similar for both the desktop and tablet experience

It should be noted that two of the website tasks ndash locate the nearest ATM and access CD rate information ndashwere intended to drive the user from the private site to the public site in order to help us understand how participants reacted to this challenge

Website Tasks

1 Login and check balances

2 Transfer money from checking to savings account

3 Review past debits from a specified time period

4 Locate the nearest ATM

5 Set an account balance alert

6 Send money to a friend using an email address

7 Access CD rate information

8 Update email address

iPad Tasks

1 Login and check balances

2 Transfer money from savings to checking account

3 Review past debits from a specified time period

4 Send money to an existing contact

5 Locate the nearest ATM

Issues Related to Test amp Interface Design

11

TE

ST

DE

SIG

N

By design each task could be completed on both interfaces for all five firms That being said there were a few idiosyncrasies that resulted from functionality issues or limitations related to certain interfaces including the following

Task number three on the website test ndash reviewing past transactions ndash proved problematic as the depth of account history varied from firm to firm as did the number of transactions in the accounts we used for this study As a result we altered the specific task requirements as needed Although these modifications had an impact on the data we collected for this task they did not limit our ability to uncover design issues related to the account history interfaces

During the two days we tested the Citizens Bank website participants were unable to access the page to modify their email address As a result we were forced to eliminate data from this task for this particular firm

Unlike the other banks included in this study Citizens Bank does not offer a specialized iPad app However the firmrsquos iPhone application offers the same functionality users needed to perform the required tasks As a result participants completed the tablet portion of the test using the mobile app on an iPad with the viewing size of the interface doubled to fit the larger screen

Three of the accounts used in the study ndash Bank of America Chase and Wells Fargo ndash feature linked brokerage or money market accounts In order to mitigate any confusion caused by these accounts the moderator provided additional guidance to participants in terms of navigation as necessary

Study Participants

12

TE

ST

DE

SIG

N

We tested five individuals per firm for a total of 25 participants These individuals were familiar with online banking and visited their personal accounts at least once a week They had very little or no previous experience with the bank they were tested on however

In terms of their familiarity with the hardware used during the tablet portion of the sessions all of the participants had some previous experience working with tablet devices though the vast majority stated that they had not used them to access their personal accounts As for the software most users were at least somewhat familiar with iOS-based products though the group was split in terms of their personal smart phones roughly three-fifths used an iPhonewith nearly all other participants using an Android-based product

When designing a usability test Corporate Insight can work with your firm to recruit study participants based on your target audience or such other factors as

Age

Experience with financial products

Trading style or frequency

Net worth

Vision issues

Data Collection

13

TE

ST

DE

SIG

N

Although this study was qualitative in nature our findings often refer to quantitative data collected during the course of our research While this data is not statistically significant it often reinforces our qualitative findings while demonstrating the type of data our clients can expect to receive from a user testing engagement with Corporate Insight The information collected for this study includes

Task completion times

Mouse clicks or screen touches

Number of pages visited and navigation trail

Time spent per screen or webpage

Mistakes and failures

User satisfaction ratings

In addition to this quantitative data we also collected and reviewed qualitative data ranging from participant facial expressions to anecdotal comments Following each portion of the test participants were asked to provide feedback including single words or short phrases to describe their experience Although they do not appear in this study these exercises can be used to develop word clouds which provide a powerful visualization of usersrsquo opinions

FINDINGS

14

IN THIS SECTION

bull P2P Payments

bull Account History

bull ATM Locators

bull System Usability Scale Results

Person-to-Person Payment Process Proves Problematic

15

FIN

DIN

GS

Overall study participants were familiar with nearly all of the assigned tasks having performed similar actions within their personal bank accounts in the past The one exception was person-to-person (P2P) payments While several participants commented that they had experience sending money to friends via payment services such as PayPal none had prior experience using a P2P feature on their bankrsquos website Whatrsquos more most subjects were unaware that banks even offered this service

While itrsquos possible that their lack of familiarity with the P2P process may have affected participantsrsquo ability to complete this task we believe poor information architecture played a bigger role in making this the task with the highest failure rate at least in terms of the website portion of the test

0

25

50

75

100

Task1

Task2

Task3

Task4

Task5

Task6

Task7

Task8

0

25

50

75

100

Task1

Task2

Task3

Task4

Task5

Website Task Scores Tablet Task Scores

Categorizing P2P as a Transfer ldquoInside the bankrdquo Confuses Bank of America Participants

16

FIN

DIN

GS

On the Bank of America website the P2P interface is located within the Transfers area of the website Although this is the first place participants thought to look nearly every participant failed to recognize that the bank categorizes these transactions as a transfer ldquoInside the bankrdquo Users immediately navigated to the ldquoOutside the bankrdquo tab and when they couldnrsquot find the interface began browsing the Bill Pay section of the site all despite a message on the Transfer tab landing page that states ldquoNEW Transfer money using an email address or mobile numberrdquo Users failed to notice the message because the location within the ldquoInside the bankrdquo was so counterintuitive they immediately looked to other places on the site

Users failed to notice this message that related to the task at hand

Participants expected the P2P interface to be located in this tab

Bank of Americarsquos Transfers Interface

Location of P2P Interface and Menu Design Causes Problems for US Bank Participants

17

FIN

DIN

GS

In much the same way that the Bank of America participants expected the bankrsquos P2P interface to be housed within the Transfers tab US Bank participantsrsquo first instinct was to look in the Funds Transfer tab Unfortunately the firm places the P2P feature within the Bill Pay tab and although most of the test subjects eventually discovered the interface they commented that they thought the term ldquobill payrdquo suggested paying a company not a person

While the location within the site proved problematic several users who ended up on the Bill Pay page failed to notice the Pay a Person option in the left column and proceeded to navigate back to the main menu Only after viewing all other possible locations did these individuals return to the correct location In one instance the user returned to the page multiple times and failing to see the Pay a Person link elected to end the task without completing the P2P process

Even after navigating to the correct location within the site users had difficulty locating the ldquoPay a Personrdquo link

US Bankrsquos Bill Pay Center

Participants Locate Citizens Bankrsquos P2P Interface with Ease

18

FIN

DIN

GS

Much like US Bank Citizens groups bill pay and P2P payments within the same area of the website However while participants struggled to locate the P2P interface on the US Bank site the individuals who tested the Citizens Bank site had no trouble whatsoever And although itrsquos likely these users might associate P2P more with making a transfer than paying a bill (as their US Bank counterparts commented) Citizensrsquo menu heading ldquoPay Bills amp Peoplerdquo makes it abundantly clear that users can pay both bills and people from this area of the site

While itrsquos important that menu tab names be succinct this example demonstrates the impact that descriptive terminology even in the form of two simple words can have on the user experience

Citizens Bankrsquos Pay Bills amp People Main Menu Tab

P2P Is Easier to Find on Tablet App but Most Firms Donrsquot Allow Users to Add Payees

19

FIN

DIN

GS

Compared to the website participants found it much easier to send money to a friend via the tablet apps Of course this can be attributed in part to the fact that with the exception of US Bank users could not add payees through the app interface (in these instances participants were instructed to send money to a pre-existing contact) Still users found it much less difficult to locate the P2P interface on the app a result of the more streamlined and condensed tablet experience and this greatly impacted their ability to complete this task Without the need to fit this functionality into a large multi-level menu system firms like Chase and Wells Fargo group transfers and payments together limiting any possible confusion between the two categories

Chasersquos Payments amp Transfers Tab Wells Fargorsquos Transfers amp Pay Button

US Bank App Features Add Contact Capability but Suffers from Usability Issues

20

FIN

DIN

GS

US Bank stands out as the only firm that allows clients to add payees from the tablet app While this is certainly a beneficial feature and one that other banks should look to add we did uncover a few related usability issues that caused problems for some users

The first problem occurred when participants tried to access the AddEdit Contact interface While the bank does a good job listing pre-existing contacts users struggled to locate this feature due to the fact that the button is a small ldquo+rdquo sign positioned to the right of the Search Contacts entry field To improve the design US Bank might consider increasing the size of the button and replacing the ldquo+rdquo with a clear label such as ldquoAdd Contactrdquo

The second issue is related to the design of the AddEdit Contact input fields Several participants tapped repeatedly on the headings positioned along the left side of the fields expecting to launch the iPadkeyboard Unfortunately the interface is designed so that users must tap on the right side of the fields in order to input information To fix this issue US Bank should either make the entire entry field clickable or outline the input area to indicate where users should tap

Finally the Method entry field (displayed on the following slide) caused some confusion for participants Many users saw the ldquoEmail or mobile numberrdquo text in the input field and typed out either ldquoemailrdquo or ldquomobile numberrdquo thinking they needed to select a method type rather than provide the contacts address or mobile number We suggest providing an example of an email address or mobile number below the input field

US Bankrsquos Add Contact Button

US Bankrsquos ldquoAdd Contactrdquo Interface and Suggestions to Improve Usability

21

FIN

DIN

GS

US Bankrsquos Current AddEdit Contact Page

Suggestions for US Bankrsquos AddEdit Contact Page

Impact of US Bank ldquoAdd Contactrdquo Usability Issues on Number of Taps per Task

22

FIN

DIN

GS

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

20

Bank of America Chase Citizens Bank US Bank Wells Fargo

Nu

mb

er

of

Tap

s

Average Taps vs Minimum Possible Taps Required to Complete Task

Average Taps perTask

MinimumNumber of TapsRequired toComplete Task

Some Banks Offer Less Account History via Tablet Apps

23

FIN

DIN

GS

At Corporate Insight we regularly field surveys to understand what the most important website features are to financial services customers Time and again respondents rank account information at the top of the list Although itrsquos only one aspect of account information access to a deep account history is one of the key factors that make for an excellent account information experience

While there are still some firms that could stand to increase the amount of account history accessible from their websites ndash US Bank comes to mind ndash most banks we track through our Bank Monitor service now provide at least 12 months of online account history Unfortunately many of these same banks including Bank of America and Wells Fargo fail to provide the same historical archive via their tablet applications as they do online Although these two institutions offer 12 and 18 months of history via their websites respectively their iPad apps are limited to three months of history

To improve the user experience and provide banking customers with the information they find most valuable we suggest banks model themselves after Chase and Citizens Bank both of which provide over a year of history both on their website and tablet app

WebsiteArchive (mos)

iPad Archive (mos)

Bank of America 12 3

Chase 24 24

Citizens 18 18

US Bank 3 3

Wells Fargo 18 3

Account History Archives

Citizens Bankrsquos Calendar Interface Frustrates Users

24

FIN

DIN

GS

Like most firms Citizens offers a calendar tool in several areas of the website including the transaction history interface allowing users to select dates for future transactions or set a timeframe for viewing account history Unfortunately there are two aspects of the toolrsquos design that caused problems for users

When the tool first launches the current date is highlighted in green As users select a different date the number is updated in the date entry field at the bottom of the interface but the current date remains highlighted within the calendar Users expect a visual cue to verify that their selection has been successfully entered into the interface As a result many participants clicked on the appropriate date several times before noticing it had appeared in the date entry field

After selecting a date users are presented with two options at the bottom of the calendar interface ndash Close and Insert With the correct date appearing in the date entry field many users believed they had successfully inputted the date into the main interface they were working in and chose Close to shut the calendar window Unfortunately users must click Insert first and then Close to exit the window which again goes against the usersrsquo expectations Making matters worse the Insert button offers no visual cue to suggest it has been clicked meaning the user has to verify their selection has been added to the main interface before closing the window

Although these flaws didnrsquot have a major impact on participantsrsquo ability to complete the task it did frustrate users as the tool didnrsquot function the way they anticipated Citizens Bank Calendar Interface

Most Banks Fail to Provide Filter and Sorting Features on Tablet Apps

25

FIN

DIN

GS

Itrsquos essential that banks provide a deep archive of account information but itrsquos equally important for banking customers to have access to the tools they need to sift through their account history and locate information regarding specific transactions On the Web banks typically offer a combination of sort filter and search tools that enable users to quickly locate the account information theyrsquore looking for The best interfaces like those provided by Bank of America and Wells Fargo feature a combination of all three

Although these tools may be commonplace on bank websites they are far from prevalent within mobile banking apps In fact of the banks included in this study Citizens is the only firm that provides a filter tool within its apprsquos transaction history interface the firmrsquos Date Range button located in the top right corner of the app allows users to view transactions for a specified date range

Therersquos no doubt that the date range filter made it easier for our study participants to complete the third iPad task on the Citizens app That said Citizens along with all of the other firms we tested in this study does not offer sort or search functionality that would enable users to reorganize columns of data or isolate particular transaction types As a result participants were forced to scroll through their entire transaction history in order to complete the task an effort that proved especially frustrating for the individuals testing the apps that donrsquot feature a date range filter

In the short term it could be argued that this type of functionality might not be necessary as most firms only provide a limited amount of history through their app interface However as banks look to expand their history archive they should also look to incorporate sorting and filter capabilities to improve the user experience

Citizens Bankrsquos Mobile App Date Range Filter

26

FIN

DIN

GS

Access to Date Range Filter from Account Detail Screen Date Range Filter Calendar Interface

Date Range Filter Interface

Participants Struggled to Find Wells Fargorsquos ATM Locator

27

FIN

DIN

GS

For the fourth task in the website portion of the test sessions participants were directed to locate the bankrsquos closest ATM While we didnrsquot expect users to have much difficulty accomplishing such a basic task we were very interested to see what would happen when participants were directed away from the private site to the public site where most banks house their branch and ATM locator tools Similarly we were interested to see what would happen when the participants were faced with the following task ndash setting an account alert ndashwhich would require they navigate back to the private site Although moving between the two sites caused minor problems for some users overall navigation between the two sites had very little impact on participantsrsquo ability to complete the task

That said we were surprised when the individuals testing the Wells Fargo site had severe difficulty finding the firmrsquos ATM locator tool Unlike most banks which typically position links to this feature in a Help or Customer Service area of the site or provide Contact Us or similar links in one of the universal menus Wells Fargo does not provide direct access to a branch or ATM locator tool from the private banking website we use to access our account Instead users had to navigate to the firmrsquos public website on their own While each of the participants eventually completed the task it was only after an exhaustive search through the private site which had a major impact on the time it took users to complete the task

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

180

200

220

240

Task1

Task2

Task3

Task4

Task5

Task6

Task7

Task8

Bank ofAmerica

Chase

Citizens

US Bank

Wells Fargo

Average

Average Task Completion Times

Banks Make it Easy to Locate Nearby ATMs via Apps

28

FIN

DIN

GS

As with the bank websites we tested users were able to locate the nearest ATM via the tablet app with relative ease However the data collected during the sessions highlights some meaningful differences in terms of the comparative usability of the apps particularly in terms of the number of finger taps participants performed while completing the tasks and the total time US Bank users averaged just one tap and slightly over seven seconds to find the nearest ATM thanks to the fact that the firm positions its ATM locator interface in the static right column on the apprsquos homepage By comparison the participants who tested the Bank of America app averaged twelve taps and over 65 seconds to accomplish the same task

US Bankrsquos Sidebar ATM Locator Tool

Bank of America and Chase Offer Similar ATM Locators with Varying Results

29

FIN

DIN

GS

In general Bank of America and Chase take a similar approach to their ATM Locators Both firms offer a ubiquitous link to the tool and the underlying maps have a similar look and feel Yet while the general strategy is similar the firms vary significantly in terms of implementation

Chase provides one of the smoothest ATM location experiences The firm positions a large button with an image of an ATM on the bottom of the home screen making for one of the more easily recognizable options in our sample set As for functionality the app automatically launches a map highlighting the nearest ATMs and branches The interface also features a search field should the user wish to find other locations

Bank of America on the other hand uses a map pin icon positioned along the left column of the app to direct users to its tool While the pin icon is certainly common in location services it was not instantly recognizable to every study participant Bank of Americarsquos tool also suffered from functionality issues Like the Chase interface a map automatically loads when the user taps the map pin icon but instead of displaying nearby locations users were presented with a map of the entire United States Nearly every participant attempted to pinch-to-zoom to their current location and voiced their frustration with the process After zooming in all the way users discovered the map did not show any ATM locations at which point they realized they needed to manually enter their desired location or select the current location icon in the upper-left corner of the app

Chase Bankrsquos ATM Locator Interface

30

FIN

DIN

GS

ATMBranch Locator Button on Homepage ATMBranch Locator Interface

Bank of Americarsquos ATM Locator Interface

31

FIN

DIN

GS

ATMBranch Locator Map Pin Button ATMBranch Locator Map and Search Input Field

System Usability Scale (SUS) Survey Results Suggest Participants Prefer Tablet Experience Over Websites

32

FIN

DIN

GS

After completing the usability tests on both the website and the tablet application participants were asked to complete a standard ten-question System Usability Scale survey This common questionnaire is used to determine an individualrsquos perception of the usability of an interface both in terms of ease-of-use and learnability An average SUS score is 68 Based on our findings participants expressed a strong preference for tablet apps ndash865 average SUS score ndash over their traditional website counterparts ndash 611 average SUS score

Certainly there are a number of factors that affect their impressions not the least of which is the limited capacity of the apps in terms of content and functionality as compared to the wealth of resources available through banking websites Still the data seems to reinforce the concept that users prefer interfaces that are simple straightforward and predictable This suggests banks and other financial institutions should endeavor to employ these concepts in the design of their websites

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Bank ofAmerica

Chase CitizensBank

US Bank WellsFargo

SUS Scores

WebsiteScores

AppScores

68

611

865

Corporate Insight Is Here to Help

33

User testing is a powerful research tool that should be incorporated into your broader design process It can help you

Understand the needs and expectations of your clients

Prioritize improvements to your interface

Discover design flaws

Improve customer satisfaction

Corporate Insight is here to help with all of your user testing needs We can

Collaborate with you to design a study that tests the key features of your website or mobile app andor the platforms offered by your key competitors

Recruit participants that represent your target audience

Provide you with a detailed analysis of test sessions

Assist you with your existing usability efforts by moderating tests you have designed or hosting tests at our facility conveniently located above Grand Central Station in Midtown Manhattan

In addition to our user testing services we also offer Expert Reviews assessing your interface based on established usability heuristics design principles and industry best practices We also perform in-depth Website Audits benchmarking your customer website and mobile platform against peers in terms of design functionality navigation and usability and offering precise actionable recommendations to help you improve your offering

CO

RP

OR

AT

E I

NS

IGH

T I

S H

ER

E T

O H

ELP

Methodology

9

TE

ST

DE

SIG

N

Participant meetings were conducted in Corporate Insightrsquos usability lab located at our offices in Midtown Manhattan These sessions were moderated by a trained usability professional who guided the participants through the 13 tasks (eight on the bankrsquos website and five on the bankrsquos mobile application) offering clarification when necessary and interviewing them once the test was complete A second analyst monitored the session and logged notes from an observation room separated from the testing room by a one-way mirror

Audio and video from each session was recorded using Techsmithrsquos Morae usability software For the website portion of the test users performed the tasks on any one of the three major browsers ndash Firefox Google or IE ndash of their own choosing For the tablet portion the participants worked with apps that were preloaded on an iPad 2 which was mounted to a specialized user testing ldquosledrdquo This sled features a webcam mounted at the top of the device to capture participantsrsquo activity within the app while a second webcam captures the participantrsquos facial expressions

As participants worked to complete the tasks they were encouraged to ldquothink aloudrdquo in order to understand their state of mind and gain more insight into their decision making process At the end of both portions of the test participants were asked to complete a standard usability scale (SUS) survey a ten-question Likert scale questionnaire that is used to determine individualsrsquo impressions of the overall usability of the interface

Tasks

10

TE

ST

DE

SIG

N

Our test focused on common tasks users are likely to attempt during a typical online banking session Due to the fact that websites offer a more robust experience than mobile applications participants faced more tasks during the computer-based portion of the session However the general workflow was similar for both the desktop and tablet experience

It should be noted that two of the website tasks ndash locate the nearest ATM and access CD rate information ndashwere intended to drive the user from the private site to the public site in order to help us understand how participants reacted to this challenge

Website Tasks

1 Login and check balances

2 Transfer money from checking to savings account

3 Review past debits from a specified time period

4 Locate the nearest ATM

5 Set an account balance alert

6 Send money to a friend using an email address

7 Access CD rate information

8 Update email address

iPad Tasks

1 Login and check balances

2 Transfer money from savings to checking account

3 Review past debits from a specified time period

4 Send money to an existing contact

5 Locate the nearest ATM

Issues Related to Test amp Interface Design

11

TE

ST

DE

SIG

N

By design each task could be completed on both interfaces for all five firms That being said there were a few idiosyncrasies that resulted from functionality issues or limitations related to certain interfaces including the following

Task number three on the website test ndash reviewing past transactions ndash proved problematic as the depth of account history varied from firm to firm as did the number of transactions in the accounts we used for this study As a result we altered the specific task requirements as needed Although these modifications had an impact on the data we collected for this task they did not limit our ability to uncover design issues related to the account history interfaces

During the two days we tested the Citizens Bank website participants were unable to access the page to modify their email address As a result we were forced to eliminate data from this task for this particular firm

Unlike the other banks included in this study Citizens Bank does not offer a specialized iPad app However the firmrsquos iPhone application offers the same functionality users needed to perform the required tasks As a result participants completed the tablet portion of the test using the mobile app on an iPad with the viewing size of the interface doubled to fit the larger screen

Three of the accounts used in the study ndash Bank of America Chase and Wells Fargo ndash feature linked brokerage or money market accounts In order to mitigate any confusion caused by these accounts the moderator provided additional guidance to participants in terms of navigation as necessary

Study Participants

12

TE

ST

DE

SIG

N

We tested five individuals per firm for a total of 25 participants These individuals were familiar with online banking and visited their personal accounts at least once a week They had very little or no previous experience with the bank they were tested on however

In terms of their familiarity with the hardware used during the tablet portion of the sessions all of the participants had some previous experience working with tablet devices though the vast majority stated that they had not used them to access their personal accounts As for the software most users were at least somewhat familiar with iOS-based products though the group was split in terms of their personal smart phones roughly three-fifths used an iPhonewith nearly all other participants using an Android-based product

When designing a usability test Corporate Insight can work with your firm to recruit study participants based on your target audience or such other factors as

Age

Experience with financial products

Trading style or frequency

Net worth

Vision issues

Data Collection

13

TE

ST

DE

SIG

N

Although this study was qualitative in nature our findings often refer to quantitative data collected during the course of our research While this data is not statistically significant it often reinforces our qualitative findings while demonstrating the type of data our clients can expect to receive from a user testing engagement with Corporate Insight The information collected for this study includes

Task completion times

Mouse clicks or screen touches

Number of pages visited and navigation trail

Time spent per screen or webpage

Mistakes and failures

User satisfaction ratings

In addition to this quantitative data we also collected and reviewed qualitative data ranging from participant facial expressions to anecdotal comments Following each portion of the test participants were asked to provide feedback including single words or short phrases to describe their experience Although they do not appear in this study these exercises can be used to develop word clouds which provide a powerful visualization of usersrsquo opinions

FINDINGS

14

IN THIS SECTION

bull P2P Payments

bull Account History

bull ATM Locators

bull System Usability Scale Results

Person-to-Person Payment Process Proves Problematic

15

FIN

DIN

GS

Overall study participants were familiar with nearly all of the assigned tasks having performed similar actions within their personal bank accounts in the past The one exception was person-to-person (P2P) payments While several participants commented that they had experience sending money to friends via payment services such as PayPal none had prior experience using a P2P feature on their bankrsquos website Whatrsquos more most subjects were unaware that banks even offered this service

While itrsquos possible that their lack of familiarity with the P2P process may have affected participantsrsquo ability to complete this task we believe poor information architecture played a bigger role in making this the task with the highest failure rate at least in terms of the website portion of the test

0

25

50

75

100

Task1

Task2

Task3

Task4

Task5

Task6

Task7

Task8

0

25

50

75

100

Task1

Task2

Task3

Task4

Task5

Website Task Scores Tablet Task Scores

Categorizing P2P as a Transfer ldquoInside the bankrdquo Confuses Bank of America Participants

16

FIN

DIN

GS

On the Bank of America website the P2P interface is located within the Transfers area of the website Although this is the first place participants thought to look nearly every participant failed to recognize that the bank categorizes these transactions as a transfer ldquoInside the bankrdquo Users immediately navigated to the ldquoOutside the bankrdquo tab and when they couldnrsquot find the interface began browsing the Bill Pay section of the site all despite a message on the Transfer tab landing page that states ldquoNEW Transfer money using an email address or mobile numberrdquo Users failed to notice the message because the location within the ldquoInside the bankrdquo was so counterintuitive they immediately looked to other places on the site

Users failed to notice this message that related to the task at hand

Participants expected the P2P interface to be located in this tab

Bank of Americarsquos Transfers Interface

Location of P2P Interface and Menu Design Causes Problems for US Bank Participants

17

FIN

DIN

GS

In much the same way that the Bank of America participants expected the bankrsquos P2P interface to be housed within the Transfers tab US Bank participantsrsquo first instinct was to look in the Funds Transfer tab Unfortunately the firm places the P2P feature within the Bill Pay tab and although most of the test subjects eventually discovered the interface they commented that they thought the term ldquobill payrdquo suggested paying a company not a person

While the location within the site proved problematic several users who ended up on the Bill Pay page failed to notice the Pay a Person option in the left column and proceeded to navigate back to the main menu Only after viewing all other possible locations did these individuals return to the correct location In one instance the user returned to the page multiple times and failing to see the Pay a Person link elected to end the task without completing the P2P process

Even after navigating to the correct location within the site users had difficulty locating the ldquoPay a Personrdquo link

US Bankrsquos Bill Pay Center

Participants Locate Citizens Bankrsquos P2P Interface with Ease

18

FIN

DIN

GS

Much like US Bank Citizens groups bill pay and P2P payments within the same area of the website However while participants struggled to locate the P2P interface on the US Bank site the individuals who tested the Citizens Bank site had no trouble whatsoever And although itrsquos likely these users might associate P2P more with making a transfer than paying a bill (as their US Bank counterparts commented) Citizensrsquo menu heading ldquoPay Bills amp Peoplerdquo makes it abundantly clear that users can pay both bills and people from this area of the site

While itrsquos important that menu tab names be succinct this example demonstrates the impact that descriptive terminology even in the form of two simple words can have on the user experience

Citizens Bankrsquos Pay Bills amp People Main Menu Tab

P2P Is Easier to Find on Tablet App but Most Firms Donrsquot Allow Users to Add Payees

19

FIN

DIN

GS

Compared to the website participants found it much easier to send money to a friend via the tablet apps Of course this can be attributed in part to the fact that with the exception of US Bank users could not add payees through the app interface (in these instances participants were instructed to send money to a pre-existing contact) Still users found it much less difficult to locate the P2P interface on the app a result of the more streamlined and condensed tablet experience and this greatly impacted their ability to complete this task Without the need to fit this functionality into a large multi-level menu system firms like Chase and Wells Fargo group transfers and payments together limiting any possible confusion between the two categories

Chasersquos Payments amp Transfers Tab Wells Fargorsquos Transfers amp Pay Button

US Bank App Features Add Contact Capability but Suffers from Usability Issues

20

FIN

DIN

GS

US Bank stands out as the only firm that allows clients to add payees from the tablet app While this is certainly a beneficial feature and one that other banks should look to add we did uncover a few related usability issues that caused problems for some users

The first problem occurred when participants tried to access the AddEdit Contact interface While the bank does a good job listing pre-existing contacts users struggled to locate this feature due to the fact that the button is a small ldquo+rdquo sign positioned to the right of the Search Contacts entry field To improve the design US Bank might consider increasing the size of the button and replacing the ldquo+rdquo with a clear label such as ldquoAdd Contactrdquo

The second issue is related to the design of the AddEdit Contact input fields Several participants tapped repeatedly on the headings positioned along the left side of the fields expecting to launch the iPadkeyboard Unfortunately the interface is designed so that users must tap on the right side of the fields in order to input information To fix this issue US Bank should either make the entire entry field clickable or outline the input area to indicate where users should tap

Finally the Method entry field (displayed on the following slide) caused some confusion for participants Many users saw the ldquoEmail or mobile numberrdquo text in the input field and typed out either ldquoemailrdquo or ldquomobile numberrdquo thinking they needed to select a method type rather than provide the contacts address or mobile number We suggest providing an example of an email address or mobile number below the input field

US Bankrsquos Add Contact Button

US Bankrsquos ldquoAdd Contactrdquo Interface and Suggestions to Improve Usability

21

FIN

DIN

GS

US Bankrsquos Current AddEdit Contact Page

Suggestions for US Bankrsquos AddEdit Contact Page

Impact of US Bank ldquoAdd Contactrdquo Usability Issues on Number of Taps per Task

22

FIN

DIN

GS

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

20

Bank of America Chase Citizens Bank US Bank Wells Fargo

Nu

mb

er

of

Tap

s

Average Taps vs Minimum Possible Taps Required to Complete Task

Average Taps perTask

MinimumNumber of TapsRequired toComplete Task

Some Banks Offer Less Account History via Tablet Apps

23

FIN

DIN

GS

At Corporate Insight we regularly field surveys to understand what the most important website features are to financial services customers Time and again respondents rank account information at the top of the list Although itrsquos only one aspect of account information access to a deep account history is one of the key factors that make for an excellent account information experience

While there are still some firms that could stand to increase the amount of account history accessible from their websites ndash US Bank comes to mind ndash most banks we track through our Bank Monitor service now provide at least 12 months of online account history Unfortunately many of these same banks including Bank of America and Wells Fargo fail to provide the same historical archive via their tablet applications as they do online Although these two institutions offer 12 and 18 months of history via their websites respectively their iPad apps are limited to three months of history

To improve the user experience and provide banking customers with the information they find most valuable we suggest banks model themselves after Chase and Citizens Bank both of which provide over a year of history both on their website and tablet app

WebsiteArchive (mos)

iPad Archive (mos)

Bank of America 12 3

Chase 24 24

Citizens 18 18

US Bank 3 3

Wells Fargo 18 3

Account History Archives

Citizens Bankrsquos Calendar Interface Frustrates Users

24

FIN

DIN

GS

Like most firms Citizens offers a calendar tool in several areas of the website including the transaction history interface allowing users to select dates for future transactions or set a timeframe for viewing account history Unfortunately there are two aspects of the toolrsquos design that caused problems for users

When the tool first launches the current date is highlighted in green As users select a different date the number is updated in the date entry field at the bottom of the interface but the current date remains highlighted within the calendar Users expect a visual cue to verify that their selection has been successfully entered into the interface As a result many participants clicked on the appropriate date several times before noticing it had appeared in the date entry field

After selecting a date users are presented with two options at the bottom of the calendar interface ndash Close and Insert With the correct date appearing in the date entry field many users believed they had successfully inputted the date into the main interface they were working in and chose Close to shut the calendar window Unfortunately users must click Insert first and then Close to exit the window which again goes against the usersrsquo expectations Making matters worse the Insert button offers no visual cue to suggest it has been clicked meaning the user has to verify their selection has been added to the main interface before closing the window

Although these flaws didnrsquot have a major impact on participantsrsquo ability to complete the task it did frustrate users as the tool didnrsquot function the way they anticipated Citizens Bank Calendar Interface

Most Banks Fail to Provide Filter and Sorting Features on Tablet Apps

25

FIN

DIN

GS

Itrsquos essential that banks provide a deep archive of account information but itrsquos equally important for banking customers to have access to the tools they need to sift through their account history and locate information regarding specific transactions On the Web banks typically offer a combination of sort filter and search tools that enable users to quickly locate the account information theyrsquore looking for The best interfaces like those provided by Bank of America and Wells Fargo feature a combination of all three

Although these tools may be commonplace on bank websites they are far from prevalent within mobile banking apps In fact of the banks included in this study Citizens is the only firm that provides a filter tool within its apprsquos transaction history interface the firmrsquos Date Range button located in the top right corner of the app allows users to view transactions for a specified date range

Therersquos no doubt that the date range filter made it easier for our study participants to complete the third iPad task on the Citizens app That said Citizens along with all of the other firms we tested in this study does not offer sort or search functionality that would enable users to reorganize columns of data or isolate particular transaction types As a result participants were forced to scroll through their entire transaction history in order to complete the task an effort that proved especially frustrating for the individuals testing the apps that donrsquot feature a date range filter

In the short term it could be argued that this type of functionality might not be necessary as most firms only provide a limited amount of history through their app interface However as banks look to expand their history archive they should also look to incorporate sorting and filter capabilities to improve the user experience

Citizens Bankrsquos Mobile App Date Range Filter

26

FIN

DIN

GS

Access to Date Range Filter from Account Detail Screen Date Range Filter Calendar Interface

Date Range Filter Interface

Participants Struggled to Find Wells Fargorsquos ATM Locator

27

FIN

DIN

GS

For the fourth task in the website portion of the test sessions participants were directed to locate the bankrsquos closest ATM While we didnrsquot expect users to have much difficulty accomplishing such a basic task we were very interested to see what would happen when participants were directed away from the private site to the public site where most banks house their branch and ATM locator tools Similarly we were interested to see what would happen when the participants were faced with the following task ndash setting an account alert ndashwhich would require they navigate back to the private site Although moving between the two sites caused minor problems for some users overall navigation between the two sites had very little impact on participantsrsquo ability to complete the task

That said we were surprised when the individuals testing the Wells Fargo site had severe difficulty finding the firmrsquos ATM locator tool Unlike most banks which typically position links to this feature in a Help or Customer Service area of the site or provide Contact Us or similar links in one of the universal menus Wells Fargo does not provide direct access to a branch or ATM locator tool from the private banking website we use to access our account Instead users had to navigate to the firmrsquos public website on their own While each of the participants eventually completed the task it was only after an exhaustive search through the private site which had a major impact on the time it took users to complete the task

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

180

200

220

240

Task1

Task2

Task3

Task4

Task5

Task6

Task7

Task8

Bank ofAmerica

Chase

Citizens

US Bank

Wells Fargo

Average

Average Task Completion Times

Banks Make it Easy to Locate Nearby ATMs via Apps

28

FIN

DIN

GS

As with the bank websites we tested users were able to locate the nearest ATM via the tablet app with relative ease However the data collected during the sessions highlights some meaningful differences in terms of the comparative usability of the apps particularly in terms of the number of finger taps participants performed while completing the tasks and the total time US Bank users averaged just one tap and slightly over seven seconds to find the nearest ATM thanks to the fact that the firm positions its ATM locator interface in the static right column on the apprsquos homepage By comparison the participants who tested the Bank of America app averaged twelve taps and over 65 seconds to accomplish the same task

US Bankrsquos Sidebar ATM Locator Tool

Bank of America and Chase Offer Similar ATM Locators with Varying Results

29

FIN

DIN

GS

In general Bank of America and Chase take a similar approach to their ATM Locators Both firms offer a ubiquitous link to the tool and the underlying maps have a similar look and feel Yet while the general strategy is similar the firms vary significantly in terms of implementation

Chase provides one of the smoothest ATM location experiences The firm positions a large button with an image of an ATM on the bottom of the home screen making for one of the more easily recognizable options in our sample set As for functionality the app automatically launches a map highlighting the nearest ATMs and branches The interface also features a search field should the user wish to find other locations

Bank of America on the other hand uses a map pin icon positioned along the left column of the app to direct users to its tool While the pin icon is certainly common in location services it was not instantly recognizable to every study participant Bank of Americarsquos tool also suffered from functionality issues Like the Chase interface a map automatically loads when the user taps the map pin icon but instead of displaying nearby locations users were presented with a map of the entire United States Nearly every participant attempted to pinch-to-zoom to their current location and voiced their frustration with the process After zooming in all the way users discovered the map did not show any ATM locations at which point they realized they needed to manually enter their desired location or select the current location icon in the upper-left corner of the app

Chase Bankrsquos ATM Locator Interface

30

FIN

DIN

GS

ATMBranch Locator Button on Homepage ATMBranch Locator Interface

Bank of Americarsquos ATM Locator Interface

31

FIN

DIN

GS

ATMBranch Locator Map Pin Button ATMBranch Locator Map and Search Input Field

System Usability Scale (SUS) Survey Results Suggest Participants Prefer Tablet Experience Over Websites

32

FIN

DIN

GS

After completing the usability tests on both the website and the tablet application participants were asked to complete a standard ten-question System Usability Scale survey This common questionnaire is used to determine an individualrsquos perception of the usability of an interface both in terms of ease-of-use and learnability An average SUS score is 68 Based on our findings participants expressed a strong preference for tablet apps ndash865 average SUS score ndash over their traditional website counterparts ndash 611 average SUS score

Certainly there are a number of factors that affect their impressions not the least of which is the limited capacity of the apps in terms of content and functionality as compared to the wealth of resources available through banking websites Still the data seems to reinforce the concept that users prefer interfaces that are simple straightforward and predictable This suggests banks and other financial institutions should endeavor to employ these concepts in the design of their websites

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Bank ofAmerica

Chase CitizensBank

US Bank WellsFargo

SUS Scores

WebsiteScores

AppScores

68

611

865

Corporate Insight Is Here to Help

33

User testing is a powerful research tool that should be incorporated into your broader design process It can help you

Understand the needs and expectations of your clients

Prioritize improvements to your interface

Discover design flaws

Improve customer satisfaction

Corporate Insight is here to help with all of your user testing needs We can

Collaborate with you to design a study that tests the key features of your website or mobile app andor the platforms offered by your key competitors

Recruit participants that represent your target audience

Provide you with a detailed analysis of test sessions

Assist you with your existing usability efforts by moderating tests you have designed or hosting tests at our facility conveniently located above Grand Central Station in Midtown Manhattan

In addition to our user testing services we also offer Expert Reviews assessing your interface based on established usability heuristics design principles and industry best practices We also perform in-depth Website Audits benchmarking your customer website and mobile platform against peers in terms of design functionality navigation and usability and offering precise actionable recommendations to help you improve your offering

CO

RP

OR

AT

E I

NS

IGH

T I

S H

ER

E T

O H

ELP

Tasks

10

TE

ST

DE

SIG

N

Our test focused on common tasks users are likely to attempt during a typical online banking session Due to the fact that websites offer a more robust experience than mobile applications participants faced more tasks during the computer-based portion of the session However the general workflow was similar for both the desktop and tablet experience

It should be noted that two of the website tasks ndash locate the nearest ATM and access CD rate information ndashwere intended to drive the user from the private site to the public site in order to help us understand how participants reacted to this challenge

Website Tasks

1 Login and check balances

2 Transfer money from checking to savings account

3 Review past debits from a specified time period

4 Locate the nearest ATM

5 Set an account balance alert

6 Send money to a friend using an email address

7 Access CD rate information

8 Update email address

iPad Tasks

1 Login and check balances

2 Transfer money from savings to checking account

3 Review past debits from a specified time period

4 Send money to an existing contact

5 Locate the nearest ATM

Issues Related to Test amp Interface Design

11

TE

ST

DE

SIG

N

By design each task could be completed on both interfaces for all five firms That being said there were a few idiosyncrasies that resulted from functionality issues or limitations related to certain interfaces including the following

Task number three on the website test ndash reviewing past transactions ndash proved problematic as the depth of account history varied from firm to firm as did the number of transactions in the accounts we used for this study As a result we altered the specific task requirements as needed Although these modifications had an impact on the data we collected for this task they did not limit our ability to uncover design issues related to the account history interfaces

During the two days we tested the Citizens Bank website participants were unable to access the page to modify their email address As a result we were forced to eliminate data from this task for this particular firm

Unlike the other banks included in this study Citizens Bank does not offer a specialized iPad app However the firmrsquos iPhone application offers the same functionality users needed to perform the required tasks As a result participants completed the tablet portion of the test using the mobile app on an iPad with the viewing size of the interface doubled to fit the larger screen

Three of the accounts used in the study ndash Bank of America Chase and Wells Fargo ndash feature linked brokerage or money market accounts In order to mitigate any confusion caused by these accounts the moderator provided additional guidance to participants in terms of navigation as necessary

Study Participants

12

TE

ST

DE

SIG

N

We tested five individuals per firm for a total of 25 participants These individuals were familiar with online banking and visited their personal accounts at least once a week They had very little or no previous experience with the bank they were tested on however

In terms of their familiarity with the hardware used during the tablet portion of the sessions all of the participants had some previous experience working with tablet devices though the vast majority stated that they had not used them to access their personal accounts As for the software most users were at least somewhat familiar with iOS-based products though the group was split in terms of their personal smart phones roughly three-fifths used an iPhonewith nearly all other participants using an Android-based product

When designing a usability test Corporate Insight can work with your firm to recruit study participants based on your target audience or such other factors as

Age

Experience with financial products

Trading style or frequency

Net worth

Vision issues

Data Collection

13

TE

ST

DE

SIG

N

Although this study was qualitative in nature our findings often refer to quantitative data collected during the course of our research While this data is not statistically significant it often reinforces our qualitative findings while demonstrating the type of data our clients can expect to receive from a user testing engagement with Corporate Insight The information collected for this study includes

Task completion times

Mouse clicks or screen touches

Number of pages visited and navigation trail

Time spent per screen or webpage

Mistakes and failures

User satisfaction ratings

In addition to this quantitative data we also collected and reviewed qualitative data ranging from participant facial expressions to anecdotal comments Following each portion of the test participants were asked to provide feedback including single words or short phrases to describe their experience Although they do not appear in this study these exercises can be used to develop word clouds which provide a powerful visualization of usersrsquo opinions

FINDINGS

14

IN THIS SECTION

bull P2P Payments

bull Account History

bull ATM Locators

bull System Usability Scale Results

Person-to-Person Payment Process Proves Problematic

15

FIN

DIN

GS

Overall study participants were familiar with nearly all of the assigned tasks having performed similar actions within their personal bank accounts in the past The one exception was person-to-person (P2P) payments While several participants commented that they had experience sending money to friends via payment services such as PayPal none had prior experience using a P2P feature on their bankrsquos website Whatrsquos more most subjects were unaware that banks even offered this service

While itrsquos possible that their lack of familiarity with the P2P process may have affected participantsrsquo ability to complete this task we believe poor information architecture played a bigger role in making this the task with the highest failure rate at least in terms of the website portion of the test

0

25

50

75

100

Task1

Task2

Task3

Task4

Task5

Task6

Task7

Task8

0

25

50

75

100

Task1

Task2

Task3

Task4

Task5

Website Task Scores Tablet Task Scores

Categorizing P2P as a Transfer ldquoInside the bankrdquo Confuses Bank of America Participants

16

FIN

DIN

GS

On the Bank of America website the P2P interface is located within the Transfers area of the website Although this is the first place participants thought to look nearly every participant failed to recognize that the bank categorizes these transactions as a transfer ldquoInside the bankrdquo Users immediately navigated to the ldquoOutside the bankrdquo tab and when they couldnrsquot find the interface began browsing the Bill Pay section of the site all despite a message on the Transfer tab landing page that states ldquoNEW Transfer money using an email address or mobile numberrdquo Users failed to notice the message because the location within the ldquoInside the bankrdquo was so counterintuitive they immediately looked to other places on the site

Users failed to notice this message that related to the task at hand

Participants expected the P2P interface to be located in this tab

Bank of Americarsquos Transfers Interface

Location of P2P Interface and Menu Design Causes Problems for US Bank Participants

17

FIN

DIN

GS

In much the same way that the Bank of America participants expected the bankrsquos P2P interface to be housed within the Transfers tab US Bank participantsrsquo first instinct was to look in the Funds Transfer tab Unfortunately the firm places the P2P feature within the Bill Pay tab and although most of the test subjects eventually discovered the interface they commented that they thought the term ldquobill payrdquo suggested paying a company not a person

While the location within the site proved problematic several users who ended up on the Bill Pay page failed to notice the Pay a Person option in the left column and proceeded to navigate back to the main menu Only after viewing all other possible locations did these individuals return to the correct location In one instance the user returned to the page multiple times and failing to see the Pay a Person link elected to end the task without completing the P2P process

Even after navigating to the correct location within the site users had difficulty locating the ldquoPay a Personrdquo link

US Bankrsquos Bill Pay Center

Participants Locate Citizens Bankrsquos P2P Interface with Ease

18

FIN

DIN

GS

Much like US Bank Citizens groups bill pay and P2P payments within the same area of the website However while participants struggled to locate the P2P interface on the US Bank site the individuals who tested the Citizens Bank site had no trouble whatsoever And although itrsquos likely these users might associate P2P more with making a transfer than paying a bill (as their US Bank counterparts commented) Citizensrsquo menu heading ldquoPay Bills amp Peoplerdquo makes it abundantly clear that users can pay both bills and people from this area of the site

While itrsquos important that menu tab names be succinct this example demonstrates the impact that descriptive terminology even in the form of two simple words can have on the user experience

Citizens Bankrsquos Pay Bills amp People Main Menu Tab

P2P Is Easier to Find on Tablet App but Most Firms Donrsquot Allow Users to Add Payees

19

FIN

DIN

GS

Compared to the website participants found it much easier to send money to a friend via the tablet apps Of course this can be attributed in part to the fact that with the exception of US Bank users could not add payees through the app interface (in these instances participants were instructed to send money to a pre-existing contact) Still users found it much less difficult to locate the P2P interface on the app a result of the more streamlined and condensed tablet experience and this greatly impacted their ability to complete this task Without the need to fit this functionality into a large multi-level menu system firms like Chase and Wells Fargo group transfers and payments together limiting any possible confusion between the two categories

Chasersquos Payments amp Transfers Tab Wells Fargorsquos Transfers amp Pay Button

US Bank App Features Add Contact Capability but Suffers from Usability Issues

20

FIN

DIN

GS

US Bank stands out as the only firm that allows clients to add payees from the tablet app While this is certainly a beneficial feature and one that other banks should look to add we did uncover a few related usability issues that caused problems for some users

The first problem occurred when participants tried to access the AddEdit Contact interface While the bank does a good job listing pre-existing contacts users struggled to locate this feature due to the fact that the button is a small ldquo+rdquo sign positioned to the right of the Search Contacts entry field To improve the design US Bank might consider increasing the size of the button and replacing the ldquo+rdquo with a clear label such as ldquoAdd Contactrdquo

The second issue is related to the design of the AddEdit Contact input fields Several participants tapped repeatedly on the headings positioned along the left side of the fields expecting to launch the iPadkeyboard Unfortunately the interface is designed so that users must tap on the right side of the fields in order to input information To fix this issue US Bank should either make the entire entry field clickable or outline the input area to indicate where users should tap

Finally the Method entry field (displayed on the following slide) caused some confusion for participants Many users saw the ldquoEmail or mobile numberrdquo text in the input field and typed out either ldquoemailrdquo or ldquomobile numberrdquo thinking they needed to select a method type rather than provide the contacts address or mobile number We suggest providing an example of an email address or mobile number below the input field

US Bankrsquos Add Contact Button

US Bankrsquos ldquoAdd Contactrdquo Interface and Suggestions to Improve Usability

21

FIN

DIN

GS

US Bankrsquos Current AddEdit Contact Page

Suggestions for US Bankrsquos AddEdit Contact Page

Impact of US Bank ldquoAdd Contactrdquo Usability Issues on Number of Taps per Task

22

FIN

DIN

GS

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

20

Bank of America Chase Citizens Bank US Bank Wells Fargo

Nu

mb

er

of

Tap

s

Average Taps vs Minimum Possible Taps Required to Complete Task

Average Taps perTask

MinimumNumber of TapsRequired toComplete Task

Some Banks Offer Less Account History via Tablet Apps

23

FIN

DIN

GS

At Corporate Insight we regularly field surveys to understand what the most important website features are to financial services customers Time and again respondents rank account information at the top of the list Although itrsquos only one aspect of account information access to a deep account history is one of the key factors that make for an excellent account information experience

While there are still some firms that could stand to increase the amount of account history accessible from their websites ndash US Bank comes to mind ndash most banks we track through our Bank Monitor service now provide at least 12 months of online account history Unfortunately many of these same banks including Bank of America and Wells Fargo fail to provide the same historical archive via their tablet applications as they do online Although these two institutions offer 12 and 18 months of history via their websites respectively their iPad apps are limited to three months of history

To improve the user experience and provide banking customers with the information they find most valuable we suggest banks model themselves after Chase and Citizens Bank both of which provide over a year of history both on their website and tablet app

WebsiteArchive (mos)

iPad Archive (mos)

Bank of America 12 3

Chase 24 24

Citizens 18 18

US Bank 3 3

Wells Fargo 18 3

Account History Archives

Citizens Bankrsquos Calendar Interface Frustrates Users

24

FIN

DIN

GS

Like most firms Citizens offers a calendar tool in several areas of the website including the transaction history interface allowing users to select dates for future transactions or set a timeframe for viewing account history Unfortunately there are two aspects of the toolrsquos design that caused problems for users

When the tool first launches the current date is highlighted in green As users select a different date the number is updated in the date entry field at the bottom of the interface but the current date remains highlighted within the calendar Users expect a visual cue to verify that their selection has been successfully entered into the interface As a result many participants clicked on the appropriate date several times before noticing it had appeared in the date entry field

After selecting a date users are presented with two options at the bottom of the calendar interface ndash Close and Insert With the correct date appearing in the date entry field many users believed they had successfully inputted the date into the main interface they were working in and chose Close to shut the calendar window Unfortunately users must click Insert first and then Close to exit the window which again goes against the usersrsquo expectations Making matters worse the Insert button offers no visual cue to suggest it has been clicked meaning the user has to verify their selection has been added to the main interface before closing the window

Although these flaws didnrsquot have a major impact on participantsrsquo ability to complete the task it did frustrate users as the tool didnrsquot function the way they anticipated Citizens Bank Calendar Interface

Most Banks Fail to Provide Filter and Sorting Features on Tablet Apps

25

FIN

DIN

GS

Itrsquos essential that banks provide a deep archive of account information but itrsquos equally important for banking customers to have access to the tools they need to sift through their account history and locate information regarding specific transactions On the Web banks typically offer a combination of sort filter and search tools that enable users to quickly locate the account information theyrsquore looking for The best interfaces like those provided by Bank of America and Wells Fargo feature a combination of all three

Although these tools may be commonplace on bank websites they are far from prevalent within mobile banking apps In fact of the banks included in this study Citizens is the only firm that provides a filter tool within its apprsquos transaction history interface the firmrsquos Date Range button located in the top right corner of the app allows users to view transactions for a specified date range

Therersquos no doubt that the date range filter made it easier for our study participants to complete the third iPad task on the Citizens app That said Citizens along with all of the other firms we tested in this study does not offer sort or search functionality that would enable users to reorganize columns of data or isolate particular transaction types As a result participants were forced to scroll through their entire transaction history in order to complete the task an effort that proved especially frustrating for the individuals testing the apps that donrsquot feature a date range filter

In the short term it could be argued that this type of functionality might not be necessary as most firms only provide a limited amount of history through their app interface However as banks look to expand their history archive they should also look to incorporate sorting and filter capabilities to improve the user experience

Citizens Bankrsquos Mobile App Date Range Filter

26

FIN

DIN

GS

Access to Date Range Filter from Account Detail Screen Date Range Filter Calendar Interface

Date Range Filter Interface

Participants Struggled to Find Wells Fargorsquos ATM Locator

27

FIN

DIN

GS

For the fourth task in the website portion of the test sessions participants were directed to locate the bankrsquos closest ATM While we didnrsquot expect users to have much difficulty accomplishing such a basic task we were very interested to see what would happen when participants were directed away from the private site to the public site where most banks house their branch and ATM locator tools Similarly we were interested to see what would happen when the participants were faced with the following task ndash setting an account alert ndashwhich would require they navigate back to the private site Although moving between the two sites caused minor problems for some users overall navigation between the two sites had very little impact on participantsrsquo ability to complete the task

That said we were surprised when the individuals testing the Wells Fargo site had severe difficulty finding the firmrsquos ATM locator tool Unlike most banks which typically position links to this feature in a Help or Customer Service area of the site or provide Contact Us or similar links in one of the universal menus Wells Fargo does not provide direct access to a branch or ATM locator tool from the private banking website we use to access our account Instead users had to navigate to the firmrsquos public website on their own While each of the participants eventually completed the task it was only after an exhaustive search through the private site which had a major impact on the time it took users to complete the task

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

180

200

220

240

Task1

Task2

Task3

Task4

Task5

Task6

Task7

Task8

Bank ofAmerica

Chase

Citizens

US Bank

Wells Fargo

Average

Average Task Completion Times

Banks Make it Easy to Locate Nearby ATMs via Apps

28

FIN

DIN

GS

As with the bank websites we tested users were able to locate the nearest ATM via the tablet app with relative ease However the data collected during the sessions highlights some meaningful differences in terms of the comparative usability of the apps particularly in terms of the number of finger taps participants performed while completing the tasks and the total time US Bank users averaged just one tap and slightly over seven seconds to find the nearest ATM thanks to the fact that the firm positions its ATM locator interface in the static right column on the apprsquos homepage By comparison the participants who tested the Bank of America app averaged twelve taps and over 65 seconds to accomplish the same task

US Bankrsquos Sidebar ATM Locator Tool

Bank of America and Chase Offer Similar ATM Locators with Varying Results

29

FIN

DIN

GS

In general Bank of America and Chase take a similar approach to their ATM Locators Both firms offer a ubiquitous link to the tool and the underlying maps have a similar look and feel Yet while the general strategy is similar the firms vary significantly in terms of implementation

Chase provides one of the smoothest ATM location experiences The firm positions a large button with an image of an ATM on the bottom of the home screen making for one of the more easily recognizable options in our sample set As for functionality the app automatically launches a map highlighting the nearest ATMs and branches The interface also features a search field should the user wish to find other locations

Bank of America on the other hand uses a map pin icon positioned along the left column of the app to direct users to its tool While the pin icon is certainly common in location services it was not instantly recognizable to every study participant Bank of Americarsquos tool also suffered from functionality issues Like the Chase interface a map automatically loads when the user taps the map pin icon but instead of displaying nearby locations users were presented with a map of the entire United States Nearly every participant attempted to pinch-to-zoom to their current location and voiced their frustration with the process After zooming in all the way users discovered the map did not show any ATM locations at which point they realized they needed to manually enter their desired location or select the current location icon in the upper-left corner of the app

Chase Bankrsquos ATM Locator Interface

30

FIN

DIN

GS

ATMBranch Locator Button on Homepage ATMBranch Locator Interface

Bank of Americarsquos ATM Locator Interface

31

FIN

DIN

GS

ATMBranch Locator Map Pin Button ATMBranch Locator Map and Search Input Field

System Usability Scale (SUS) Survey Results Suggest Participants Prefer Tablet Experience Over Websites

32

FIN

DIN

GS

After completing the usability tests on both the website and the tablet application participants were asked to complete a standard ten-question System Usability Scale survey This common questionnaire is used to determine an individualrsquos perception of the usability of an interface both in terms of ease-of-use and learnability An average SUS score is 68 Based on our findings participants expressed a strong preference for tablet apps ndash865 average SUS score ndash over their traditional website counterparts ndash 611 average SUS score

Certainly there are a number of factors that affect their impressions not the least of which is the limited capacity of the apps in terms of content and functionality as compared to the wealth of resources available through banking websites Still the data seems to reinforce the concept that users prefer interfaces that are simple straightforward and predictable This suggests banks and other financial institutions should endeavor to employ these concepts in the design of their websites

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Bank ofAmerica

Chase CitizensBank

US Bank WellsFargo

SUS Scores

WebsiteScores

AppScores

68

611

865

Corporate Insight Is Here to Help

33

User testing is a powerful research tool that should be incorporated into your broader design process It can help you

Understand the needs and expectations of your clients

Prioritize improvements to your interface

Discover design flaws

Improve customer satisfaction

Corporate Insight is here to help with all of your user testing needs We can

Collaborate with you to design a study that tests the key features of your website or mobile app andor the platforms offered by your key competitors

Recruit participants that represent your target audience

Provide you with a detailed analysis of test sessions

Assist you with your existing usability efforts by moderating tests you have designed or hosting tests at our facility conveniently located above Grand Central Station in Midtown Manhattan

In addition to our user testing services we also offer Expert Reviews assessing your interface based on established usability heuristics design principles and industry best practices We also perform in-depth Website Audits benchmarking your customer website and mobile platform against peers in terms of design functionality navigation and usability and offering precise actionable recommendations to help you improve your offering

CO

RP

OR

AT

E I

NS

IGH

T I

S H

ER

E T

O H

ELP

Issues Related to Test amp Interface Design

11

TE

ST

DE

SIG

N

By design each task could be completed on both interfaces for all five firms That being said there were a few idiosyncrasies that resulted from functionality issues or limitations related to certain interfaces including the following

Task number three on the website test ndash reviewing past transactions ndash proved problematic as the depth of account history varied from firm to firm as did the number of transactions in the accounts we used for this study As a result we altered the specific task requirements as needed Although these modifications had an impact on the data we collected for this task they did not limit our ability to uncover design issues related to the account history interfaces

During the two days we tested the Citizens Bank website participants were unable to access the page to modify their email address As a result we were forced to eliminate data from this task for this particular firm

Unlike the other banks included in this study Citizens Bank does not offer a specialized iPad app However the firmrsquos iPhone application offers the same functionality users needed to perform the required tasks As a result participants completed the tablet portion of the test using the mobile app on an iPad with the viewing size of the interface doubled to fit the larger screen

Three of the accounts used in the study ndash Bank of America Chase and Wells Fargo ndash feature linked brokerage or money market accounts In order to mitigate any confusion caused by these accounts the moderator provided additional guidance to participants in terms of navigation as necessary

Study Participants

12

TE

ST

DE

SIG

N

We tested five individuals per firm for a total of 25 participants These individuals were familiar with online banking and visited their personal accounts at least once a week They had very little or no previous experience with the bank they were tested on however

In terms of their familiarity with the hardware used during the tablet portion of the sessions all of the participants had some previous experience working with tablet devices though the vast majority stated that they had not used them to access their personal accounts As for the software most users were at least somewhat familiar with iOS-based products though the group was split in terms of their personal smart phones roughly three-fifths used an iPhonewith nearly all other participants using an Android-based product

When designing a usability test Corporate Insight can work with your firm to recruit study participants based on your target audience or such other factors as

Age

Experience with financial products

Trading style or frequency

Net worth

Vision issues

Data Collection

13

TE

ST

DE

SIG

N

Although this study was qualitative in nature our findings often refer to quantitative data collected during the course of our research While this data is not statistically significant it often reinforces our qualitative findings while demonstrating the type of data our clients can expect to receive from a user testing engagement with Corporate Insight The information collected for this study includes

Task completion times

Mouse clicks or screen touches

Number of pages visited and navigation trail

Time spent per screen or webpage

Mistakes and failures

User satisfaction ratings

In addition to this quantitative data we also collected and reviewed qualitative data ranging from participant facial expressions to anecdotal comments Following each portion of the test participants were asked to provide feedback including single words or short phrases to describe their experience Although they do not appear in this study these exercises can be used to develop word clouds which provide a powerful visualization of usersrsquo opinions

FINDINGS

14

IN THIS SECTION

bull P2P Payments

bull Account History

bull ATM Locators

bull System Usability Scale Results

Person-to-Person Payment Process Proves Problematic

15

FIN

DIN

GS

Overall study participants were familiar with nearly all of the assigned tasks having performed similar actions within their personal bank accounts in the past The one exception was person-to-person (P2P) payments While several participants commented that they had experience sending money to friends via payment services such as PayPal none had prior experience using a P2P feature on their bankrsquos website Whatrsquos more most subjects were unaware that banks even offered this service

While itrsquos possible that their lack of familiarity with the P2P process may have affected participantsrsquo ability to complete this task we believe poor information architecture played a bigger role in making this the task with the highest failure rate at least in terms of the website portion of the test

0

25

50

75

100

Task1

Task2

Task3

Task4

Task5

Task6

Task7

Task8

0

25

50

75

100

Task1

Task2

Task3

Task4

Task5

Website Task Scores Tablet Task Scores

Categorizing P2P as a Transfer ldquoInside the bankrdquo Confuses Bank of America Participants

16

FIN

DIN

GS

On the Bank of America website the P2P interface is located within the Transfers area of the website Although this is the first place participants thought to look nearly every participant failed to recognize that the bank categorizes these transactions as a transfer ldquoInside the bankrdquo Users immediately navigated to the ldquoOutside the bankrdquo tab and when they couldnrsquot find the interface began browsing the Bill Pay section of the site all despite a message on the Transfer tab landing page that states ldquoNEW Transfer money using an email address or mobile numberrdquo Users failed to notice the message because the location within the ldquoInside the bankrdquo was so counterintuitive they immediately looked to other places on the site

Users failed to notice this message that related to the task at hand

Participants expected the P2P interface to be located in this tab

Bank of Americarsquos Transfers Interface

Location of P2P Interface and Menu Design Causes Problems for US Bank Participants

17

FIN

DIN

GS

In much the same way that the Bank of America participants expected the bankrsquos P2P interface to be housed within the Transfers tab US Bank participantsrsquo first instinct was to look in the Funds Transfer tab Unfortunately the firm places the P2P feature within the Bill Pay tab and although most of the test subjects eventually discovered the interface they commented that they thought the term ldquobill payrdquo suggested paying a company not a person

While the location within the site proved problematic several users who ended up on the Bill Pay page failed to notice the Pay a Person option in the left column and proceeded to navigate back to the main menu Only after viewing all other possible locations did these individuals return to the correct location In one instance the user returned to the page multiple times and failing to see the Pay a Person link elected to end the task without completing the P2P process

Even after navigating to the correct location within the site users had difficulty locating the ldquoPay a Personrdquo link

US Bankrsquos Bill Pay Center

Participants Locate Citizens Bankrsquos P2P Interface with Ease

18

FIN

DIN

GS

Much like US Bank Citizens groups bill pay and P2P payments within the same area of the website However while participants struggled to locate the P2P interface on the US Bank site the individuals who tested the Citizens Bank site had no trouble whatsoever And although itrsquos likely these users might associate P2P more with making a transfer than paying a bill (as their US Bank counterparts commented) Citizensrsquo menu heading ldquoPay Bills amp Peoplerdquo makes it abundantly clear that users can pay both bills and people from this area of the site

While itrsquos important that menu tab names be succinct this example demonstrates the impact that descriptive terminology even in the form of two simple words can have on the user experience

Citizens Bankrsquos Pay Bills amp People Main Menu Tab

P2P Is Easier to Find on Tablet App but Most Firms Donrsquot Allow Users to Add Payees

19

FIN

DIN

GS

Compared to the website participants found it much easier to send money to a friend via the tablet apps Of course this can be attributed in part to the fact that with the exception of US Bank users could not add payees through the app interface (in these instances participants were instructed to send money to a pre-existing contact) Still users found it much less difficult to locate the P2P interface on the app a result of the more streamlined and condensed tablet experience and this greatly impacted their ability to complete this task Without the need to fit this functionality into a large multi-level menu system firms like Chase and Wells Fargo group transfers and payments together limiting any possible confusion between the two categories

Chasersquos Payments amp Transfers Tab Wells Fargorsquos Transfers amp Pay Button

US Bank App Features Add Contact Capability but Suffers from Usability Issues

20

FIN

DIN

GS

US Bank stands out as the only firm that allows clients to add payees from the tablet app While this is certainly a beneficial feature and one that other banks should look to add we did uncover a few related usability issues that caused problems for some users

The first problem occurred when participants tried to access the AddEdit Contact interface While the bank does a good job listing pre-existing contacts users struggled to locate this feature due to the fact that the button is a small ldquo+rdquo sign positioned to the right of the Search Contacts entry field To improve the design US Bank might consider increasing the size of the button and replacing the ldquo+rdquo with a clear label such as ldquoAdd Contactrdquo

The second issue is related to the design of the AddEdit Contact input fields Several participants tapped repeatedly on the headings positioned along the left side of the fields expecting to launch the iPadkeyboard Unfortunately the interface is designed so that users must tap on the right side of the fields in order to input information To fix this issue US Bank should either make the entire entry field clickable or outline the input area to indicate where users should tap

Finally the Method entry field (displayed on the following slide) caused some confusion for participants Many users saw the ldquoEmail or mobile numberrdquo text in the input field and typed out either ldquoemailrdquo or ldquomobile numberrdquo thinking they needed to select a method type rather than provide the contacts address or mobile number We suggest providing an example of an email address or mobile number below the input field

US Bankrsquos Add Contact Button

US Bankrsquos ldquoAdd Contactrdquo Interface and Suggestions to Improve Usability

21

FIN

DIN

GS

US Bankrsquos Current AddEdit Contact Page

Suggestions for US Bankrsquos AddEdit Contact Page

Impact of US Bank ldquoAdd Contactrdquo Usability Issues on Number of Taps per Task

22

FIN

DIN

GS

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

20

Bank of America Chase Citizens Bank US Bank Wells Fargo

Nu

mb

er

of

Tap

s

Average Taps vs Minimum Possible Taps Required to Complete Task

Average Taps perTask

MinimumNumber of TapsRequired toComplete Task

Some Banks Offer Less Account History via Tablet Apps

23

FIN

DIN

GS

At Corporate Insight we regularly field surveys to understand what the most important website features are to financial services customers Time and again respondents rank account information at the top of the list Although itrsquos only one aspect of account information access to a deep account history is one of the key factors that make for an excellent account information experience

While there are still some firms that could stand to increase the amount of account history accessible from their websites ndash US Bank comes to mind ndash most banks we track through our Bank Monitor service now provide at least 12 months of online account history Unfortunately many of these same banks including Bank of America and Wells Fargo fail to provide the same historical archive via their tablet applications as they do online Although these two institutions offer 12 and 18 months of history via their websites respectively their iPad apps are limited to three months of history

To improve the user experience and provide banking customers with the information they find most valuable we suggest banks model themselves after Chase and Citizens Bank both of which provide over a year of history both on their website and tablet app

WebsiteArchive (mos)

iPad Archive (mos)

Bank of America 12 3

Chase 24 24

Citizens 18 18

US Bank 3 3

Wells Fargo 18 3

Account History Archives

Citizens Bankrsquos Calendar Interface Frustrates Users

24

FIN

DIN

GS

Like most firms Citizens offers a calendar tool in several areas of the website including the transaction history interface allowing users to select dates for future transactions or set a timeframe for viewing account history Unfortunately there are two aspects of the toolrsquos design that caused problems for users

When the tool first launches the current date is highlighted in green As users select a different date the number is updated in the date entry field at the bottom of the interface but the current date remains highlighted within the calendar Users expect a visual cue to verify that their selection has been successfully entered into the interface As a result many participants clicked on the appropriate date several times before noticing it had appeared in the date entry field

After selecting a date users are presented with two options at the bottom of the calendar interface ndash Close and Insert With the correct date appearing in the date entry field many users believed they had successfully inputted the date into the main interface they were working in and chose Close to shut the calendar window Unfortunately users must click Insert first and then Close to exit the window which again goes against the usersrsquo expectations Making matters worse the Insert button offers no visual cue to suggest it has been clicked meaning the user has to verify their selection has been added to the main interface before closing the window

Although these flaws didnrsquot have a major impact on participantsrsquo ability to complete the task it did frustrate users as the tool didnrsquot function the way they anticipated Citizens Bank Calendar Interface

Most Banks Fail to Provide Filter and Sorting Features on Tablet Apps

25

FIN

DIN

GS

Itrsquos essential that banks provide a deep archive of account information but itrsquos equally important for banking customers to have access to the tools they need to sift through their account history and locate information regarding specific transactions On the Web banks typically offer a combination of sort filter and search tools that enable users to quickly locate the account information theyrsquore looking for The best interfaces like those provided by Bank of America and Wells Fargo feature a combination of all three

Although these tools may be commonplace on bank websites they are far from prevalent within mobile banking apps In fact of the banks included in this study Citizens is the only firm that provides a filter tool within its apprsquos transaction history interface the firmrsquos Date Range button located in the top right corner of the app allows users to view transactions for a specified date range

Therersquos no doubt that the date range filter made it easier for our study participants to complete the third iPad task on the Citizens app That said Citizens along with all of the other firms we tested in this study does not offer sort or search functionality that would enable users to reorganize columns of data or isolate particular transaction types As a result participants were forced to scroll through their entire transaction history in order to complete the task an effort that proved especially frustrating for the individuals testing the apps that donrsquot feature a date range filter

In the short term it could be argued that this type of functionality might not be necessary as most firms only provide a limited amount of history through their app interface However as banks look to expand their history archive they should also look to incorporate sorting and filter capabilities to improve the user experience

Citizens Bankrsquos Mobile App Date Range Filter

26

FIN

DIN

GS

Access to Date Range Filter from Account Detail Screen Date Range Filter Calendar Interface

Date Range Filter Interface

Participants Struggled to Find Wells Fargorsquos ATM Locator

27

FIN

DIN

GS

For the fourth task in the website portion of the test sessions participants were directed to locate the bankrsquos closest ATM While we didnrsquot expect users to have much difficulty accomplishing such a basic task we were very interested to see what would happen when participants were directed away from the private site to the public site where most banks house their branch and ATM locator tools Similarly we were interested to see what would happen when the participants were faced with the following task ndash setting an account alert ndashwhich would require they navigate back to the private site Although moving between the two sites caused minor problems for some users overall navigation between the two sites had very little impact on participantsrsquo ability to complete the task

That said we were surprised when the individuals testing the Wells Fargo site had severe difficulty finding the firmrsquos ATM locator tool Unlike most banks which typically position links to this feature in a Help or Customer Service area of the site or provide Contact Us or similar links in one of the universal menus Wells Fargo does not provide direct access to a branch or ATM locator tool from the private banking website we use to access our account Instead users had to navigate to the firmrsquos public website on their own While each of the participants eventually completed the task it was only after an exhaustive search through the private site which had a major impact on the time it took users to complete the task

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

180

200

220

240

Task1

Task2

Task3

Task4

Task5

Task6

Task7

Task8

Bank ofAmerica

Chase

Citizens

US Bank

Wells Fargo

Average

Average Task Completion Times

Banks Make it Easy to Locate Nearby ATMs via Apps

28

FIN

DIN

GS

As with the bank websites we tested users were able to locate the nearest ATM via the tablet app with relative ease However the data collected during the sessions highlights some meaningful differences in terms of the comparative usability of the apps particularly in terms of the number of finger taps participants performed while completing the tasks and the total time US Bank users averaged just one tap and slightly over seven seconds to find the nearest ATM thanks to the fact that the firm positions its ATM locator interface in the static right column on the apprsquos homepage By comparison the participants who tested the Bank of America app averaged twelve taps and over 65 seconds to accomplish the same task

US Bankrsquos Sidebar ATM Locator Tool

Bank of America and Chase Offer Similar ATM Locators with Varying Results

29

FIN

DIN

GS

In general Bank of America and Chase take a similar approach to their ATM Locators Both firms offer a ubiquitous link to the tool and the underlying maps have a similar look and feel Yet while the general strategy is similar the firms vary significantly in terms of implementation

Chase provides one of the smoothest ATM location experiences The firm positions a large button with an image of an ATM on the bottom of the home screen making for one of the more easily recognizable options in our sample set As for functionality the app automatically launches a map highlighting the nearest ATMs and branches The interface also features a search field should the user wish to find other locations

Bank of America on the other hand uses a map pin icon positioned along the left column of the app to direct users to its tool While the pin icon is certainly common in location services it was not instantly recognizable to every study participant Bank of Americarsquos tool also suffered from functionality issues Like the Chase interface a map automatically loads when the user taps the map pin icon but instead of displaying nearby locations users were presented with a map of the entire United States Nearly every participant attempted to pinch-to-zoom to their current location and voiced their frustration with the process After zooming in all the way users discovered the map did not show any ATM locations at which point they realized they needed to manually enter their desired location or select the current location icon in the upper-left corner of the app

Chase Bankrsquos ATM Locator Interface

30

FIN

DIN

GS

ATMBranch Locator Button on Homepage ATMBranch Locator Interface

Bank of Americarsquos ATM Locator Interface

31

FIN

DIN

GS

ATMBranch Locator Map Pin Button ATMBranch Locator Map and Search Input Field

System Usability Scale (SUS) Survey Results Suggest Participants Prefer Tablet Experience Over Websites

32

FIN

DIN

GS

After completing the usability tests on both the website and the tablet application participants were asked to complete a standard ten-question System Usability Scale survey This common questionnaire is used to determine an individualrsquos perception of the usability of an interface both in terms of ease-of-use and learnability An average SUS score is 68 Based on our findings participants expressed a strong preference for tablet apps ndash865 average SUS score ndash over their traditional website counterparts ndash 611 average SUS score

Certainly there are a number of factors that affect their impressions not the least of which is the limited capacity of the apps in terms of content and functionality as compared to the wealth of resources available through banking websites Still the data seems to reinforce the concept that users prefer interfaces that are simple straightforward and predictable This suggests banks and other financial institutions should endeavor to employ these concepts in the design of their websites

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Bank ofAmerica

Chase CitizensBank

US Bank WellsFargo

SUS Scores

WebsiteScores

AppScores

68

611

865

Corporate Insight Is Here to Help

33

User testing is a powerful research tool that should be incorporated into your broader design process It can help you

Understand the needs and expectations of your clients

Prioritize improvements to your interface

Discover design flaws

Improve customer satisfaction

Corporate Insight is here to help with all of your user testing needs We can

Collaborate with you to design a study that tests the key features of your website or mobile app andor the platforms offered by your key competitors

Recruit participants that represent your target audience

Provide you with a detailed analysis of test sessions

Assist you with your existing usability efforts by moderating tests you have designed or hosting tests at our facility conveniently located above Grand Central Station in Midtown Manhattan

In addition to our user testing services we also offer Expert Reviews assessing your interface based on established usability heuristics design principles and industry best practices We also perform in-depth Website Audits benchmarking your customer website and mobile platform against peers in terms of design functionality navigation and usability and offering precise actionable recommendations to help you improve your offering

CO

RP

OR

AT

E I

NS

IGH

T I

S H

ER

E T

O H

ELP

Study Participants

12

TE

ST

DE

SIG

N

We tested five individuals per firm for a total of 25 participants These individuals were familiar with online banking and visited their personal accounts at least once a week They had very little or no previous experience with the bank they were tested on however

In terms of their familiarity with the hardware used during the tablet portion of the sessions all of the participants had some previous experience working with tablet devices though the vast majority stated that they had not used them to access their personal accounts As for the software most users were at least somewhat familiar with iOS-based products though the group was split in terms of their personal smart phones roughly three-fifths used an iPhonewith nearly all other participants using an Android-based product

When designing a usability test Corporate Insight can work with your firm to recruit study participants based on your target audience or such other factors as

Age

Experience with financial products

Trading style or frequency

Net worth

Vision issues

Data Collection

13

TE

ST

DE

SIG

N

Although this study was qualitative in nature our findings often refer to quantitative data collected during the course of our research While this data is not statistically significant it often reinforces our qualitative findings while demonstrating the type of data our clients can expect to receive from a user testing engagement with Corporate Insight The information collected for this study includes

Task completion times

Mouse clicks or screen touches

Number of pages visited and navigation trail

Time spent per screen or webpage

Mistakes and failures

User satisfaction ratings

In addition to this quantitative data we also collected and reviewed qualitative data ranging from participant facial expressions to anecdotal comments Following each portion of the test participants were asked to provide feedback including single words or short phrases to describe their experience Although they do not appear in this study these exercises can be used to develop word clouds which provide a powerful visualization of usersrsquo opinions

FINDINGS

14

IN THIS SECTION

bull P2P Payments

bull Account History

bull ATM Locators

bull System Usability Scale Results

Person-to-Person Payment Process Proves Problematic

15

FIN

DIN

GS

Overall study participants were familiar with nearly all of the assigned tasks having performed similar actions within their personal bank accounts in the past The one exception was person-to-person (P2P) payments While several participants commented that they had experience sending money to friends via payment services such as PayPal none had prior experience using a P2P feature on their bankrsquos website Whatrsquos more most subjects were unaware that banks even offered this service

While itrsquos possible that their lack of familiarity with the P2P process may have affected participantsrsquo ability to complete this task we believe poor information architecture played a bigger role in making this the task with the highest failure rate at least in terms of the website portion of the test

0

25

50

75

100

Task1

Task2

Task3

Task4

Task5

Task6

Task7

Task8

0

25

50

75

100

Task1

Task2

Task3

Task4

Task5

Website Task Scores Tablet Task Scores

Categorizing P2P as a Transfer ldquoInside the bankrdquo Confuses Bank of America Participants

16

FIN

DIN

GS

On the Bank of America website the P2P interface is located within the Transfers area of the website Although this is the first place participants thought to look nearly every participant failed to recognize that the bank categorizes these transactions as a transfer ldquoInside the bankrdquo Users immediately navigated to the ldquoOutside the bankrdquo tab and when they couldnrsquot find the interface began browsing the Bill Pay section of the site all despite a message on the Transfer tab landing page that states ldquoNEW Transfer money using an email address or mobile numberrdquo Users failed to notice the message because the location within the ldquoInside the bankrdquo was so counterintuitive they immediately looked to other places on the site

Users failed to notice this message that related to the task at hand

Participants expected the P2P interface to be located in this tab

Bank of Americarsquos Transfers Interface

Location of P2P Interface and Menu Design Causes Problems for US Bank Participants

17

FIN

DIN

GS

In much the same way that the Bank of America participants expected the bankrsquos P2P interface to be housed within the Transfers tab US Bank participantsrsquo first instinct was to look in the Funds Transfer tab Unfortunately the firm places the P2P feature within the Bill Pay tab and although most of the test subjects eventually discovered the interface they commented that they thought the term ldquobill payrdquo suggested paying a company not a person

While the location within the site proved problematic several users who ended up on the Bill Pay page failed to notice the Pay a Person option in the left column and proceeded to navigate back to the main menu Only after viewing all other possible locations did these individuals return to the correct location In one instance the user returned to the page multiple times and failing to see the Pay a Person link elected to end the task without completing the P2P process

Even after navigating to the correct location within the site users had difficulty locating the ldquoPay a Personrdquo link

US Bankrsquos Bill Pay Center

Participants Locate Citizens Bankrsquos P2P Interface with Ease

18

FIN

DIN

GS

Much like US Bank Citizens groups bill pay and P2P payments within the same area of the website However while participants struggled to locate the P2P interface on the US Bank site the individuals who tested the Citizens Bank site had no trouble whatsoever And although itrsquos likely these users might associate P2P more with making a transfer than paying a bill (as their US Bank counterparts commented) Citizensrsquo menu heading ldquoPay Bills amp Peoplerdquo makes it abundantly clear that users can pay both bills and people from this area of the site

While itrsquos important that menu tab names be succinct this example demonstrates the impact that descriptive terminology even in the form of two simple words can have on the user experience

Citizens Bankrsquos Pay Bills amp People Main Menu Tab

P2P Is Easier to Find on Tablet App but Most Firms Donrsquot Allow Users to Add Payees

19

FIN

DIN

GS

Compared to the website participants found it much easier to send money to a friend via the tablet apps Of course this can be attributed in part to the fact that with the exception of US Bank users could not add payees through the app interface (in these instances participants were instructed to send money to a pre-existing contact) Still users found it much less difficult to locate the P2P interface on the app a result of the more streamlined and condensed tablet experience and this greatly impacted their ability to complete this task Without the need to fit this functionality into a large multi-level menu system firms like Chase and Wells Fargo group transfers and payments together limiting any possible confusion between the two categories

Chasersquos Payments amp Transfers Tab Wells Fargorsquos Transfers amp Pay Button

US Bank App Features Add Contact Capability but Suffers from Usability Issues

20

FIN

DIN

GS

US Bank stands out as the only firm that allows clients to add payees from the tablet app While this is certainly a beneficial feature and one that other banks should look to add we did uncover a few related usability issues that caused problems for some users

The first problem occurred when participants tried to access the AddEdit Contact interface While the bank does a good job listing pre-existing contacts users struggled to locate this feature due to the fact that the button is a small ldquo+rdquo sign positioned to the right of the Search Contacts entry field To improve the design US Bank might consider increasing the size of the button and replacing the ldquo+rdquo with a clear label such as ldquoAdd Contactrdquo

The second issue is related to the design of the AddEdit Contact input fields Several participants tapped repeatedly on the headings positioned along the left side of the fields expecting to launch the iPadkeyboard Unfortunately the interface is designed so that users must tap on the right side of the fields in order to input information To fix this issue US Bank should either make the entire entry field clickable or outline the input area to indicate where users should tap

Finally the Method entry field (displayed on the following slide) caused some confusion for participants Many users saw the ldquoEmail or mobile numberrdquo text in the input field and typed out either ldquoemailrdquo or ldquomobile numberrdquo thinking they needed to select a method type rather than provide the contacts address or mobile number We suggest providing an example of an email address or mobile number below the input field

US Bankrsquos Add Contact Button

US Bankrsquos ldquoAdd Contactrdquo Interface and Suggestions to Improve Usability

21

FIN

DIN

GS

US Bankrsquos Current AddEdit Contact Page

Suggestions for US Bankrsquos AddEdit Contact Page

Impact of US Bank ldquoAdd Contactrdquo Usability Issues on Number of Taps per Task

22

FIN

DIN

GS

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

20

Bank of America Chase Citizens Bank US Bank Wells Fargo

Nu

mb

er

of

Tap

s

Average Taps vs Minimum Possible Taps Required to Complete Task

Average Taps perTask

MinimumNumber of TapsRequired toComplete Task

Some Banks Offer Less Account History via Tablet Apps

23

FIN

DIN

GS

At Corporate Insight we regularly field surveys to understand what the most important website features are to financial services customers Time and again respondents rank account information at the top of the list Although itrsquos only one aspect of account information access to a deep account history is one of the key factors that make for an excellent account information experience

While there are still some firms that could stand to increase the amount of account history accessible from their websites ndash US Bank comes to mind ndash most banks we track through our Bank Monitor service now provide at least 12 months of online account history Unfortunately many of these same banks including Bank of America and Wells Fargo fail to provide the same historical archive via their tablet applications as they do online Although these two institutions offer 12 and 18 months of history via their websites respectively their iPad apps are limited to three months of history

To improve the user experience and provide banking customers with the information they find most valuable we suggest banks model themselves after Chase and Citizens Bank both of which provide over a year of history both on their website and tablet app

WebsiteArchive (mos)

iPad Archive (mos)

Bank of America 12 3

Chase 24 24

Citizens 18 18

US Bank 3 3

Wells Fargo 18 3

Account History Archives

Citizens Bankrsquos Calendar Interface Frustrates Users

24

FIN

DIN

GS

Like most firms Citizens offers a calendar tool in several areas of the website including the transaction history interface allowing users to select dates for future transactions or set a timeframe for viewing account history Unfortunately there are two aspects of the toolrsquos design that caused problems for users

When the tool first launches the current date is highlighted in green As users select a different date the number is updated in the date entry field at the bottom of the interface but the current date remains highlighted within the calendar Users expect a visual cue to verify that their selection has been successfully entered into the interface As a result many participants clicked on the appropriate date several times before noticing it had appeared in the date entry field

After selecting a date users are presented with two options at the bottom of the calendar interface ndash Close and Insert With the correct date appearing in the date entry field many users believed they had successfully inputted the date into the main interface they were working in and chose Close to shut the calendar window Unfortunately users must click Insert first and then Close to exit the window which again goes against the usersrsquo expectations Making matters worse the Insert button offers no visual cue to suggest it has been clicked meaning the user has to verify their selection has been added to the main interface before closing the window

Although these flaws didnrsquot have a major impact on participantsrsquo ability to complete the task it did frustrate users as the tool didnrsquot function the way they anticipated Citizens Bank Calendar Interface

Most Banks Fail to Provide Filter and Sorting Features on Tablet Apps

25

FIN

DIN

GS

Itrsquos essential that banks provide a deep archive of account information but itrsquos equally important for banking customers to have access to the tools they need to sift through their account history and locate information regarding specific transactions On the Web banks typically offer a combination of sort filter and search tools that enable users to quickly locate the account information theyrsquore looking for The best interfaces like those provided by Bank of America and Wells Fargo feature a combination of all three

Although these tools may be commonplace on bank websites they are far from prevalent within mobile banking apps In fact of the banks included in this study Citizens is the only firm that provides a filter tool within its apprsquos transaction history interface the firmrsquos Date Range button located in the top right corner of the app allows users to view transactions for a specified date range

Therersquos no doubt that the date range filter made it easier for our study participants to complete the third iPad task on the Citizens app That said Citizens along with all of the other firms we tested in this study does not offer sort or search functionality that would enable users to reorganize columns of data or isolate particular transaction types As a result participants were forced to scroll through their entire transaction history in order to complete the task an effort that proved especially frustrating for the individuals testing the apps that donrsquot feature a date range filter

In the short term it could be argued that this type of functionality might not be necessary as most firms only provide a limited amount of history through their app interface However as banks look to expand their history archive they should also look to incorporate sorting and filter capabilities to improve the user experience

Citizens Bankrsquos Mobile App Date Range Filter

26

FIN

DIN

GS

Access to Date Range Filter from Account Detail Screen Date Range Filter Calendar Interface

Date Range Filter Interface

Participants Struggled to Find Wells Fargorsquos ATM Locator

27

FIN

DIN

GS

For the fourth task in the website portion of the test sessions participants were directed to locate the bankrsquos closest ATM While we didnrsquot expect users to have much difficulty accomplishing such a basic task we were very interested to see what would happen when participants were directed away from the private site to the public site where most banks house their branch and ATM locator tools Similarly we were interested to see what would happen when the participants were faced with the following task ndash setting an account alert ndashwhich would require they navigate back to the private site Although moving between the two sites caused minor problems for some users overall navigation between the two sites had very little impact on participantsrsquo ability to complete the task

That said we were surprised when the individuals testing the Wells Fargo site had severe difficulty finding the firmrsquos ATM locator tool Unlike most banks which typically position links to this feature in a Help or Customer Service area of the site or provide Contact Us or similar links in one of the universal menus Wells Fargo does not provide direct access to a branch or ATM locator tool from the private banking website we use to access our account Instead users had to navigate to the firmrsquos public website on their own While each of the participants eventually completed the task it was only after an exhaustive search through the private site which had a major impact on the time it took users to complete the task

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

180

200

220

240

Task1

Task2

Task3

Task4

Task5

Task6

Task7

Task8

Bank ofAmerica

Chase

Citizens

US Bank

Wells Fargo

Average

Average Task Completion Times

Banks Make it Easy to Locate Nearby ATMs via Apps

28

FIN

DIN

GS

As with the bank websites we tested users were able to locate the nearest ATM via the tablet app with relative ease However the data collected during the sessions highlights some meaningful differences in terms of the comparative usability of the apps particularly in terms of the number of finger taps participants performed while completing the tasks and the total time US Bank users averaged just one tap and slightly over seven seconds to find the nearest ATM thanks to the fact that the firm positions its ATM locator interface in the static right column on the apprsquos homepage By comparison the participants who tested the Bank of America app averaged twelve taps and over 65 seconds to accomplish the same task

US Bankrsquos Sidebar ATM Locator Tool

Bank of America and Chase Offer Similar ATM Locators with Varying Results

29

FIN

DIN

GS

In general Bank of America and Chase take a similar approach to their ATM Locators Both firms offer a ubiquitous link to the tool and the underlying maps have a similar look and feel Yet while the general strategy is similar the firms vary significantly in terms of implementation

Chase provides one of the smoothest ATM location experiences The firm positions a large button with an image of an ATM on the bottom of the home screen making for one of the more easily recognizable options in our sample set As for functionality the app automatically launches a map highlighting the nearest ATMs and branches The interface also features a search field should the user wish to find other locations

Bank of America on the other hand uses a map pin icon positioned along the left column of the app to direct users to its tool While the pin icon is certainly common in location services it was not instantly recognizable to every study participant Bank of Americarsquos tool also suffered from functionality issues Like the Chase interface a map automatically loads when the user taps the map pin icon but instead of displaying nearby locations users were presented with a map of the entire United States Nearly every participant attempted to pinch-to-zoom to their current location and voiced their frustration with the process After zooming in all the way users discovered the map did not show any ATM locations at which point they realized they needed to manually enter their desired location or select the current location icon in the upper-left corner of the app

Chase Bankrsquos ATM Locator Interface

30

FIN

DIN

GS

ATMBranch Locator Button on Homepage ATMBranch Locator Interface

Bank of Americarsquos ATM Locator Interface

31

FIN

DIN

GS

ATMBranch Locator Map Pin Button ATMBranch Locator Map and Search Input Field

System Usability Scale (SUS) Survey Results Suggest Participants Prefer Tablet Experience Over Websites

32

FIN

DIN

GS

After completing the usability tests on both the website and the tablet application participants were asked to complete a standard ten-question System Usability Scale survey This common questionnaire is used to determine an individualrsquos perception of the usability of an interface both in terms of ease-of-use and learnability An average SUS score is 68 Based on our findings participants expressed a strong preference for tablet apps ndash865 average SUS score ndash over their traditional website counterparts ndash 611 average SUS score

Certainly there are a number of factors that affect their impressions not the least of which is the limited capacity of the apps in terms of content and functionality as compared to the wealth of resources available through banking websites Still the data seems to reinforce the concept that users prefer interfaces that are simple straightforward and predictable This suggests banks and other financial institutions should endeavor to employ these concepts in the design of their websites

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Bank ofAmerica

Chase CitizensBank

US Bank WellsFargo

SUS Scores

WebsiteScores

AppScores

68

611

865

Corporate Insight Is Here to Help

33

User testing is a powerful research tool that should be incorporated into your broader design process It can help you

Understand the needs and expectations of your clients

Prioritize improvements to your interface

Discover design flaws

Improve customer satisfaction

Corporate Insight is here to help with all of your user testing needs We can

Collaborate with you to design a study that tests the key features of your website or mobile app andor the platforms offered by your key competitors

Recruit participants that represent your target audience

Provide you with a detailed analysis of test sessions

Assist you with your existing usability efforts by moderating tests you have designed or hosting tests at our facility conveniently located above Grand Central Station in Midtown Manhattan

In addition to our user testing services we also offer Expert Reviews assessing your interface based on established usability heuristics design principles and industry best practices We also perform in-depth Website Audits benchmarking your customer website and mobile platform against peers in terms of design functionality navigation and usability and offering precise actionable recommendations to help you improve your offering

CO

RP

OR

AT

E I

NS

IGH

T I

S H

ER

E T

O H

ELP

Data Collection

13

TE

ST

DE

SIG

N

Although this study was qualitative in nature our findings often refer to quantitative data collected during the course of our research While this data is not statistically significant it often reinforces our qualitative findings while demonstrating the type of data our clients can expect to receive from a user testing engagement with Corporate Insight The information collected for this study includes

Task completion times

Mouse clicks or screen touches

Number of pages visited and navigation trail

Time spent per screen or webpage

Mistakes and failures

User satisfaction ratings

In addition to this quantitative data we also collected and reviewed qualitative data ranging from participant facial expressions to anecdotal comments Following each portion of the test participants were asked to provide feedback including single words or short phrases to describe their experience Although they do not appear in this study these exercises can be used to develop word clouds which provide a powerful visualization of usersrsquo opinions

FINDINGS

14

IN THIS SECTION

bull P2P Payments

bull Account History

bull ATM Locators

bull System Usability Scale Results

Person-to-Person Payment Process Proves Problematic

15

FIN

DIN

GS

Overall study participants were familiar with nearly all of the assigned tasks having performed similar actions within their personal bank accounts in the past The one exception was person-to-person (P2P) payments While several participants commented that they had experience sending money to friends via payment services such as PayPal none had prior experience using a P2P feature on their bankrsquos website Whatrsquos more most subjects were unaware that banks even offered this service

While itrsquos possible that their lack of familiarity with the P2P process may have affected participantsrsquo ability to complete this task we believe poor information architecture played a bigger role in making this the task with the highest failure rate at least in terms of the website portion of the test

0

25

50

75

100

Task1

Task2

Task3

Task4

Task5

Task6

Task7

Task8

0

25

50

75

100

Task1

Task2

Task3

Task4

Task5

Website Task Scores Tablet Task Scores

Categorizing P2P as a Transfer ldquoInside the bankrdquo Confuses Bank of America Participants

16

FIN

DIN

GS

On the Bank of America website the P2P interface is located within the Transfers area of the website Although this is the first place participants thought to look nearly every participant failed to recognize that the bank categorizes these transactions as a transfer ldquoInside the bankrdquo Users immediately navigated to the ldquoOutside the bankrdquo tab and when they couldnrsquot find the interface began browsing the Bill Pay section of the site all despite a message on the Transfer tab landing page that states ldquoNEW Transfer money using an email address or mobile numberrdquo Users failed to notice the message because the location within the ldquoInside the bankrdquo was so counterintuitive they immediately looked to other places on the site

Users failed to notice this message that related to the task at hand

Participants expected the P2P interface to be located in this tab

Bank of Americarsquos Transfers Interface

Location of P2P Interface and Menu Design Causes Problems for US Bank Participants

17

FIN

DIN

GS

In much the same way that the Bank of America participants expected the bankrsquos P2P interface to be housed within the Transfers tab US Bank participantsrsquo first instinct was to look in the Funds Transfer tab Unfortunately the firm places the P2P feature within the Bill Pay tab and although most of the test subjects eventually discovered the interface they commented that they thought the term ldquobill payrdquo suggested paying a company not a person

While the location within the site proved problematic several users who ended up on the Bill Pay page failed to notice the Pay a Person option in the left column and proceeded to navigate back to the main menu Only after viewing all other possible locations did these individuals return to the correct location In one instance the user returned to the page multiple times and failing to see the Pay a Person link elected to end the task without completing the P2P process

Even after navigating to the correct location within the site users had difficulty locating the ldquoPay a Personrdquo link

US Bankrsquos Bill Pay Center

Participants Locate Citizens Bankrsquos P2P Interface with Ease

18

FIN

DIN

GS

Much like US Bank Citizens groups bill pay and P2P payments within the same area of the website However while participants struggled to locate the P2P interface on the US Bank site the individuals who tested the Citizens Bank site had no trouble whatsoever And although itrsquos likely these users might associate P2P more with making a transfer than paying a bill (as their US Bank counterparts commented) Citizensrsquo menu heading ldquoPay Bills amp Peoplerdquo makes it abundantly clear that users can pay both bills and people from this area of the site

While itrsquos important that menu tab names be succinct this example demonstrates the impact that descriptive terminology even in the form of two simple words can have on the user experience

Citizens Bankrsquos Pay Bills amp People Main Menu Tab

P2P Is Easier to Find on Tablet App but Most Firms Donrsquot Allow Users to Add Payees

19

FIN

DIN

GS

Compared to the website participants found it much easier to send money to a friend via the tablet apps Of course this can be attributed in part to the fact that with the exception of US Bank users could not add payees through the app interface (in these instances participants were instructed to send money to a pre-existing contact) Still users found it much less difficult to locate the P2P interface on the app a result of the more streamlined and condensed tablet experience and this greatly impacted their ability to complete this task Without the need to fit this functionality into a large multi-level menu system firms like Chase and Wells Fargo group transfers and payments together limiting any possible confusion between the two categories

Chasersquos Payments amp Transfers Tab Wells Fargorsquos Transfers amp Pay Button

US Bank App Features Add Contact Capability but Suffers from Usability Issues

20

FIN

DIN

GS

US Bank stands out as the only firm that allows clients to add payees from the tablet app While this is certainly a beneficial feature and one that other banks should look to add we did uncover a few related usability issues that caused problems for some users

The first problem occurred when participants tried to access the AddEdit Contact interface While the bank does a good job listing pre-existing contacts users struggled to locate this feature due to the fact that the button is a small ldquo+rdquo sign positioned to the right of the Search Contacts entry field To improve the design US Bank might consider increasing the size of the button and replacing the ldquo+rdquo with a clear label such as ldquoAdd Contactrdquo

The second issue is related to the design of the AddEdit Contact input fields Several participants tapped repeatedly on the headings positioned along the left side of the fields expecting to launch the iPadkeyboard Unfortunately the interface is designed so that users must tap on the right side of the fields in order to input information To fix this issue US Bank should either make the entire entry field clickable or outline the input area to indicate where users should tap

Finally the Method entry field (displayed on the following slide) caused some confusion for participants Many users saw the ldquoEmail or mobile numberrdquo text in the input field and typed out either ldquoemailrdquo or ldquomobile numberrdquo thinking they needed to select a method type rather than provide the contacts address or mobile number We suggest providing an example of an email address or mobile number below the input field

US Bankrsquos Add Contact Button

US Bankrsquos ldquoAdd Contactrdquo Interface and Suggestions to Improve Usability

21

FIN

DIN

GS

US Bankrsquos Current AddEdit Contact Page

Suggestions for US Bankrsquos AddEdit Contact Page

Impact of US Bank ldquoAdd Contactrdquo Usability Issues on Number of Taps per Task

22

FIN

DIN

GS

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

20

Bank of America Chase Citizens Bank US Bank Wells Fargo

Nu

mb

er

of

Tap

s

Average Taps vs Minimum Possible Taps Required to Complete Task

Average Taps perTask

MinimumNumber of TapsRequired toComplete Task

Some Banks Offer Less Account History via Tablet Apps

23

FIN

DIN

GS

At Corporate Insight we regularly field surveys to understand what the most important website features are to financial services customers Time and again respondents rank account information at the top of the list Although itrsquos only one aspect of account information access to a deep account history is one of the key factors that make for an excellent account information experience

While there are still some firms that could stand to increase the amount of account history accessible from their websites ndash US Bank comes to mind ndash most banks we track through our Bank Monitor service now provide at least 12 months of online account history Unfortunately many of these same banks including Bank of America and Wells Fargo fail to provide the same historical archive via their tablet applications as they do online Although these two institutions offer 12 and 18 months of history via their websites respectively their iPad apps are limited to three months of history

To improve the user experience and provide banking customers with the information they find most valuable we suggest banks model themselves after Chase and Citizens Bank both of which provide over a year of history both on their website and tablet app

WebsiteArchive (mos)

iPad Archive (mos)

Bank of America 12 3

Chase 24 24

Citizens 18 18

US Bank 3 3

Wells Fargo 18 3

Account History Archives

Citizens Bankrsquos Calendar Interface Frustrates Users

24

FIN

DIN

GS

Like most firms Citizens offers a calendar tool in several areas of the website including the transaction history interface allowing users to select dates for future transactions or set a timeframe for viewing account history Unfortunately there are two aspects of the toolrsquos design that caused problems for users

When the tool first launches the current date is highlighted in green As users select a different date the number is updated in the date entry field at the bottom of the interface but the current date remains highlighted within the calendar Users expect a visual cue to verify that their selection has been successfully entered into the interface As a result many participants clicked on the appropriate date several times before noticing it had appeared in the date entry field

After selecting a date users are presented with two options at the bottom of the calendar interface ndash Close and Insert With the correct date appearing in the date entry field many users believed they had successfully inputted the date into the main interface they were working in and chose Close to shut the calendar window Unfortunately users must click Insert first and then Close to exit the window which again goes against the usersrsquo expectations Making matters worse the Insert button offers no visual cue to suggest it has been clicked meaning the user has to verify their selection has been added to the main interface before closing the window

Although these flaws didnrsquot have a major impact on participantsrsquo ability to complete the task it did frustrate users as the tool didnrsquot function the way they anticipated Citizens Bank Calendar Interface

Most Banks Fail to Provide Filter and Sorting Features on Tablet Apps

25

FIN

DIN

GS

Itrsquos essential that banks provide a deep archive of account information but itrsquos equally important for banking customers to have access to the tools they need to sift through their account history and locate information regarding specific transactions On the Web banks typically offer a combination of sort filter and search tools that enable users to quickly locate the account information theyrsquore looking for The best interfaces like those provided by Bank of America and Wells Fargo feature a combination of all three

Although these tools may be commonplace on bank websites they are far from prevalent within mobile banking apps In fact of the banks included in this study Citizens is the only firm that provides a filter tool within its apprsquos transaction history interface the firmrsquos Date Range button located in the top right corner of the app allows users to view transactions for a specified date range

Therersquos no doubt that the date range filter made it easier for our study participants to complete the third iPad task on the Citizens app That said Citizens along with all of the other firms we tested in this study does not offer sort or search functionality that would enable users to reorganize columns of data or isolate particular transaction types As a result participants were forced to scroll through their entire transaction history in order to complete the task an effort that proved especially frustrating for the individuals testing the apps that donrsquot feature a date range filter

In the short term it could be argued that this type of functionality might not be necessary as most firms only provide a limited amount of history through their app interface However as banks look to expand their history archive they should also look to incorporate sorting and filter capabilities to improve the user experience

Citizens Bankrsquos Mobile App Date Range Filter

26

FIN

DIN

GS

Access to Date Range Filter from Account Detail Screen Date Range Filter Calendar Interface

Date Range Filter Interface

Participants Struggled to Find Wells Fargorsquos ATM Locator

27

FIN

DIN

GS

For the fourth task in the website portion of the test sessions participants were directed to locate the bankrsquos closest ATM While we didnrsquot expect users to have much difficulty accomplishing such a basic task we were very interested to see what would happen when participants were directed away from the private site to the public site where most banks house their branch and ATM locator tools Similarly we were interested to see what would happen when the participants were faced with the following task ndash setting an account alert ndashwhich would require they navigate back to the private site Although moving between the two sites caused minor problems for some users overall navigation between the two sites had very little impact on participantsrsquo ability to complete the task

That said we were surprised when the individuals testing the Wells Fargo site had severe difficulty finding the firmrsquos ATM locator tool Unlike most banks which typically position links to this feature in a Help or Customer Service area of the site or provide Contact Us or similar links in one of the universal menus Wells Fargo does not provide direct access to a branch or ATM locator tool from the private banking website we use to access our account Instead users had to navigate to the firmrsquos public website on their own While each of the participants eventually completed the task it was only after an exhaustive search through the private site which had a major impact on the time it took users to complete the task

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

180

200

220

240

Task1

Task2

Task3

Task4

Task5

Task6

Task7

Task8

Bank ofAmerica

Chase

Citizens

US Bank

Wells Fargo

Average

Average Task Completion Times

Banks Make it Easy to Locate Nearby ATMs via Apps

28

FIN

DIN

GS

As with the bank websites we tested users were able to locate the nearest ATM via the tablet app with relative ease However the data collected during the sessions highlights some meaningful differences in terms of the comparative usability of the apps particularly in terms of the number of finger taps participants performed while completing the tasks and the total time US Bank users averaged just one tap and slightly over seven seconds to find the nearest ATM thanks to the fact that the firm positions its ATM locator interface in the static right column on the apprsquos homepage By comparison the participants who tested the Bank of America app averaged twelve taps and over 65 seconds to accomplish the same task

US Bankrsquos Sidebar ATM Locator Tool

Bank of America and Chase Offer Similar ATM Locators with Varying Results

29

FIN

DIN

GS

In general Bank of America and Chase take a similar approach to their ATM Locators Both firms offer a ubiquitous link to the tool and the underlying maps have a similar look and feel Yet while the general strategy is similar the firms vary significantly in terms of implementation

Chase provides one of the smoothest ATM location experiences The firm positions a large button with an image of an ATM on the bottom of the home screen making for one of the more easily recognizable options in our sample set As for functionality the app automatically launches a map highlighting the nearest ATMs and branches The interface also features a search field should the user wish to find other locations

Bank of America on the other hand uses a map pin icon positioned along the left column of the app to direct users to its tool While the pin icon is certainly common in location services it was not instantly recognizable to every study participant Bank of Americarsquos tool also suffered from functionality issues Like the Chase interface a map automatically loads when the user taps the map pin icon but instead of displaying nearby locations users were presented with a map of the entire United States Nearly every participant attempted to pinch-to-zoom to their current location and voiced their frustration with the process After zooming in all the way users discovered the map did not show any ATM locations at which point they realized they needed to manually enter their desired location or select the current location icon in the upper-left corner of the app

Chase Bankrsquos ATM Locator Interface

30

FIN

DIN

GS

ATMBranch Locator Button on Homepage ATMBranch Locator Interface

Bank of Americarsquos ATM Locator Interface

31

FIN

DIN

GS

ATMBranch Locator Map Pin Button ATMBranch Locator Map and Search Input Field

System Usability Scale (SUS) Survey Results Suggest Participants Prefer Tablet Experience Over Websites

32

FIN

DIN

GS

After completing the usability tests on both the website and the tablet application participants were asked to complete a standard ten-question System Usability Scale survey This common questionnaire is used to determine an individualrsquos perception of the usability of an interface both in terms of ease-of-use and learnability An average SUS score is 68 Based on our findings participants expressed a strong preference for tablet apps ndash865 average SUS score ndash over their traditional website counterparts ndash 611 average SUS score

Certainly there are a number of factors that affect their impressions not the least of which is the limited capacity of the apps in terms of content and functionality as compared to the wealth of resources available through banking websites Still the data seems to reinforce the concept that users prefer interfaces that are simple straightforward and predictable This suggests banks and other financial institutions should endeavor to employ these concepts in the design of their websites

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Bank ofAmerica

Chase CitizensBank

US Bank WellsFargo

SUS Scores

WebsiteScores

AppScores

68

611

865

Corporate Insight Is Here to Help

33

User testing is a powerful research tool that should be incorporated into your broader design process It can help you

Understand the needs and expectations of your clients

Prioritize improvements to your interface

Discover design flaws

Improve customer satisfaction

Corporate Insight is here to help with all of your user testing needs We can

Collaborate with you to design a study that tests the key features of your website or mobile app andor the platforms offered by your key competitors

Recruit participants that represent your target audience

Provide you with a detailed analysis of test sessions

Assist you with your existing usability efforts by moderating tests you have designed or hosting tests at our facility conveniently located above Grand Central Station in Midtown Manhattan

In addition to our user testing services we also offer Expert Reviews assessing your interface based on established usability heuristics design principles and industry best practices We also perform in-depth Website Audits benchmarking your customer website and mobile platform against peers in terms of design functionality navigation and usability and offering precise actionable recommendations to help you improve your offering

CO

RP

OR

AT

E I

NS

IGH

T I

S H

ER

E T

O H

ELP

FINDINGS

14

IN THIS SECTION

bull P2P Payments

bull Account History

bull ATM Locators

bull System Usability Scale Results

Person-to-Person Payment Process Proves Problematic

15

FIN

DIN

GS

Overall study participants were familiar with nearly all of the assigned tasks having performed similar actions within their personal bank accounts in the past The one exception was person-to-person (P2P) payments While several participants commented that they had experience sending money to friends via payment services such as PayPal none had prior experience using a P2P feature on their bankrsquos website Whatrsquos more most subjects were unaware that banks even offered this service

While itrsquos possible that their lack of familiarity with the P2P process may have affected participantsrsquo ability to complete this task we believe poor information architecture played a bigger role in making this the task with the highest failure rate at least in terms of the website portion of the test

0

25

50

75

100

Task1

Task2

Task3

Task4

Task5

Task6

Task7

Task8

0

25

50

75

100

Task1

Task2

Task3

Task4

Task5

Website Task Scores Tablet Task Scores

Categorizing P2P as a Transfer ldquoInside the bankrdquo Confuses Bank of America Participants

16

FIN

DIN

GS

On the Bank of America website the P2P interface is located within the Transfers area of the website Although this is the first place participants thought to look nearly every participant failed to recognize that the bank categorizes these transactions as a transfer ldquoInside the bankrdquo Users immediately navigated to the ldquoOutside the bankrdquo tab and when they couldnrsquot find the interface began browsing the Bill Pay section of the site all despite a message on the Transfer tab landing page that states ldquoNEW Transfer money using an email address or mobile numberrdquo Users failed to notice the message because the location within the ldquoInside the bankrdquo was so counterintuitive they immediately looked to other places on the site

Users failed to notice this message that related to the task at hand

Participants expected the P2P interface to be located in this tab

Bank of Americarsquos Transfers Interface

Location of P2P Interface and Menu Design Causes Problems for US Bank Participants

17

FIN

DIN

GS

In much the same way that the Bank of America participants expected the bankrsquos P2P interface to be housed within the Transfers tab US Bank participantsrsquo first instinct was to look in the Funds Transfer tab Unfortunately the firm places the P2P feature within the Bill Pay tab and although most of the test subjects eventually discovered the interface they commented that they thought the term ldquobill payrdquo suggested paying a company not a person

While the location within the site proved problematic several users who ended up on the Bill Pay page failed to notice the Pay a Person option in the left column and proceeded to navigate back to the main menu Only after viewing all other possible locations did these individuals return to the correct location In one instance the user returned to the page multiple times and failing to see the Pay a Person link elected to end the task without completing the P2P process

Even after navigating to the correct location within the site users had difficulty locating the ldquoPay a Personrdquo link

US Bankrsquos Bill Pay Center

Participants Locate Citizens Bankrsquos P2P Interface with Ease

18

FIN

DIN

GS

Much like US Bank Citizens groups bill pay and P2P payments within the same area of the website However while participants struggled to locate the P2P interface on the US Bank site the individuals who tested the Citizens Bank site had no trouble whatsoever And although itrsquos likely these users might associate P2P more with making a transfer than paying a bill (as their US Bank counterparts commented) Citizensrsquo menu heading ldquoPay Bills amp Peoplerdquo makes it abundantly clear that users can pay both bills and people from this area of the site

While itrsquos important that menu tab names be succinct this example demonstrates the impact that descriptive terminology even in the form of two simple words can have on the user experience

Citizens Bankrsquos Pay Bills amp People Main Menu Tab

P2P Is Easier to Find on Tablet App but Most Firms Donrsquot Allow Users to Add Payees

19

FIN

DIN

GS

Compared to the website participants found it much easier to send money to a friend via the tablet apps Of course this can be attributed in part to the fact that with the exception of US Bank users could not add payees through the app interface (in these instances participants were instructed to send money to a pre-existing contact) Still users found it much less difficult to locate the P2P interface on the app a result of the more streamlined and condensed tablet experience and this greatly impacted their ability to complete this task Without the need to fit this functionality into a large multi-level menu system firms like Chase and Wells Fargo group transfers and payments together limiting any possible confusion between the two categories

Chasersquos Payments amp Transfers Tab Wells Fargorsquos Transfers amp Pay Button

US Bank App Features Add Contact Capability but Suffers from Usability Issues

20

FIN

DIN

GS

US Bank stands out as the only firm that allows clients to add payees from the tablet app While this is certainly a beneficial feature and one that other banks should look to add we did uncover a few related usability issues that caused problems for some users

The first problem occurred when participants tried to access the AddEdit Contact interface While the bank does a good job listing pre-existing contacts users struggled to locate this feature due to the fact that the button is a small ldquo+rdquo sign positioned to the right of the Search Contacts entry field To improve the design US Bank might consider increasing the size of the button and replacing the ldquo+rdquo with a clear label such as ldquoAdd Contactrdquo

The second issue is related to the design of the AddEdit Contact input fields Several participants tapped repeatedly on the headings positioned along the left side of the fields expecting to launch the iPadkeyboard Unfortunately the interface is designed so that users must tap on the right side of the fields in order to input information To fix this issue US Bank should either make the entire entry field clickable or outline the input area to indicate where users should tap

Finally the Method entry field (displayed on the following slide) caused some confusion for participants Many users saw the ldquoEmail or mobile numberrdquo text in the input field and typed out either ldquoemailrdquo or ldquomobile numberrdquo thinking they needed to select a method type rather than provide the contacts address or mobile number We suggest providing an example of an email address or mobile number below the input field

US Bankrsquos Add Contact Button

US Bankrsquos ldquoAdd Contactrdquo Interface and Suggestions to Improve Usability

21

FIN

DIN

GS

US Bankrsquos Current AddEdit Contact Page

Suggestions for US Bankrsquos AddEdit Contact Page

Impact of US Bank ldquoAdd Contactrdquo Usability Issues on Number of Taps per Task

22

FIN

DIN

GS

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

20

Bank of America Chase Citizens Bank US Bank Wells Fargo

Nu

mb

er

of

Tap

s

Average Taps vs Minimum Possible Taps Required to Complete Task

Average Taps perTask

MinimumNumber of TapsRequired toComplete Task

Some Banks Offer Less Account History via Tablet Apps

23

FIN

DIN

GS

At Corporate Insight we regularly field surveys to understand what the most important website features are to financial services customers Time and again respondents rank account information at the top of the list Although itrsquos only one aspect of account information access to a deep account history is one of the key factors that make for an excellent account information experience

While there are still some firms that could stand to increase the amount of account history accessible from their websites ndash US Bank comes to mind ndash most banks we track through our Bank Monitor service now provide at least 12 months of online account history Unfortunately many of these same banks including Bank of America and Wells Fargo fail to provide the same historical archive via their tablet applications as they do online Although these two institutions offer 12 and 18 months of history via their websites respectively their iPad apps are limited to three months of history

To improve the user experience and provide banking customers with the information they find most valuable we suggest banks model themselves after Chase and Citizens Bank both of which provide over a year of history both on their website and tablet app

WebsiteArchive (mos)

iPad Archive (mos)

Bank of America 12 3

Chase 24 24

Citizens 18 18

US Bank 3 3

Wells Fargo 18 3

Account History Archives

Citizens Bankrsquos Calendar Interface Frustrates Users

24

FIN

DIN

GS

Like most firms Citizens offers a calendar tool in several areas of the website including the transaction history interface allowing users to select dates for future transactions or set a timeframe for viewing account history Unfortunately there are two aspects of the toolrsquos design that caused problems for users

When the tool first launches the current date is highlighted in green As users select a different date the number is updated in the date entry field at the bottom of the interface but the current date remains highlighted within the calendar Users expect a visual cue to verify that their selection has been successfully entered into the interface As a result many participants clicked on the appropriate date several times before noticing it had appeared in the date entry field

After selecting a date users are presented with two options at the bottom of the calendar interface ndash Close and Insert With the correct date appearing in the date entry field many users believed they had successfully inputted the date into the main interface they were working in and chose Close to shut the calendar window Unfortunately users must click Insert first and then Close to exit the window which again goes against the usersrsquo expectations Making matters worse the Insert button offers no visual cue to suggest it has been clicked meaning the user has to verify their selection has been added to the main interface before closing the window

Although these flaws didnrsquot have a major impact on participantsrsquo ability to complete the task it did frustrate users as the tool didnrsquot function the way they anticipated Citizens Bank Calendar Interface

Most Banks Fail to Provide Filter and Sorting Features on Tablet Apps

25

FIN

DIN

GS

Itrsquos essential that banks provide a deep archive of account information but itrsquos equally important for banking customers to have access to the tools they need to sift through their account history and locate information regarding specific transactions On the Web banks typically offer a combination of sort filter and search tools that enable users to quickly locate the account information theyrsquore looking for The best interfaces like those provided by Bank of America and Wells Fargo feature a combination of all three

Although these tools may be commonplace on bank websites they are far from prevalent within mobile banking apps In fact of the banks included in this study Citizens is the only firm that provides a filter tool within its apprsquos transaction history interface the firmrsquos Date Range button located in the top right corner of the app allows users to view transactions for a specified date range

Therersquos no doubt that the date range filter made it easier for our study participants to complete the third iPad task on the Citizens app That said Citizens along with all of the other firms we tested in this study does not offer sort or search functionality that would enable users to reorganize columns of data or isolate particular transaction types As a result participants were forced to scroll through their entire transaction history in order to complete the task an effort that proved especially frustrating for the individuals testing the apps that donrsquot feature a date range filter

In the short term it could be argued that this type of functionality might not be necessary as most firms only provide a limited amount of history through their app interface However as banks look to expand their history archive they should also look to incorporate sorting and filter capabilities to improve the user experience

Citizens Bankrsquos Mobile App Date Range Filter

26

FIN

DIN

GS

Access to Date Range Filter from Account Detail Screen Date Range Filter Calendar Interface

Date Range Filter Interface

Participants Struggled to Find Wells Fargorsquos ATM Locator

27

FIN

DIN

GS

For the fourth task in the website portion of the test sessions participants were directed to locate the bankrsquos closest ATM While we didnrsquot expect users to have much difficulty accomplishing such a basic task we were very interested to see what would happen when participants were directed away from the private site to the public site where most banks house their branch and ATM locator tools Similarly we were interested to see what would happen when the participants were faced with the following task ndash setting an account alert ndashwhich would require they navigate back to the private site Although moving between the two sites caused minor problems for some users overall navigation between the two sites had very little impact on participantsrsquo ability to complete the task

That said we were surprised when the individuals testing the Wells Fargo site had severe difficulty finding the firmrsquos ATM locator tool Unlike most banks which typically position links to this feature in a Help or Customer Service area of the site or provide Contact Us or similar links in one of the universal menus Wells Fargo does not provide direct access to a branch or ATM locator tool from the private banking website we use to access our account Instead users had to navigate to the firmrsquos public website on their own While each of the participants eventually completed the task it was only after an exhaustive search through the private site which had a major impact on the time it took users to complete the task

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

180

200

220

240

Task1

Task2

Task3

Task4

Task5

Task6

Task7

Task8

Bank ofAmerica

Chase

Citizens

US Bank

Wells Fargo

Average

Average Task Completion Times

Banks Make it Easy to Locate Nearby ATMs via Apps

28

FIN

DIN

GS

As with the bank websites we tested users were able to locate the nearest ATM via the tablet app with relative ease However the data collected during the sessions highlights some meaningful differences in terms of the comparative usability of the apps particularly in terms of the number of finger taps participants performed while completing the tasks and the total time US Bank users averaged just one tap and slightly over seven seconds to find the nearest ATM thanks to the fact that the firm positions its ATM locator interface in the static right column on the apprsquos homepage By comparison the participants who tested the Bank of America app averaged twelve taps and over 65 seconds to accomplish the same task

US Bankrsquos Sidebar ATM Locator Tool

Bank of America and Chase Offer Similar ATM Locators with Varying Results

29

FIN

DIN

GS

In general Bank of America and Chase take a similar approach to their ATM Locators Both firms offer a ubiquitous link to the tool and the underlying maps have a similar look and feel Yet while the general strategy is similar the firms vary significantly in terms of implementation

Chase provides one of the smoothest ATM location experiences The firm positions a large button with an image of an ATM on the bottom of the home screen making for one of the more easily recognizable options in our sample set As for functionality the app automatically launches a map highlighting the nearest ATMs and branches The interface also features a search field should the user wish to find other locations

Bank of America on the other hand uses a map pin icon positioned along the left column of the app to direct users to its tool While the pin icon is certainly common in location services it was not instantly recognizable to every study participant Bank of Americarsquos tool also suffered from functionality issues Like the Chase interface a map automatically loads when the user taps the map pin icon but instead of displaying nearby locations users were presented with a map of the entire United States Nearly every participant attempted to pinch-to-zoom to their current location and voiced their frustration with the process After zooming in all the way users discovered the map did not show any ATM locations at which point they realized they needed to manually enter their desired location or select the current location icon in the upper-left corner of the app

Chase Bankrsquos ATM Locator Interface

30

FIN

DIN

GS

ATMBranch Locator Button on Homepage ATMBranch Locator Interface

Bank of Americarsquos ATM Locator Interface

31

FIN

DIN

GS

ATMBranch Locator Map Pin Button ATMBranch Locator Map and Search Input Field

System Usability Scale (SUS) Survey Results Suggest Participants Prefer Tablet Experience Over Websites

32

FIN

DIN

GS

After completing the usability tests on both the website and the tablet application participants were asked to complete a standard ten-question System Usability Scale survey This common questionnaire is used to determine an individualrsquos perception of the usability of an interface both in terms of ease-of-use and learnability An average SUS score is 68 Based on our findings participants expressed a strong preference for tablet apps ndash865 average SUS score ndash over their traditional website counterparts ndash 611 average SUS score

Certainly there are a number of factors that affect their impressions not the least of which is the limited capacity of the apps in terms of content and functionality as compared to the wealth of resources available through banking websites Still the data seems to reinforce the concept that users prefer interfaces that are simple straightforward and predictable This suggests banks and other financial institutions should endeavor to employ these concepts in the design of their websites

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Bank ofAmerica

Chase CitizensBank

US Bank WellsFargo

SUS Scores

WebsiteScores

AppScores

68

611

865

Corporate Insight Is Here to Help

33

User testing is a powerful research tool that should be incorporated into your broader design process It can help you

Understand the needs and expectations of your clients

Prioritize improvements to your interface

Discover design flaws

Improve customer satisfaction

Corporate Insight is here to help with all of your user testing needs We can

Collaborate with you to design a study that tests the key features of your website or mobile app andor the platforms offered by your key competitors

Recruit participants that represent your target audience

Provide you with a detailed analysis of test sessions

Assist you with your existing usability efforts by moderating tests you have designed or hosting tests at our facility conveniently located above Grand Central Station in Midtown Manhattan

In addition to our user testing services we also offer Expert Reviews assessing your interface based on established usability heuristics design principles and industry best practices We also perform in-depth Website Audits benchmarking your customer website and mobile platform against peers in terms of design functionality navigation and usability and offering precise actionable recommendations to help you improve your offering

CO

RP

OR

AT

E I

NS

IGH

T I

S H

ER

E T

O H

ELP

Person-to-Person Payment Process Proves Problematic

15

FIN

DIN

GS

Overall study participants were familiar with nearly all of the assigned tasks having performed similar actions within their personal bank accounts in the past The one exception was person-to-person (P2P) payments While several participants commented that they had experience sending money to friends via payment services such as PayPal none had prior experience using a P2P feature on their bankrsquos website Whatrsquos more most subjects were unaware that banks even offered this service

While itrsquos possible that their lack of familiarity with the P2P process may have affected participantsrsquo ability to complete this task we believe poor information architecture played a bigger role in making this the task with the highest failure rate at least in terms of the website portion of the test

0

25

50

75

100

Task1

Task2

Task3

Task4

Task5

Task6

Task7

Task8

0

25

50

75

100

Task1

Task2

Task3

Task4

Task5

Website Task Scores Tablet Task Scores

Categorizing P2P as a Transfer ldquoInside the bankrdquo Confuses Bank of America Participants

16

FIN

DIN

GS

On the Bank of America website the P2P interface is located within the Transfers area of the website Although this is the first place participants thought to look nearly every participant failed to recognize that the bank categorizes these transactions as a transfer ldquoInside the bankrdquo Users immediately navigated to the ldquoOutside the bankrdquo tab and when they couldnrsquot find the interface began browsing the Bill Pay section of the site all despite a message on the Transfer tab landing page that states ldquoNEW Transfer money using an email address or mobile numberrdquo Users failed to notice the message because the location within the ldquoInside the bankrdquo was so counterintuitive they immediately looked to other places on the site

Users failed to notice this message that related to the task at hand

Participants expected the P2P interface to be located in this tab

Bank of Americarsquos Transfers Interface

Location of P2P Interface and Menu Design Causes Problems for US Bank Participants

17

FIN

DIN

GS

In much the same way that the Bank of America participants expected the bankrsquos P2P interface to be housed within the Transfers tab US Bank participantsrsquo first instinct was to look in the Funds Transfer tab Unfortunately the firm places the P2P feature within the Bill Pay tab and although most of the test subjects eventually discovered the interface they commented that they thought the term ldquobill payrdquo suggested paying a company not a person

While the location within the site proved problematic several users who ended up on the Bill Pay page failed to notice the Pay a Person option in the left column and proceeded to navigate back to the main menu Only after viewing all other possible locations did these individuals return to the correct location In one instance the user returned to the page multiple times and failing to see the Pay a Person link elected to end the task without completing the P2P process

Even after navigating to the correct location within the site users had difficulty locating the ldquoPay a Personrdquo link

US Bankrsquos Bill Pay Center

Participants Locate Citizens Bankrsquos P2P Interface with Ease

18

FIN

DIN

GS

Much like US Bank Citizens groups bill pay and P2P payments within the same area of the website However while participants struggled to locate the P2P interface on the US Bank site the individuals who tested the Citizens Bank site had no trouble whatsoever And although itrsquos likely these users might associate P2P more with making a transfer than paying a bill (as their US Bank counterparts commented) Citizensrsquo menu heading ldquoPay Bills amp Peoplerdquo makes it abundantly clear that users can pay both bills and people from this area of the site

While itrsquos important that menu tab names be succinct this example demonstrates the impact that descriptive terminology even in the form of two simple words can have on the user experience

Citizens Bankrsquos Pay Bills amp People Main Menu Tab

P2P Is Easier to Find on Tablet App but Most Firms Donrsquot Allow Users to Add Payees

19

FIN

DIN

GS

Compared to the website participants found it much easier to send money to a friend via the tablet apps Of course this can be attributed in part to the fact that with the exception of US Bank users could not add payees through the app interface (in these instances participants were instructed to send money to a pre-existing contact) Still users found it much less difficult to locate the P2P interface on the app a result of the more streamlined and condensed tablet experience and this greatly impacted their ability to complete this task Without the need to fit this functionality into a large multi-level menu system firms like Chase and Wells Fargo group transfers and payments together limiting any possible confusion between the two categories

Chasersquos Payments amp Transfers Tab Wells Fargorsquos Transfers amp Pay Button

US Bank App Features Add Contact Capability but Suffers from Usability Issues

20

FIN

DIN

GS

US Bank stands out as the only firm that allows clients to add payees from the tablet app While this is certainly a beneficial feature and one that other banks should look to add we did uncover a few related usability issues that caused problems for some users

The first problem occurred when participants tried to access the AddEdit Contact interface While the bank does a good job listing pre-existing contacts users struggled to locate this feature due to the fact that the button is a small ldquo+rdquo sign positioned to the right of the Search Contacts entry field To improve the design US Bank might consider increasing the size of the button and replacing the ldquo+rdquo with a clear label such as ldquoAdd Contactrdquo

The second issue is related to the design of the AddEdit Contact input fields Several participants tapped repeatedly on the headings positioned along the left side of the fields expecting to launch the iPadkeyboard Unfortunately the interface is designed so that users must tap on the right side of the fields in order to input information To fix this issue US Bank should either make the entire entry field clickable or outline the input area to indicate where users should tap

Finally the Method entry field (displayed on the following slide) caused some confusion for participants Many users saw the ldquoEmail or mobile numberrdquo text in the input field and typed out either ldquoemailrdquo or ldquomobile numberrdquo thinking they needed to select a method type rather than provide the contacts address or mobile number We suggest providing an example of an email address or mobile number below the input field

US Bankrsquos Add Contact Button

US Bankrsquos ldquoAdd Contactrdquo Interface and Suggestions to Improve Usability

21

FIN

DIN

GS

US Bankrsquos Current AddEdit Contact Page

Suggestions for US Bankrsquos AddEdit Contact Page

Impact of US Bank ldquoAdd Contactrdquo Usability Issues on Number of Taps per Task

22

FIN

DIN

GS

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

20

Bank of America Chase Citizens Bank US Bank Wells Fargo

Nu

mb

er

of

Tap

s

Average Taps vs Minimum Possible Taps Required to Complete Task

Average Taps perTask

MinimumNumber of TapsRequired toComplete Task

Some Banks Offer Less Account History via Tablet Apps

23

FIN

DIN

GS

At Corporate Insight we regularly field surveys to understand what the most important website features are to financial services customers Time and again respondents rank account information at the top of the list Although itrsquos only one aspect of account information access to a deep account history is one of the key factors that make for an excellent account information experience

While there are still some firms that could stand to increase the amount of account history accessible from their websites ndash US Bank comes to mind ndash most banks we track through our Bank Monitor service now provide at least 12 months of online account history Unfortunately many of these same banks including Bank of America and Wells Fargo fail to provide the same historical archive via their tablet applications as they do online Although these two institutions offer 12 and 18 months of history via their websites respectively their iPad apps are limited to three months of history

To improve the user experience and provide banking customers with the information they find most valuable we suggest banks model themselves after Chase and Citizens Bank both of which provide over a year of history both on their website and tablet app

WebsiteArchive (mos)

iPad Archive (mos)

Bank of America 12 3

Chase 24 24

Citizens 18 18

US Bank 3 3

Wells Fargo 18 3

Account History Archives

Citizens Bankrsquos Calendar Interface Frustrates Users

24

FIN

DIN

GS

Like most firms Citizens offers a calendar tool in several areas of the website including the transaction history interface allowing users to select dates for future transactions or set a timeframe for viewing account history Unfortunately there are two aspects of the toolrsquos design that caused problems for users

When the tool first launches the current date is highlighted in green As users select a different date the number is updated in the date entry field at the bottom of the interface but the current date remains highlighted within the calendar Users expect a visual cue to verify that their selection has been successfully entered into the interface As a result many participants clicked on the appropriate date several times before noticing it had appeared in the date entry field

After selecting a date users are presented with two options at the bottom of the calendar interface ndash Close and Insert With the correct date appearing in the date entry field many users believed they had successfully inputted the date into the main interface they were working in and chose Close to shut the calendar window Unfortunately users must click Insert first and then Close to exit the window which again goes against the usersrsquo expectations Making matters worse the Insert button offers no visual cue to suggest it has been clicked meaning the user has to verify their selection has been added to the main interface before closing the window

Although these flaws didnrsquot have a major impact on participantsrsquo ability to complete the task it did frustrate users as the tool didnrsquot function the way they anticipated Citizens Bank Calendar Interface

Most Banks Fail to Provide Filter and Sorting Features on Tablet Apps

25

FIN

DIN

GS

Itrsquos essential that banks provide a deep archive of account information but itrsquos equally important for banking customers to have access to the tools they need to sift through their account history and locate information regarding specific transactions On the Web banks typically offer a combination of sort filter and search tools that enable users to quickly locate the account information theyrsquore looking for The best interfaces like those provided by Bank of America and Wells Fargo feature a combination of all three

Although these tools may be commonplace on bank websites they are far from prevalent within mobile banking apps In fact of the banks included in this study Citizens is the only firm that provides a filter tool within its apprsquos transaction history interface the firmrsquos Date Range button located in the top right corner of the app allows users to view transactions for a specified date range

Therersquos no doubt that the date range filter made it easier for our study participants to complete the third iPad task on the Citizens app That said Citizens along with all of the other firms we tested in this study does not offer sort or search functionality that would enable users to reorganize columns of data or isolate particular transaction types As a result participants were forced to scroll through their entire transaction history in order to complete the task an effort that proved especially frustrating for the individuals testing the apps that donrsquot feature a date range filter

In the short term it could be argued that this type of functionality might not be necessary as most firms only provide a limited amount of history through their app interface However as banks look to expand their history archive they should also look to incorporate sorting and filter capabilities to improve the user experience

Citizens Bankrsquos Mobile App Date Range Filter

26

FIN

DIN

GS

Access to Date Range Filter from Account Detail Screen Date Range Filter Calendar Interface

Date Range Filter Interface

Participants Struggled to Find Wells Fargorsquos ATM Locator

27

FIN

DIN

GS

For the fourth task in the website portion of the test sessions participants were directed to locate the bankrsquos closest ATM While we didnrsquot expect users to have much difficulty accomplishing such a basic task we were very interested to see what would happen when participants were directed away from the private site to the public site where most banks house their branch and ATM locator tools Similarly we were interested to see what would happen when the participants were faced with the following task ndash setting an account alert ndashwhich would require they navigate back to the private site Although moving between the two sites caused minor problems for some users overall navigation between the two sites had very little impact on participantsrsquo ability to complete the task

That said we were surprised when the individuals testing the Wells Fargo site had severe difficulty finding the firmrsquos ATM locator tool Unlike most banks which typically position links to this feature in a Help or Customer Service area of the site or provide Contact Us or similar links in one of the universal menus Wells Fargo does not provide direct access to a branch or ATM locator tool from the private banking website we use to access our account Instead users had to navigate to the firmrsquos public website on their own While each of the participants eventually completed the task it was only after an exhaustive search through the private site which had a major impact on the time it took users to complete the task

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

180

200

220

240

Task1

Task2

Task3

Task4

Task5

Task6

Task7

Task8

Bank ofAmerica

Chase

Citizens

US Bank

Wells Fargo

Average

Average Task Completion Times

Banks Make it Easy to Locate Nearby ATMs via Apps

28

FIN

DIN

GS

As with the bank websites we tested users were able to locate the nearest ATM via the tablet app with relative ease However the data collected during the sessions highlights some meaningful differences in terms of the comparative usability of the apps particularly in terms of the number of finger taps participants performed while completing the tasks and the total time US Bank users averaged just one tap and slightly over seven seconds to find the nearest ATM thanks to the fact that the firm positions its ATM locator interface in the static right column on the apprsquos homepage By comparison the participants who tested the Bank of America app averaged twelve taps and over 65 seconds to accomplish the same task

US Bankrsquos Sidebar ATM Locator Tool

Bank of America and Chase Offer Similar ATM Locators with Varying Results

29

FIN

DIN

GS

In general Bank of America and Chase take a similar approach to their ATM Locators Both firms offer a ubiquitous link to the tool and the underlying maps have a similar look and feel Yet while the general strategy is similar the firms vary significantly in terms of implementation

Chase provides one of the smoothest ATM location experiences The firm positions a large button with an image of an ATM on the bottom of the home screen making for one of the more easily recognizable options in our sample set As for functionality the app automatically launches a map highlighting the nearest ATMs and branches The interface also features a search field should the user wish to find other locations

Bank of America on the other hand uses a map pin icon positioned along the left column of the app to direct users to its tool While the pin icon is certainly common in location services it was not instantly recognizable to every study participant Bank of Americarsquos tool also suffered from functionality issues Like the Chase interface a map automatically loads when the user taps the map pin icon but instead of displaying nearby locations users were presented with a map of the entire United States Nearly every participant attempted to pinch-to-zoom to their current location and voiced their frustration with the process After zooming in all the way users discovered the map did not show any ATM locations at which point they realized they needed to manually enter their desired location or select the current location icon in the upper-left corner of the app

Chase Bankrsquos ATM Locator Interface

30

FIN

DIN

GS

ATMBranch Locator Button on Homepage ATMBranch Locator Interface

Bank of Americarsquos ATM Locator Interface

31

FIN

DIN

GS

ATMBranch Locator Map Pin Button ATMBranch Locator Map and Search Input Field

System Usability Scale (SUS) Survey Results Suggest Participants Prefer Tablet Experience Over Websites

32

FIN

DIN

GS

After completing the usability tests on both the website and the tablet application participants were asked to complete a standard ten-question System Usability Scale survey This common questionnaire is used to determine an individualrsquos perception of the usability of an interface both in terms of ease-of-use and learnability An average SUS score is 68 Based on our findings participants expressed a strong preference for tablet apps ndash865 average SUS score ndash over their traditional website counterparts ndash 611 average SUS score

Certainly there are a number of factors that affect their impressions not the least of which is the limited capacity of the apps in terms of content and functionality as compared to the wealth of resources available through banking websites Still the data seems to reinforce the concept that users prefer interfaces that are simple straightforward and predictable This suggests banks and other financial institutions should endeavor to employ these concepts in the design of their websites

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Bank ofAmerica

Chase CitizensBank

US Bank WellsFargo

SUS Scores

WebsiteScores

AppScores

68

611

865

Corporate Insight Is Here to Help

33

User testing is a powerful research tool that should be incorporated into your broader design process It can help you

Understand the needs and expectations of your clients

Prioritize improvements to your interface

Discover design flaws

Improve customer satisfaction

Corporate Insight is here to help with all of your user testing needs We can

Collaborate with you to design a study that tests the key features of your website or mobile app andor the platforms offered by your key competitors

Recruit participants that represent your target audience

Provide you with a detailed analysis of test sessions

Assist you with your existing usability efforts by moderating tests you have designed or hosting tests at our facility conveniently located above Grand Central Station in Midtown Manhattan

In addition to our user testing services we also offer Expert Reviews assessing your interface based on established usability heuristics design principles and industry best practices We also perform in-depth Website Audits benchmarking your customer website and mobile platform against peers in terms of design functionality navigation and usability and offering precise actionable recommendations to help you improve your offering

CO

RP

OR

AT

E I

NS

IGH

T I

S H

ER

E T

O H

ELP

Categorizing P2P as a Transfer ldquoInside the bankrdquo Confuses Bank of America Participants

16

FIN

DIN

GS

On the Bank of America website the P2P interface is located within the Transfers area of the website Although this is the first place participants thought to look nearly every participant failed to recognize that the bank categorizes these transactions as a transfer ldquoInside the bankrdquo Users immediately navigated to the ldquoOutside the bankrdquo tab and when they couldnrsquot find the interface began browsing the Bill Pay section of the site all despite a message on the Transfer tab landing page that states ldquoNEW Transfer money using an email address or mobile numberrdquo Users failed to notice the message because the location within the ldquoInside the bankrdquo was so counterintuitive they immediately looked to other places on the site

Users failed to notice this message that related to the task at hand

Participants expected the P2P interface to be located in this tab

Bank of Americarsquos Transfers Interface

Location of P2P Interface and Menu Design Causes Problems for US Bank Participants

17

FIN

DIN

GS

In much the same way that the Bank of America participants expected the bankrsquos P2P interface to be housed within the Transfers tab US Bank participantsrsquo first instinct was to look in the Funds Transfer tab Unfortunately the firm places the P2P feature within the Bill Pay tab and although most of the test subjects eventually discovered the interface they commented that they thought the term ldquobill payrdquo suggested paying a company not a person

While the location within the site proved problematic several users who ended up on the Bill Pay page failed to notice the Pay a Person option in the left column and proceeded to navigate back to the main menu Only after viewing all other possible locations did these individuals return to the correct location In one instance the user returned to the page multiple times and failing to see the Pay a Person link elected to end the task without completing the P2P process

Even after navigating to the correct location within the site users had difficulty locating the ldquoPay a Personrdquo link

US Bankrsquos Bill Pay Center

Participants Locate Citizens Bankrsquos P2P Interface with Ease

18

FIN

DIN

GS

Much like US Bank Citizens groups bill pay and P2P payments within the same area of the website However while participants struggled to locate the P2P interface on the US Bank site the individuals who tested the Citizens Bank site had no trouble whatsoever And although itrsquos likely these users might associate P2P more with making a transfer than paying a bill (as their US Bank counterparts commented) Citizensrsquo menu heading ldquoPay Bills amp Peoplerdquo makes it abundantly clear that users can pay both bills and people from this area of the site

While itrsquos important that menu tab names be succinct this example demonstrates the impact that descriptive terminology even in the form of two simple words can have on the user experience

Citizens Bankrsquos Pay Bills amp People Main Menu Tab

P2P Is Easier to Find on Tablet App but Most Firms Donrsquot Allow Users to Add Payees

19

FIN

DIN

GS

Compared to the website participants found it much easier to send money to a friend via the tablet apps Of course this can be attributed in part to the fact that with the exception of US Bank users could not add payees through the app interface (in these instances participants were instructed to send money to a pre-existing contact) Still users found it much less difficult to locate the P2P interface on the app a result of the more streamlined and condensed tablet experience and this greatly impacted their ability to complete this task Without the need to fit this functionality into a large multi-level menu system firms like Chase and Wells Fargo group transfers and payments together limiting any possible confusion between the two categories

Chasersquos Payments amp Transfers Tab Wells Fargorsquos Transfers amp Pay Button

US Bank App Features Add Contact Capability but Suffers from Usability Issues

20

FIN

DIN

GS

US Bank stands out as the only firm that allows clients to add payees from the tablet app While this is certainly a beneficial feature and one that other banks should look to add we did uncover a few related usability issues that caused problems for some users

The first problem occurred when participants tried to access the AddEdit Contact interface While the bank does a good job listing pre-existing contacts users struggled to locate this feature due to the fact that the button is a small ldquo+rdquo sign positioned to the right of the Search Contacts entry field To improve the design US Bank might consider increasing the size of the button and replacing the ldquo+rdquo with a clear label such as ldquoAdd Contactrdquo

The second issue is related to the design of the AddEdit Contact input fields Several participants tapped repeatedly on the headings positioned along the left side of the fields expecting to launch the iPadkeyboard Unfortunately the interface is designed so that users must tap on the right side of the fields in order to input information To fix this issue US Bank should either make the entire entry field clickable or outline the input area to indicate where users should tap

Finally the Method entry field (displayed on the following slide) caused some confusion for participants Many users saw the ldquoEmail or mobile numberrdquo text in the input field and typed out either ldquoemailrdquo or ldquomobile numberrdquo thinking they needed to select a method type rather than provide the contacts address or mobile number We suggest providing an example of an email address or mobile number below the input field

US Bankrsquos Add Contact Button

US Bankrsquos ldquoAdd Contactrdquo Interface and Suggestions to Improve Usability

21

FIN

DIN

GS

US Bankrsquos Current AddEdit Contact Page

Suggestions for US Bankrsquos AddEdit Contact Page

Impact of US Bank ldquoAdd Contactrdquo Usability Issues on Number of Taps per Task

22

FIN

DIN

GS

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

20

Bank of America Chase Citizens Bank US Bank Wells Fargo

Nu

mb

er

of

Tap

s

Average Taps vs Minimum Possible Taps Required to Complete Task

Average Taps perTask

MinimumNumber of TapsRequired toComplete Task

Some Banks Offer Less Account History via Tablet Apps

23

FIN

DIN

GS

At Corporate Insight we regularly field surveys to understand what the most important website features are to financial services customers Time and again respondents rank account information at the top of the list Although itrsquos only one aspect of account information access to a deep account history is one of the key factors that make for an excellent account information experience

While there are still some firms that could stand to increase the amount of account history accessible from their websites ndash US Bank comes to mind ndash most banks we track through our Bank Monitor service now provide at least 12 months of online account history Unfortunately many of these same banks including Bank of America and Wells Fargo fail to provide the same historical archive via their tablet applications as they do online Although these two institutions offer 12 and 18 months of history via their websites respectively their iPad apps are limited to three months of history

To improve the user experience and provide banking customers with the information they find most valuable we suggest banks model themselves after Chase and Citizens Bank both of which provide over a year of history both on their website and tablet app

WebsiteArchive (mos)

iPad Archive (mos)

Bank of America 12 3

Chase 24 24

Citizens 18 18

US Bank 3 3

Wells Fargo 18 3

Account History Archives

Citizens Bankrsquos Calendar Interface Frustrates Users

24

FIN

DIN

GS

Like most firms Citizens offers a calendar tool in several areas of the website including the transaction history interface allowing users to select dates for future transactions or set a timeframe for viewing account history Unfortunately there are two aspects of the toolrsquos design that caused problems for users

When the tool first launches the current date is highlighted in green As users select a different date the number is updated in the date entry field at the bottom of the interface but the current date remains highlighted within the calendar Users expect a visual cue to verify that their selection has been successfully entered into the interface As a result many participants clicked on the appropriate date several times before noticing it had appeared in the date entry field

After selecting a date users are presented with two options at the bottom of the calendar interface ndash Close and Insert With the correct date appearing in the date entry field many users believed they had successfully inputted the date into the main interface they were working in and chose Close to shut the calendar window Unfortunately users must click Insert first and then Close to exit the window which again goes against the usersrsquo expectations Making matters worse the Insert button offers no visual cue to suggest it has been clicked meaning the user has to verify their selection has been added to the main interface before closing the window

Although these flaws didnrsquot have a major impact on participantsrsquo ability to complete the task it did frustrate users as the tool didnrsquot function the way they anticipated Citizens Bank Calendar Interface

Most Banks Fail to Provide Filter and Sorting Features on Tablet Apps

25

FIN

DIN

GS

Itrsquos essential that banks provide a deep archive of account information but itrsquos equally important for banking customers to have access to the tools they need to sift through their account history and locate information regarding specific transactions On the Web banks typically offer a combination of sort filter and search tools that enable users to quickly locate the account information theyrsquore looking for The best interfaces like those provided by Bank of America and Wells Fargo feature a combination of all three

Although these tools may be commonplace on bank websites they are far from prevalent within mobile banking apps In fact of the banks included in this study Citizens is the only firm that provides a filter tool within its apprsquos transaction history interface the firmrsquos Date Range button located in the top right corner of the app allows users to view transactions for a specified date range

Therersquos no doubt that the date range filter made it easier for our study participants to complete the third iPad task on the Citizens app That said Citizens along with all of the other firms we tested in this study does not offer sort or search functionality that would enable users to reorganize columns of data or isolate particular transaction types As a result participants were forced to scroll through their entire transaction history in order to complete the task an effort that proved especially frustrating for the individuals testing the apps that donrsquot feature a date range filter

In the short term it could be argued that this type of functionality might not be necessary as most firms only provide a limited amount of history through their app interface However as banks look to expand their history archive they should also look to incorporate sorting and filter capabilities to improve the user experience

Citizens Bankrsquos Mobile App Date Range Filter

26

FIN

DIN

GS

Access to Date Range Filter from Account Detail Screen Date Range Filter Calendar Interface

Date Range Filter Interface

Participants Struggled to Find Wells Fargorsquos ATM Locator

27

FIN

DIN

GS

For the fourth task in the website portion of the test sessions participants were directed to locate the bankrsquos closest ATM While we didnrsquot expect users to have much difficulty accomplishing such a basic task we were very interested to see what would happen when participants were directed away from the private site to the public site where most banks house their branch and ATM locator tools Similarly we were interested to see what would happen when the participants were faced with the following task ndash setting an account alert ndashwhich would require they navigate back to the private site Although moving between the two sites caused minor problems for some users overall navigation between the two sites had very little impact on participantsrsquo ability to complete the task

That said we were surprised when the individuals testing the Wells Fargo site had severe difficulty finding the firmrsquos ATM locator tool Unlike most banks which typically position links to this feature in a Help or Customer Service area of the site or provide Contact Us or similar links in one of the universal menus Wells Fargo does not provide direct access to a branch or ATM locator tool from the private banking website we use to access our account Instead users had to navigate to the firmrsquos public website on their own While each of the participants eventually completed the task it was only after an exhaustive search through the private site which had a major impact on the time it took users to complete the task

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

180

200

220

240

Task1

Task2

Task3

Task4

Task5

Task6

Task7

Task8

Bank ofAmerica

Chase

Citizens

US Bank

Wells Fargo

Average

Average Task Completion Times

Banks Make it Easy to Locate Nearby ATMs via Apps

28

FIN

DIN

GS

As with the bank websites we tested users were able to locate the nearest ATM via the tablet app with relative ease However the data collected during the sessions highlights some meaningful differences in terms of the comparative usability of the apps particularly in terms of the number of finger taps participants performed while completing the tasks and the total time US Bank users averaged just one tap and slightly over seven seconds to find the nearest ATM thanks to the fact that the firm positions its ATM locator interface in the static right column on the apprsquos homepage By comparison the participants who tested the Bank of America app averaged twelve taps and over 65 seconds to accomplish the same task

US Bankrsquos Sidebar ATM Locator Tool

Bank of America and Chase Offer Similar ATM Locators with Varying Results

29

FIN

DIN

GS

In general Bank of America and Chase take a similar approach to their ATM Locators Both firms offer a ubiquitous link to the tool and the underlying maps have a similar look and feel Yet while the general strategy is similar the firms vary significantly in terms of implementation

Chase provides one of the smoothest ATM location experiences The firm positions a large button with an image of an ATM on the bottom of the home screen making for one of the more easily recognizable options in our sample set As for functionality the app automatically launches a map highlighting the nearest ATMs and branches The interface also features a search field should the user wish to find other locations

Bank of America on the other hand uses a map pin icon positioned along the left column of the app to direct users to its tool While the pin icon is certainly common in location services it was not instantly recognizable to every study participant Bank of Americarsquos tool also suffered from functionality issues Like the Chase interface a map automatically loads when the user taps the map pin icon but instead of displaying nearby locations users were presented with a map of the entire United States Nearly every participant attempted to pinch-to-zoom to their current location and voiced their frustration with the process After zooming in all the way users discovered the map did not show any ATM locations at which point they realized they needed to manually enter their desired location or select the current location icon in the upper-left corner of the app

Chase Bankrsquos ATM Locator Interface

30

FIN

DIN

GS

ATMBranch Locator Button on Homepage ATMBranch Locator Interface

Bank of Americarsquos ATM Locator Interface

31

FIN

DIN

GS

ATMBranch Locator Map Pin Button ATMBranch Locator Map and Search Input Field

System Usability Scale (SUS) Survey Results Suggest Participants Prefer Tablet Experience Over Websites

32

FIN

DIN

GS

After completing the usability tests on both the website and the tablet application participants were asked to complete a standard ten-question System Usability Scale survey This common questionnaire is used to determine an individualrsquos perception of the usability of an interface both in terms of ease-of-use and learnability An average SUS score is 68 Based on our findings participants expressed a strong preference for tablet apps ndash865 average SUS score ndash over their traditional website counterparts ndash 611 average SUS score

Certainly there are a number of factors that affect their impressions not the least of which is the limited capacity of the apps in terms of content and functionality as compared to the wealth of resources available through banking websites Still the data seems to reinforce the concept that users prefer interfaces that are simple straightforward and predictable This suggests banks and other financial institutions should endeavor to employ these concepts in the design of their websites

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Bank ofAmerica

Chase CitizensBank

US Bank WellsFargo

SUS Scores

WebsiteScores

AppScores

68

611

865

Corporate Insight Is Here to Help

33

User testing is a powerful research tool that should be incorporated into your broader design process It can help you

Understand the needs and expectations of your clients

Prioritize improvements to your interface

Discover design flaws

Improve customer satisfaction

Corporate Insight is here to help with all of your user testing needs We can

Collaborate with you to design a study that tests the key features of your website or mobile app andor the platforms offered by your key competitors

Recruit participants that represent your target audience

Provide you with a detailed analysis of test sessions

Assist you with your existing usability efforts by moderating tests you have designed or hosting tests at our facility conveniently located above Grand Central Station in Midtown Manhattan

In addition to our user testing services we also offer Expert Reviews assessing your interface based on established usability heuristics design principles and industry best practices We also perform in-depth Website Audits benchmarking your customer website and mobile platform against peers in terms of design functionality navigation and usability and offering precise actionable recommendations to help you improve your offering

CO

RP

OR

AT

E I

NS

IGH

T I

S H

ER

E T

O H

ELP

Location of P2P Interface and Menu Design Causes Problems for US Bank Participants

17

FIN

DIN

GS

In much the same way that the Bank of America participants expected the bankrsquos P2P interface to be housed within the Transfers tab US Bank participantsrsquo first instinct was to look in the Funds Transfer tab Unfortunately the firm places the P2P feature within the Bill Pay tab and although most of the test subjects eventually discovered the interface they commented that they thought the term ldquobill payrdquo suggested paying a company not a person

While the location within the site proved problematic several users who ended up on the Bill Pay page failed to notice the Pay a Person option in the left column and proceeded to navigate back to the main menu Only after viewing all other possible locations did these individuals return to the correct location In one instance the user returned to the page multiple times and failing to see the Pay a Person link elected to end the task without completing the P2P process

Even after navigating to the correct location within the site users had difficulty locating the ldquoPay a Personrdquo link

US Bankrsquos Bill Pay Center

Participants Locate Citizens Bankrsquos P2P Interface with Ease

18

FIN

DIN

GS

Much like US Bank Citizens groups bill pay and P2P payments within the same area of the website However while participants struggled to locate the P2P interface on the US Bank site the individuals who tested the Citizens Bank site had no trouble whatsoever And although itrsquos likely these users might associate P2P more with making a transfer than paying a bill (as their US Bank counterparts commented) Citizensrsquo menu heading ldquoPay Bills amp Peoplerdquo makes it abundantly clear that users can pay both bills and people from this area of the site

While itrsquos important that menu tab names be succinct this example demonstrates the impact that descriptive terminology even in the form of two simple words can have on the user experience

Citizens Bankrsquos Pay Bills amp People Main Menu Tab

P2P Is Easier to Find on Tablet App but Most Firms Donrsquot Allow Users to Add Payees

19

FIN

DIN

GS

Compared to the website participants found it much easier to send money to a friend via the tablet apps Of course this can be attributed in part to the fact that with the exception of US Bank users could not add payees through the app interface (in these instances participants were instructed to send money to a pre-existing contact) Still users found it much less difficult to locate the P2P interface on the app a result of the more streamlined and condensed tablet experience and this greatly impacted their ability to complete this task Without the need to fit this functionality into a large multi-level menu system firms like Chase and Wells Fargo group transfers and payments together limiting any possible confusion between the two categories

Chasersquos Payments amp Transfers Tab Wells Fargorsquos Transfers amp Pay Button

US Bank App Features Add Contact Capability but Suffers from Usability Issues

20

FIN

DIN

GS

US Bank stands out as the only firm that allows clients to add payees from the tablet app While this is certainly a beneficial feature and one that other banks should look to add we did uncover a few related usability issues that caused problems for some users

The first problem occurred when participants tried to access the AddEdit Contact interface While the bank does a good job listing pre-existing contacts users struggled to locate this feature due to the fact that the button is a small ldquo+rdquo sign positioned to the right of the Search Contacts entry field To improve the design US Bank might consider increasing the size of the button and replacing the ldquo+rdquo with a clear label such as ldquoAdd Contactrdquo

The second issue is related to the design of the AddEdit Contact input fields Several participants tapped repeatedly on the headings positioned along the left side of the fields expecting to launch the iPadkeyboard Unfortunately the interface is designed so that users must tap on the right side of the fields in order to input information To fix this issue US Bank should either make the entire entry field clickable or outline the input area to indicate where users should tap

Finally the Method entry field (displayed on the following slide) caused some confusion for participants Many users saw the ldquoEmail or mobile numberrdquo text in the input field and typed out either ldquoemailrdquo or ldquomobile numberrdquo thinking they needed to select a method type rather than provide the contacts address or mobile number We suggest providing an example of an email address or mobile number below the input field

US Bankrsquos Add Contact Button

US Bankrsquos ldquoAdd Contactrdquo Interface and Suggestions to Improve Usability

21

FIN

DIN

GS

US Bankrsquos Current AddEdit Contact Page

Suggestions for US Bankrsquos AddEdit Contact Page

Impact of US Bank ldquoAdd Contactrdquo Usability Issues on Number of Taps per Task

22

FIN

DIN

GS

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

20

Bank of America Chase Citizens Bank US Bank Wells Fargo

Nu

mb

er

of

Tap

s

Average Taps vs Minimum Possible Taps Required to Complete Task

Average Taps perTask

MinimumNumber of TapsRequired toComplete Task

Some Banks Offer Less Account History via Tablet Apps

23

FIN

DIN

GS

At Corporate Insight we regularly field surveys to understand what the most important website features are to financial services customers Time and again respondents rank account information at the top of the list Although itrsquos only one aspect of account information access to a deep account history is one of the key factors that make for an excellent account information experience

While there are still some firms that could stand to increase the amount of account history accessible from their websites ndash US Bank comes to mind ndash most banks we track through our Bank Monitor service now provide at least 12 months of online account history Unfortunately many of these same banks including Bank of America and Wells Fargo fail to provide the same historical archive via their tablet applications as they do online Although these two institutions offer 12 and 18 months of history via their websites respectively their iPad apps are limited to three months of history

To improve the user experience and provide banking customers with the information they find most valuable we suggest banks model themselves after Chase and Citizens Bank both of which provide over a year of history both on their website and tablet app

WebsiteArchive (mos)

iPad Archive (mos)

Bank of America 12 3

Chase 24 24

Citizens 18 18

US Bank 3 3

Wells Fargo 18 3

Account History Archives

Citizens Bankrsquos Calendar Interface Frustrates Users

24

FIN

DIN

GS

Like most firms Citizens offers a calendar tool in several areas of the website including the transaction history interface allowing users to select dates for future transactions or set a timeframe for viewing account history Unfortunately there are two aspects of the toolrsquos design that caused problems for users

When the tool first launches the current date is highlighted in green As users select a different date the number is updated in the date entry field at the bottom of the interface but the current date remains highlighted within the calendar Users expect a visual cue to verify that their selection has been successfully entered into the interface As a result many participants clicked on the appropriate date several times before noticing it had appeared in the date entry field

After selecting a date users are presented with two options at the bottom of the calendar interface ndash Close and Insert With the correct date appearing in the date entry field many users believed they had successfully inputted the date into the main interface they were working in and chose Close to shut the calendar window Unfortunately users must click Insert first and then Close to exit the window which again goes against the usersrsquo expectations Making matters worse the Insert button offers no visual cue to suggest it has been clicked meaning the user has to verify their selection has been added to the main interface before closing the window

Although these flaws didnrsquot have a major impact on participantsrsquo ability to complete the task it did frustrate users as the tool didnrsquot function the way they anticipated Citizens Bank Calendar Interface

Most Banks Fail to Provide Filter and Sorting Features on Tablet Apps

25

FIN

DIN

GS

Itrsquos essential that banks provide a deep archive of account information but itrsquos equally important for banking customers to have access to the tools they need to sift through their account history and locate information regarding specific transactions On the Web banks typically offer a combination of sort filter and search tools that enable users to quickly locate the account information theyrsquore looking for The best interfaces like those provided by Bank of America and Wells Fargo feature a combination of all three

Although these tools may be commonplace on bank websites they are far from prevalent within mobile banking apps In fact of the banks included in this study Citizens is the only firm that provides a filter tool within its apprsquos transaction history interface the firmrsquos Date Range button located in the top right corner of the app allows users to view transactions for a specified date range

Therersquos no doubt that the date range filter made it easier for our study participants to complete the third iPad task on the Citizens app That said Citizens along with all of the other firms we tested in this study does not offer sort or search functionality that would enable users to reorganize columns of data or isolate particular transaction types As a result participants were forced to scroll through their entire transaction history in order to complete the task an effort that proved especially frustrating for the individuals testing the apps that donrsquot feature a date range filter

In the short term it could be argued that this type of functionality might not be necessary as most firms only provide a limited amount of history through their app interface However as banks look to expand their history archive they should also look to incorporate sorting and filter capabilities to improve the user experience

Citizens Bankrsquos Mobile App Date Range Filter

26

FIN

DIN

GS

Access to Date Range Filter from Account Detail Screen Date Range Filter Calendar Interface

Date Range Filter Interface

Participants Struggled to Find Wells Fargorsquos ATM Locator

27

FIN

DIN

GS

For the fourth task in the website portion of the test sessions participants were directed to locate the bankrsquos closest ATM While we didnrsquot expect users to have much difficulty accomplishing such a basic task we were very interested to see what would happen when participants were directed away from the private site to the public site where most banks house their branch and ATM locator tools Similarly we were interested to see what would happen when the participants were faced with the following task ndash setting an account alert ndashwhich would require they navigate back to the private site Although moving between the two sites caused minor problems for some users overall navigation between the two sites had very little impact on participantsrsquo ability to complete the task

That said we were surprised when the individuals testing the Wells Fargo site had severe difficulty finding the firmrsquos ATM locator tool Unlike most banks which typically position links to this feature in a Help or Customer Service area of the site or provide Contact Us or similar links in one of the universal menus Wells Fargo does not provide direct access to a branch or ATM locator tool from the private banking website we use to access our account Instead users had to navigate to the firmrsquos public website on their own While each of the participants eventually completed the task it was only after an exhaustive search through the private site which had a major impact on the time it took users to complete the task

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

180

200

220

240

Task1

Task2

Task3

Task4

Task5

Task6

Task7

Task8

Bank ofAmerica

Chase

Citizens

US Bank

Wells Fargo

Average

Average Task Completion Times

Banks Make it Easy to Locate Nearby ATMs via Apps

28

FIN

DIN

GS

As with the bank websites we tested users were able to locate the nearest ATM via the tablet app with relative ease However the data collected during the sessions highlights some meaningful differences in terms of the comparative usability of the apps particularly in terms of the number of finger taps participants performed while completing the tasks and the total time US Bank users averaged just one tap and slightly over seven seconds to find the nearest ATM thanks to the fact that the firm positions its ATM locator interface in the static right column on the apprsquos homepage By comparison the participants who tested the Bank of America app averaged twelve taps and over 65 seconds to accomplish the same task

US Bankrsquos Sidebar ATM Locator Tool

Bank of America and Chase Offer Similar ATM Locators with Varying Results

29

FIN

DIN

GS

In general Bank of America and Chase take a similar approach to their ATM Locators Both firms offer a ubiquitous link to the tool and the underlying maps have a similar look and feel Yet while the general strategy is similar the firms vary significantly in terms of implementation

Chase provides one of the smoothest ATM location experiences The firm positions a large button with an image of an ATM on the bottom of the home screen making for one of the more easily recognizable options in our sample set As for functionality the app automatically launches a map highlighting the nearest ATMs and branches The interface also features a search field should the user wish to find other locations

Bank of America on the other hand uses a map pin icon positioned along the left column of the app to direct users to its tool While the pin icon is certainly common in location services it was not instantly recognizable to every study participant Bank of Americarsquos tool also suffered from functionality issues Like the Chase interface a map automatically loads when the user taps the map pin icon but instead of displaying nearby locations users were presented with a map of the entire United States Nearly every participant attempted to pinch-to-zoom to their current location and voiced their frustration with the process After zooming in all the way users discovered the map did not show any ATM locations at which point they realized they needed to manually enter their desired location or select the current location icon in the upper-left corner of the app

Chase Bankrsquos ATM Locator Interface

30

FIN

DIN

GS

ATMBranch Locator Button on Homepage ATMBranch Locator Interface

Bank of Americarsquos ATM Locator Interface

31

FIN

DIN

GS

ATMBranch Locator Map Pin Button ATMBranch Locator Map and Search Input Field

System Usability Scale (SUS) Survey Results Suggest Participants Prefer Tablet Experience Over Websites

32

FIN

DIN

GS

After completing the usability tests on both the website and the tablet application participants were asked to complete a standard ten-question System Usability Scale survey This common questionnaire is used to determine an individualrsquos perception of the usability of an interface both in terms of ease-of-use and learnability An average SUS score is 68 Based on our findings participants expressed a strong preference for tablet apps ndash865 average SUS score ndash over their traditional website counterparts ndash 611 average SUS score

Certainly there are a number of factors that affect their impressions not the least of which is the limited capacity of the apps in terms of content and functionality as compared to the wealth of resources available through banking websites Still the data seems to reinforce the concept that users prefer interfaces that are simple straightforward and predictable This suggests banks and other financial institutions should endeavor to employ these concepts in the design of their websites

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Bank ofAmerica

Chase CitizensBank

US Bank WellsFargo

SUS Scores

WebsiteScores

AppScores

68

611

865

Corporate Insight Is Here to Help

33

User testing is a powerful research tool that should be incorporated into your broader design process It can help you

Understand the needs and expectations of your clients

Prioritize improvements to your interface

Discover design flaws

Improve customer satisfaction

Corporate Insight is here to help with all of your user testing needs We can

Collaborate with you to design a study that tests the key features of your website or mobile app andor the platforms offered by your key competitors

Recruit participants that represent your target audience

Provide you with a detailed analysis of test sessions

Assist you with your existing usability efforts by moderating tests you have designed or hosting tests at our facility conveniently located above Grand Central Station in Midtown Manhattan

In addition to our user testing services we also offer Expert Reviews assessing your interface based on established usability heuristics design principles and industry best practices We also perform in-depth Website Audits benchmarking your customer website and mobile platform against peers in terms of design functionality navigation and usability and offering precise actionable recommendations to help you improve your offering

CO

RP

OR

AT

E I

NS

IGH

T I

S H

ER

E T

O H

ELP

Participants Locate Citizens Bankrsquos P2P Interface with Ease

18

FIN

DIN

GS

Much like US Bank Citizens groups bill pay and P2P payments within the same area of the website However while participants struggled to locate the P2P interface on the US Bank site the individuals who tested the Citizens Bank site had no trouble whatsoever And although itrsquos likely these users might associate P2P more with making a transfer than paying a bill (as their US Bank counterparts commented) Citizensrsquo menu heading ldquoPay Bills amp Peoplerdquo makes it abundantly clear that users can pay both bills and people from this area of the site

While itrsquos important that menu tab names be succinct this example demonstrates the impact that descriptive terminology even in the form of two simple words can have on the user experience

Citizens Bankrsquos Pay Bills amp People Main Menu Tab

P2P Is Easier to Find on Tablet App but Most Firms Donrsquot Allow Users to Add Payees

19

FIN

DIN

GS

Compared to the website participants found it much easier to send money to a friend via the tablet apps Of course this can be attributed in part to the fact that with the exception of US Bank users could not add payees through the app interface (in these instances participants were instructed to send money to a pre-existing contact) Still users found it much less difficult to locate the P2P interface on the app a result of the more streamlined and condensed tablet experience and this greatly impacted their ability to complete this task Without the need to fit this functionality into a large multi-level menu system firms like Chase and Wells Fargo group transfers and payments together limiting any possible confusion between the two categories

Chasersquos Payments amp Transfers Tab Wells Fargorsquos Transfers amp Pay Button

US Bank App Features Add Contact Capability but Suffers from Usability Issues

20

FIN

DIN

GS

US Bank stands out as the only firm that allows clients to add payees from the tablet app While this is certainly a beneficial feature and one that other banks should look to add we did uncover a few related usability issues that caused problems for some users

The first problem occurred when participants tried to access the AddEdit Contact interface While the bank does a good job listing pre-existing contacts users struggled to locate this feature due to the fact that the button is a small ldquo+rdquo sign positioned to the right of the Search Contacts entry field To improve the design US Bank might consider increasing the size of the button and replacing the ldquo+rdquo with a clear label such as ldquoAdd Contactrdquo

The second issue is related to the design of the AddEdit Contact input fields Several participants tapped repeatedly on the headings positioned along the left side of the fields expecting to launch the iPadkeyboard Unfortunately the interface is designed so that users must tap on the right side of the fields in order to input information To fix this issue US Bank should either make the entire entry field clickable or outline the input area to indicate where users should tap

Finally the Method entry field (displayed on the following slide) caused some confusion for participants Many users saw the ldquoEmail or mobile numberrdquo text in the input field and typed out either ldquoemailrdquo or ldquomobile numberrdquo thinking they needed to select a method type rather than provide the contacts address or mobile number We suggest providing an example of an email address or mobile number below the input field

US Bankrsquos Add Contact Button

US Bankrsquos ldquoAdd Contactrdquo Interface and Suggestions to Improve Usability

21

FIN

DIN

GS

US Bankrsquos Current AddEdit Contact Page

Suggestions for US Bankrsquos AddEdit Contact Page

Impact of US Bank ldquoAdd Contactrdquo Usability Issues on Number of Taps per Task

22

FIN

DIN

GS

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

20

Bank of America Chase Citizens Bank US Bank Wells Fargo

Nu

mb

er

of

Tap

s

Average Taps vs Minimum Possible Taps Required to Complete Task

Average Taps perTask

MinimumNumber of TapsRequired toComplete Task

Some Banks Offer Less Account History via Tablet Apps

23

FIN

DIN

GS

At Corporate Insight we regularly field surveys to understand what the most important website features are to financial services customers Time and again respondents rank account information at the top of the list Although itrsquos only one aspect of account information access to a deep account history is one of the key factors that make for an excellent account information experience

While there are still some firms that could stand to increase the amount of account history accessible from their websites ndash US Bank comes to mind ndash most banks we track through our Bank Monitor service now provide at least 12 months of online account history Unfortunately many of these same banks including Bank of America and Wells Fargo fail to provide the same historical archive via their tablet applications as they do online Although these two institutions offer 12 and 18 months of history via their websites respectively their iPad apps are limited to three months of history

To improve the user experience and provide banking customers with the information they find most valuable we suggest banks model themselves after Chase and Citizens Bank both of which provide over a year of history both on their website and tablet app

WebsiteArchive (mos)

iPad Archive (mos)

Bank of America 12 3

Chase 24 24

Citizens 18 18

US Bank 3 3

Wells Fargo 18 3

Account History Archives

Citizens Bankrsquos Calendar Interface Frustrates Users

24

FIN

DIN

GS

Like most firms Citizens offers a calendar tool in several areas of the website including the transaction history interface allowing users to select dates for future transactions or set a timeframe for viewing account history Unfortunately there are two aspects of the toolrsquos design that caused problems for users

When the tool first launches the current date is highlighted in green As users select a different date the number is updated in the date entry field at the bottom of the interface but the current date remains highlighted within the calendar Users expect a visual cue to verify that their selection has been successfully entered into the interface As a result many participants clicked on the appropriate date several times before noticing it had appeared in the date entry field

After selecting a date users are presented with two options at the bottom of the calendar interface ndash Close and Insert With the correct date appearing in the date entry field many users believed they had successfully inputted the date into the main interface they were working in and chose Close to shut the calendar window Unfortunately users must click Insert first and then Close to exit the window which again goes against the usersrsquo expectations Making matters worse the Insert button offers no visual cue to suggest it has been clicked meaning the user has to verify their selection has been added to the main interface before closing the window

Although these flaws didnrsquot have a major impact on participantsrsquo ability to complete the task it did frustrate users as the tool didnrsquot function the way they anticipated Citizens Bank Calendar Interface

Most Banks Fail to Provide Filter and Sorting Features on Tablet Apps

25

FIN

DIN

GS

Itrsquos essential that banks provide a deep archive of account information but itrsquos equally important for banking customers to have access to the tools they need to sift through their account history and locate information regarding specific transactions On the Web banks typically offer a combination of sort filter and search tools that enable users to quickly locate the account information theyrsquore looking for The best interfaces like those provided by Bank of America and Wells Fargo feature a combination of all three

Although these tools may be commonplace on bank websites they are far from prevalent within mobile banking apps In fact of the banks included in this study Citizens is the only firm that provides a filter tool within its apprsquos transaction history interface the firmrsquos Date Range button located in the top right corner of the app allows users to view transactions for a specified date range

Therersquos no doubt that the date range filter made it easier for our study participants to complete the third iPad task on the Citizens app That said Citizens along with all of the other firms we tested in this study does not offer sort or search functionality that would enable users to reorganize columns of data or isolate particular transaction types As a result participants were forced to scroll through their entire transaction history in order to complete the task an effort that proved especially frustrating for the individuals testing the apps that donrsquot feature a date range filter

In the short term it could be argued that this type of functionality might not be necessary as most firms only provide a limited amount of history through their app interface However as banks look to expand their history archive they should also look to incorporate sorting and filter capabilities to improve the user experience

Citizens Bankrsquos Mobile App Date Range Filter

26

FIN

DIN

GS

Access to Date Range Filter from Account Detail Screen Date Range Filter Calendar Interface

Date Range Filter Interface

Participants Struggled to Find Wells Fargorsquos ATM Locator

27

FIN

DIN

GS

For the fourth task in the website portion of the test sessions participants were directed to locate the bankrsquos closest ATM While we didnrsquot expect users to have much difficulty accomplishing such a basic task we were very interested to see what would happen when participants were directed away from the private site to the public site where most banks house their branch and ATM locator tools Similarly we were interested to see what would happen when the participants were faced with the following task ndash setting an account alert ndashwhich would require they navigate back to the private site Although moving between the two sites caused minor problems for some users overall navigation between the two sites had very little impact on participantsrsquo ability to complete the task

That said we were surprised when the individuals testing the Wells Fargo site had severe difficulty finding the firmrsquos ATM locator tool Unlike most banks which typically position links to this feature in a Help or Customer Service area of the site or provide Contact Us or similar links in one of the universal menus Wells Fargo does not provide direct access to a branch or ATM locator tool from the private banking website we use to access our account Instead users had to navigate to the firmrsquos public website on their own While each of the participants eventually completed the task it was only after an exhaustive search through the private site which had a major impact on the time it took users to complete the task

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

180

200

220

240

Task1

Task2

Task3

Task4

Task5

Task6

Task7

Task8

Bank ofAmerica

Chase

Citizens

US Bank

Wells Fargo

Average

Average Task Completion Times

Banks Make it Easy to Locate Nearby ATMs via Apps

28

FIN

DIN

GS

As with the bank websites we tested users were able to locate the nearest ATM via the tablet app with relative ease However the data collected during the sessions highlights some meaningful differences in terms of the comparative usability of the apps particularly in terms of the number of finger taps participants performed while completing the tasks and the total time US Bank users averaged just one tap and slightly over seven seconds to find the nearest ATM thanks to the fact that the firm positions its ATM locator interface in the static right column on the apprsquos homepage By comparison the participants who tested the Bank of America app averaged twelve taps and over 65 seconds to accomplish the same task

US Bankrsquos Sidebar ATM Locator Tool

Bank of America and Chase Offer Similar ATM Locators with Varying Results

29

FIN

DIN

GS

In general Bank of America and Chase take a similar approach to their ATM Locators Both firms offer a ubiquitous link to the tool and the underlying maps have a similar look and feel Yet while the general strategy is similar the firms vary significantly in terms of implementation

Chase provides one of the smoothest ATM location experiences The firm positions a large button with an image of an ATM on the bottom of the home screen making for one of the more easily recognizable options in our sample set As for functionality the app automatically launches a map highlighting the nearest ATMs and branches The interface also features a search field should the user wish to find other locations

Bank of America on the other hand uses a map pin icon positioned along the left column of the app to direct users to its tool While the pin icon is certainly common in location services it was not instantly recognizable to every study participant Bank of Americarsquos tool also suffered from functionality issues Like the Chase interface a map automatically loads when the user taps the map pin icon but instead of displaying nearby locations users were presented with a map of the entire United States Nearly every participant attempted to pinch-to-zoom to their current location and voiced their frustration with the process After zooming in all the way users discovered the map did not show any ATM locations at which point they realized they needed to manually enter their desired location or select the current location icon in the upper-left corner of the app

Chase Bankrsquos ATM Locator Interface

30

FIN

DIN

GS

ATMBranch Locator Button on Homepage ATMBranch Locator Interface

Bank of Americarsquos ATM Locator Interface

31

FIN

DIN

GS

ATMBranch Locator Map Pin Button ATMBranch Locator Map and Search Input Field

System Usability Scale (SUS) Survey Results Suggest Participants Prefer Tablet Experience Over Websites

32

FIN

DIN

GS

After completing the usability tests on both the website and the tablet application participants were asked to complete a standard ten-question System Usability Scale survey This common questionnaire is used to determine an individualrsquos perception of the usability of an interface both in terms of ease-of-use and learnability An average SUS score is 68 Based on our findings participants expressed a strong preference for tablet apps ndash865 average SUS score ndash over their traditional website counterparts ndash 611 average SUS score

Certainly there are a number of factors that affect their impressions not the least of which is the limited capacity of the apps in terms of content and functionality as compared to the wealth of resources available through banking websites Still the data seems to reinforce the concept that users prefer interfaces that are simple straightforward and predictable This suggests banks and other financial institutions should endeavor to employ these concepts in the design of their websites

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Bank ofAmerica

Chase CitizensBank

US Bank WellsFargo

SUS Scores

WebsiteScores

AppScores

68

611

865

Corporate Insight Is Here to Help

33

User testing is a powerful research tool that should be incorporated into your broader design process It can help you

Understand the needs and expectations of your clients

Prioritize improvements to your interface

Discover design flaws

Improve customer satisfaction

Corporate Insight is here to help with all of your user testing needs We can

Collaborate with you to design a study that tests the key features of your website or mobile app andor the platforms offered by your key competitors

Recruit participants that represent your target audience

Provide you with a detailed analysis of test sessions

Assist you with your existing usability efforts by moderating tests you have designed or hosting tests at our facility conveniently located above Grand Central Station in Midtown Manhattan

In addition to our user testing services we also offer Expert Reviews assessing your interface based on established usability heuristics design principles and industry best practices We also perform in-depth Website Audits benchmarking your customer website and mobile platform against peers in terms of design functionality navigation and usability and offering precise actionable recommendations to help you improve your offering

CO

RP

OR

AT

E I

NS

IGH

T I

S H

ER

E T

O H

ELP

P2P Is Easier to Find on Tablet App but Most Firms Donrsquot Allow Users to Add Payees

19

FIN

DIN

GS

Compared to the website participants found it much easier to send money to a friend via the tablet apps Of course this can be attributed in part to the fact that with the exception of US Bank users could not add payees through the app interface (in these instances participants were instructed to send money to a pre-existing contact) Still users found it much less difficult to locate the P2P interface on the app a result of the more streamlined and condensed tablet experience and this greatly impacted their ability to complete this task Without the need to fit this functionality into a large multi-level menu system firms like Chase and Wells Fargo group transfers and payments together limiting any possible confusion between the two categories

Chasersquos Payments amp Transfers Tab Wells Fargorsquos Transfers amp Pay Button

US Bank App Features Add Contact Capability but Suffers from Usability Issues

20

FIN

DIN

GS

US Bank stands out as the only firm that allows clients to add payees from the tablet app While this is certainly a beneficial feature and one that other banks should look to add we did uncover a few related usability issues that caused problems for some users

The first problem occurred when participants tried to access the AddEdit Contact interface While the bank does a good job listing pre-existing contacts users struggled to locate this feature due to the fact that the button is a small ldquo+rdquo sign positioned to the right of the Search Contacts entry field To improve the design US Bank might consider increasing the size of the button and replacing the ldquo+rdquo with a clear label such as ldquoAdd Contactrdquo

The second issue is related to the design of the AddEdit Contact input fields Several participants tapped repeatedly on the headings positioned along the left side of the fields expecting to launch the iPadkeyboard Unfortunately the interface is designed so that users must tap on the right side of the fields in order to input information To fix this issue US Bank should either make the entire entry field clickable or outline the input area to indicate where users should tap

Finally the Method entry field (displayed on the following slide) caused some confusion for participants Many users saw the ldquoEmail or mobile numberrdquo text in the input field and typed out either ldquoemailrdquo or ldquomobile numberrdquo thinking they needed to select a method type rather than provide the contacts address or mobile number We suggest providing an example of an email address or mobile number below the input field

US Bankrsquos Add Contact Button

US Bankrsquos ldquoAdd Contactrdquo Interface and Suggestions to Improve Usability

21

FIN

DIN

GS

US Bankrsquos Current AddEdit Contact Page

Suggestions for US Bankrsquos AddEdit Contact Page

Impact of US Bank ldquoAdd Contactrdquo Usability Issues on Number of Taps per Task

22

FIN

DIN

GS

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

20

Bank of America Chase Citizens Bank US Bank Wells Fargo

Nu

mb

er

of

Tap

s

Average Taps vs Minimum Possible Taps Required to Complete Task

Average Taps perTask

MinimumNumber of TapsRequired toComplete Task

Some Banks Offer Less Account History via Tablet Apps

23

FIN

DIN

GS

At Corporate Insight we regularly field surveys to understand what the most important website features are to financial services customers Time and again respondents rank account information at the top of the list Although itrsquos only one aspect of account information access to a deep account history is one of the key factors that make for an excellent account information experience

While there are still some firms that could stand to increase the amount of account history accessible from their websites ndash US Bank comes to mind ndash most banks we track through our Bank Monitor service now provide at least 12 months of online account history Unfortunately many of these same banks including Bank of America and Wells Fargo fail to provide the same historical archive via their tablet applications as they do online Although these two institutions offer 12 and 18 months of history via their websites respectively their iPad apps are limited to three months of history

To improve the user experience and provide banking customers with the information they find most valuable we suggest banks model themselves after Chase and Citizens Bank both of which provide over a year of history both on their website and tablet app

WebsiteArchive (mos)

iPad Archive (mos)

Bank of America 12 3

Chase 24 24

Citizens 18 18

US Bank 3 3

Wells Fargo 18 3

Account History Archives

Citizens Bankrsquos Calendar Interface Frustrates Users

24

FIN

DIN

GS

Like most firms Citizens offers a calendar tool in several areas of the website including the transaction history interface allowing users to select dates for future transactions or set a timeframe for viewing account history Unfortunately there are two aspects of the toolrsquos design that caused problems for users

When the tool first launches the current date is highlighted in green As users select a different date the number is updated in the date entry field at the bottom of the interface but the current date remains highlighted within the calendar Users expect a visual cue to verify that their selection has been successfully entered into the interface As a result many participants clicked on the appropriate date several times before noticing it had appeared in the date entry field

After selecting a date users are presented with two options at the bottom of the calendar interface ndash Close and Insert With the correct date appearing in the date entry field many users believed they had successfully inputted the date into the main interface they were working in and chose Close to shut the calendar window Unfortunately users must click Insert first and then Close to exit the window which again goes against the usersrsquo expectations Making matters worse the Insert button offers no visual cue to suggest it has been clicked meaning the user has to verify their selection has been added to the main interface before closing the window

Although these flaws didnrsquot have a major impact on participantsrsquo ability to complete the task it did frustrate users as the tool didnrsquot function the way they anticipated Citizens Bank Calendar Interface

Most Banks Fail to Provide Filter and Sorting Features on Tablet Apps

25

FIN

DIN

GS

Itrsquos essential that banks provide a deep archive of account information but itrsquos equally important for banking customers to have access to the tools they need to sift through their account history and locate information regarding specific transactions On the Web banks typically offer a combination of sort filter and search tools that enable users to quickly locate the account information theyrsquore looking for The best interfaces like those provided by Bank of America and Wells Fargo feature a combination of all three

Although these tools may be commonplace on bank websites they are far from prevalent within mobile banking apps In fact of the banks included in this study Citizens is the only firm that provides a filter tool within its apprsquos transaction history interface the firmrsquos Date Range button located in the top right corner of the app allows users to view transactions for a specified date range

Therersquos no doubt that the date range filter made it easier for our study participants to complete the third iPad task on the Citizens app That said Citizens along with all of the other firms we tested in this study does not offer sort or search functionality that would enable users to reorganize columns of data or isolate particular transaction types As a result participants were forced to scroll through their entire transaction history in order to complete the task an effort that proved especially frustrating for the individuals testing the apps that donrsquot feature a date range filter

In the short term it could be argued that this type of functionality might not be necessary as most firms only provide a limited amount of history through their app interface However as banks look to expand their history archive they should also look to incorporate sorting and filter capabilities to improve the user experience

Citizens Bankrsquos Mobile App Date Range Filter

26

FIN

DIN

GS

Access to Date Range Filter from Account Detail Screen Date Range Filter Calendar Interface

Date Range Filter Interface

Participants Struggled to Find Wells Fargorsquos ATM Locator

27

FIN

DIN

GS

For the fourth task in the website portion of the test sessions participants were directed to locate the bankrsquos closest ATM While we didnrsquot expect users to have much difficulty accomplishing such a basic task we were very interested to see what would happen when participants were directed away from the private site to the public site where most banks house their branch and ATM locator tools Similarly we were interested to see what would happen when the participants were faced with the following task ndash setting an account alert ndashwhich would require they navigate back to the private site Although moving between the two sites caused minor problems for some users overall navigation between the two sites had very little impact on participantsrsquo ability to complete the task

That said we were surprised when the individuals testing the Wells Fargo site had severe difficulty finding the firmrsquos ATM locator tool Unlike most banks which typically position links to this feature in a Help or Customer Service area of the site or provide Contact Us or similar links in one of the universal menus Wells Fargo does not provide direct access to a branch or ATM locator tool from the private banking website we use to access our account Instead users had to navigate to the firmrsquos public website on their own While each of the participants eventually completed the task it was only after an exhaustive search through the private site which had a major impact on the time it took users to complete the task

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

180

200

220

240

Task1

Task2

Task3

Task4

Task5

Task6

Task7

Task8

Bank ofAmerica

Chase

Citizens

US Bank

Wells Fargo

Average

Average Task Completion Times

Banks Make it Easy to Locate Nearby ATMs via Apps

28

FIN

DIN

GS

As with the bank websites we tested users were able to locate the nearest ATM via the tablet app with relative ease However the data collected during the sessions highlights some meaningful differences in terms of the comparative usability of the apps particularly in terms of the number of finger taps participants performed while completing the tasks and the total time US Bank users averaged just one tap and slightly over seven seconds to find the nearest ATM thanks to the fact that the firm positions its ATM locator interface in the static right column on the apprsquos homepage By comparison the participants who tested the Bank of America app averaged twelve taps and over 65 seconds to accomplish the same task

US Bankrsquos Sidebar ATM Locator Tool

Bank of America and Chase Offer Similar ATM Locators with Varying Results

29

FIN

DIN

GS

In general Bank of America and Chase take a similar approach to their ATM Locators Both firms offer a ubiquitous link to the tool and the underlying maps have a similar look and feel Yet while the general strategy is similar the firms vary significantly in terms of implementation

Chase provides one of the smoothest ATM location experiences The firm positions a large button with an image of an ATM on the bottom of the home screen making for one of the more easily recognizable options in our sample set As for functionality the app automatically launches a map highlighting the nearest ATMs and branches The interface also features a search field should the user wish to find other locations

Bank of America on the other hand uses a map pin icon positioned along the left column of the app to direct users to its tool While the pin icon is certainly common in location services it was not instantly recognizable to every study participant Bank of Americarsquos tool also suffered from functionality issues Like the Chase interface a map automatically loads when the user taps the map pin icon but instead of displaying nearby locations users were presented with a map of the entire United States Nearly every participant attempted to pinch-to-zoom to their current location and voiced their frustration with the process After zooming in all the way users discovered the map did not show any ATM locations at which point they realized they needed to manually enter their desired location or select the current location icon in the upper-left corner of the app

Chase Bankrsquos ATM Locator Interface

30

FIN

DIN

GS

ATMBranch Locator Button on Homepage ATMBranch Locator Interface

Bank of Americarsquos ATM Locator Interface

31

FIN

DIN

GS

ATMBranch Locator Map Pin Button ATMBranch Locator Map and Search Input Field

System Usability Scale (SUS) Survey Results Suggest Participants Prefer Tablet Experience Over Websites

32

FIN

DIN

GS

After completing the usability tests on both the website and the tablet application participants were asked to complete a standard ten-question System Usability Scale survey This common questionnaire is used to determine an individualrsquos perception of the usability of an interface both in terms of ease-of-use and learnability An average SUS score is 68 Based on our findings participants expressed a strong preference for tablet apps ndash865 average SUS score ndash over their traditional website counterparts ndash 611 average SUS score

Certainly there are a number of factors that affect their impressions not the least of which is the limited capacity of the apps in terms of content and functionality as compared to the wealth of resources available through banking websites Still the data seems to reinforce the concept that users prefer interfaces that are simple straightforward and predictable This suggests banks and other financial institutions should endeavor to employ these concepts in the design of their websites

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Bank ofAmerica

Chase CitizensBank

US Bank WellsFargo

SUS Scores

WebsiteScores

AppScores

68

611

865

Corporate Insight Is Here to Help

33

User testing is a powerful research tool that should be incorporated into your broader design process It can help you

Understand the needs and expectations of your clients

Prioritize improvements to your interface

Discover design flaws

Improve customer satisfaction

Corporate Insight is here to help with all of your user testing needs We can

Collaborate with you to design a study that tests the key features of your website or mobile app andor the platforms offered by your key competitors

Recruit participants that represent your target audience

Provide you with a detailed analysis of test sessions

Assist you with your existing usability efforts by moderating tests you have designed or hosting tests at our facility conveniently located above Grand Central Station in Midtown Manhattan

In addition to our user testing services we also offer Expert Reviews assessing your interface based on established usability heuristics design principles and industry best practices We also perform in-depth Website Audits benchmarking your customer website and mobile platform against peers in terms of design functionality navigation and usability and offering precise actionable recommendations to help you improve your offering

CO

RP

OR

AT

E I

NS

IGH

T I

S H

ER

E T

O H

ELP

US Bank App Features Add Contact Capability but Suffers from Usability Issues

20

FIN

DIN

GS

US Bank stands out as the only firm that allows clients to add payees from the tablet app While this is certainly a beneficial feature and one that other banks should look to add we did uncover a few related usability issues that caused problems for some users

The first problem occurred when participants tried to access the AddEdit Contact interface While the bank does a good job listing pre-existing contacts users struggled to locate this feature due to the fact that the button is a small ldquo+rdquo sign positioned to the right of the Search Contacts entry field To improve the design US Bank might consider increasing the size of the button and replacing the ldquo+rdquo with a clear label such as ldquoAdd Contactrdquo

The second issue is related to the design of the AddEdit Contact input fields Several participants tapped repeatedly on the headings positioned along the left side of the fields expecting to launch the iPadkeyboard Unfortunately the interface is designed so that users must tap on the right side of the fields in order to input information To fix this issue US Bank should either make the entire entry field clickable or outline the input area to indicate where users should tap

Finally the Method entry field (displayed on the following slide) caused some confusion for participants Many users saw the ldquoEmail or mobile numberrdquo text in the input field and typed out either ldquoemailrdquo or ldquomobile numberrdquo thinking they needed to select a method type rather than provide the contacts address or mobile number We suggest providing an example of an email address or mobile number below the input field

US Bankrsquos Add Contact Button

US Bankrsquos ldquoAdd Contactrdquo Interface and Suggestions to Improve Usability

21

FIN

DIN

GS

US Bankrsquos Current AddEdit Contact Page

Suggestions for US Bankrsquos AddEdit Contact Page

Impact of US Bank ldquoAdd Contactrdquo Usability Issues on Number of Taps per Task

22

FIN

DIN

GS

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

20

Bank of America Chase Citizens Bank US Bank Wells Fargo

Nu

mb

er

of

Tap

s

Average Taps vs Minimum Possible Taps Required to Complete Task

Average Taps perTask

MinimumNumber of TapsRequired toComplete Task

Some Banks Offer Less Account History via Tablet Apps

23

FIN

DIN

GS

At Corporate Insight we regularly field surveys to understand what the most important website features are to financial services customers Time and again respondents rank account information at the top of the list Although itrsquos only one aspect of account information access to a deep account history is one of the key factors that make for an excellent account information experience

While there are still some firms that could stand to increase the amount of account history accessible from their websites ndash US Bank comes to mind ndash most banks we track through our Bank Monitor service now provide at least 12 months of online account history Unfortunately many of these same banks including Bank of America and Wells Fargo fail to provide the same historical archive via their tablet applications as they do online Although these two institutions offer 12 and 18 months of history via their websites respectively their iPad apps are limited to three months of history

To improve the user experience and provide banking customers with the information they find most valuable we suggest banks model themselves after Chase and Citizens Bank both of which provide over a year of history both on their website and tablet app

WebsiteArchive (mos)

iPad Archive (mos)

Bank of America 12 3

Chase 24 24

Citizens 18 18

US Bank 3 3

Wells Fargo 18 3

Account History Archives

Citizens Bankrsquos Calendar Interface Frustrates Users

24

FIN

DIN

GS

Like most firms Citizens offers a calendar tool in several areas of the website including the transaction history interface allowing users to select dates for future transactions or set a timeframe for viewing account history Unfortunately there are two aspects of the toolrsquos design that caused problems for users

When the tool first launches the current date is highlighted in green As users select a different date the number is updated in the date entry field at the bottom of the interface but the current date remains highlighted within the calendar Users expect a visual cue to verify that their selection has been successfully entered into the interface As a result many participants clicked on the appropriate date several times before noticing it had appeared in the date entry field

After selecting a date users are presented with two options at the bottom of the calendar interface ndash Close and Insert With the correct date appearing in the date entry field many users believed they had successfully inputted the date into the main interface they were working in and chose Close to shut the calendar window Unfortunately users must click Insert first and then Close to exit the window which again goes against the usersrsquo expectations Making matters worse the Insert button offers no visual cue to suggest it has been clicked meaning the user has to verify their selection has been added to the main interface before closing the window

Although these flaws didnrsquot have a major impact on participantsrsquo ability to complete the task it did frustrate users as the tool didnrsquot function the way they anticipated Citizens Bank Calendar Interface

Most Banks Fail to Provide Filter and Sorting Features on Tablet Apps

25

FIN

DIN

GS

Itrsquos essential that banks provide a deep archive of account information but itrsquos equally important for banking customers to have access to the tools they need to sift through their account history and locate information regarding specific transactions On the Web banks typically offer a combination of sort filter and search tools that enable users to quickly locate the account information theyrsquore looking for The best interfaces like those provided by Bank of America and Wells Fargo feature a combination of all three

Although these tools may be commonplace on bank websites they are far from prevalent within mobile banking apps In fact of the banks included in this study Citizens is the only firm that provides a filter tool within its apprsquos transaction history interface the firmrsquos Date Range button located in the top right corner of the app allows users to view transactions for a specified date range

Therersquos no doubt that the date range filter made it easier for our study participants to complete the third iPad task on the Citizens app That said Citizens along with all of the other firms we tested in this study does not offer sort or search functionality that would enable users to reorganize columns of data or isolate particular transaction types As a result participants were forced to scroll through their entire transaction history in order to complete the task an effort that proved especially frustrating for the individuals testing the apps that donrsquot feature a date range filter

In the short term it could be argued that this type of functionality might not be necessary as most firms only provide a limited amount of history through their app interface However as banks look to expand their history archive they should also look to incorporate sorting and filter capabilities to improve the user experience

Citizens Bankrsquos Mobile App Date Range Filter

26

FIN

DIN

GS

Access to Date Range Filter from Account Detail Screen Date Range Filter Calendar Interface

Date Range Filter Interface

Participants Struggled to Find Wells Fargorsquos ATM Locator

27

FIN

DIN

GS

For the fourth task in the website portion of the test sessions participants were directed to locate the bankrsquos closest ATM While we didnrsquot expect users to have much difficulty accomplishing such a basic task we were very interested to see what would happen when participants were directed away from the private site to the public site where most banks house their branch and ATM locator tools Similarly we were interested to see what would happen when the participants were faced with the following task ndash setting an account alert ndashwhich would require they navigate back to the private site Although moving between the two sites caused minor problems for some users overall navigation between the two sites had very little impact on participantsrsquo ability to complete the task

That said we were surprised when the individuals testing the Wells Fargo site had severe difficulty finding the firmrsquos ATM locator tool Unlike most banks which typically position links to this feature in a Help or Customer Service area of the site or provide Contact Us or similar links in one of the universal menus Wells Fargo does not provide direct access to a branch or ATM locator tool from the private banking website we use to access our account Instead users had to navigate to the firmrsquos public website on their own While each of the participants eventually completed the task it was only after an exhaustive search through the private site which had a major impact on the time it took users to complete the task

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

180

200

220

240

Task1

Task2

Task3

Task4

Task5

Task6

Task7

Task8

Bank ofAmerica

Chase

Citizens

US Bank

Wells Fargo

Average

Average Task Completion Times

Banks Make it Easy to Locate Nearby ATMs via Apps

28

FIN

DIN

GS

As with the bank websites we tested users were able to locate the nearest ATM via the tablet app with relative ease However the data collected during the sessions highlights some meaningful differences in terms of the comparative usability of the apps particularly in terms of the number of finger taps participants performed while completing the tasks and the total time US Bank users averaged just one tap and slightly over seven seconds to find the nearest ATM thanks to the fact that the firm positions its ATM locator interface in the static right column on the apprsquos homepage By comparison the participants who tested the Bank of America app averaged twelve taps and over 65 seconds to accomplish the same task

US Bankrsquos Sidebar ATM Locator Tool

Bank of America and Chase Offer Similar ATM Locators with Varying Results

29

FIN

DIN

GS

In general Bank of America and Chase take a similar approach to their ATM Locators Both firms offer a ubiquitous link to the tool and the underlying maps have a similar look and feel Yet while the general strategy is similar the firms vary significantly in terms of implementation

Chase provides one of the smoothest ATM location experiences The firm positions a large button with an image of an ATM on the bottom of the home screen making for one of the more easily recognizable options in our sample set As for functionality the app automatically launches a map highlighting the nearest ATMs and branches The interface also features a search field should the user wish to find other locations

Bank of America on the other hand uses a map pin icon positioned along the left column of the app to direct users to its tool While the pin icon is certainly common in location services it was not instantly recognizable to every study participant Bank of Americarsquos tool also suffered from functionality issues Like the Chase interface a map automatically loads when the user taps the map pin icon but instead of displaying nearby locations users were presented with a map of the entire United States Nearly every participant attempted to pinch-to-zoom to their current location and voiced their frustration with the process After zooming in all the way users discovered the map did not show any ATM locations at which point they realized they needed to manually enter their desired location or select the current location icon in the upper-left corner of the app

Chase Bankrsquos ATM Locator Interface

30

FIN

DIN

GS

ATMBranch Locator Button on Homepage ATMBranch Locator Interface

Bank of Americarsquos ATM Locator Interface

31

FIN

DIN

GS

ATMBranch Locator Map Pin Button ATMBranch Locator Map and Search Input Field

System Usability Scale (SUS) Survey Results Suggest Participants Prefer Tablet Experience Over Websites

32

FIN

DIN

GS

After completing the usability tests on both the website and the tablet application participants were asked to complete a standard ten-question System Usability Scale survey This common questionnaire is used to determine an individualrsquos perception of the usability of an interface both in terms of ease-of-use and learnability An average SUS score is 68 Based on our findings participants expressed a strong preference for tablet apps ndash865 average SUS score ndash over their traditional website counterparts ndash 611 average SUS score

Certainly there are a number of factors that affect their impressions not the least of which is the limited capacity of the apps in terms of content and functionality as compared to the wealth of resources available through banking websites Still the data seems to reinforce the concept that users prefer interfaces that are simple straightforward and predictable This suggests banks and other financial institutions should endeavor to employ these concepts in the design of their websites

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Bank ofAmerica

Chase CitizensBank

US Bank WellsFargo

SUS Scores

WebsiteScores

AppScores

68

611

865

Corporate Insight Is Here to Help

33

User testing is a powerful research tool that should be incorporated into your broader design process It can help you

Understand the needs and expectations of your clients

Prioritize improvements to your interface

Discover design flaws

Improve customer satisfaction

Corporate Insight is here to help with all of your user testing needs We can

Collaborate with you to design a study that tests the key features of your website or mobile app andor the platforms offered by your key competitors

Recruit participants that represent your target audience

Provide you with a detailed analysis of test sessions

Assist you with your existing usability efforts by moderating tests you have designed or hosting tests at our facility conveniently located above Grand Central Station in Midtown Manhattan

In addition to our user testing services we also offer Expert Reviews assessing your interface based on established usability heuristics design principles and industry best practices We also perform in-depth Website Audits benchmarking your customer website and mobile platform against peers in terms of design functionality navigation and usability and offering precise actionable recommendations to help you improve your offering

CO

RP

OR

AT

E I

NS

IGH

T I

S H

ER

E T

O H

ELP

US Bankrsquos ldquoAdd Contactrdquo Interface and Suggestions to Improve Usability

21

FIN

DIN

GS

US Bankrsquos Current AddEdit Contact Page

Suggestions for US Bankrsquos AddEdit Contact Page

Impact of US Bank ldquoAdd Contactrdquo Usability Issues on Number of Taps per Task

22

FIN

DIN

GS

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

20

Bank of America Chase Citizens Bank US Bank Wells Fargo

Nu

mb

er

of

Tap

s

Average Taps vs Minimum Possible Taps Required to Complete Task

Average Taps perTask

MinimumNumber of TapsRequired toComplete Task

Some Banks Offer Less Account History via Tablet Apps

23

FIN

DIN

GS

At Corporate Insight we regularly field surveys to understand what the most important website features are to financial services customers Time and again respondents rank account information at the top of the list Although itrsquos only one aspect of account information access to a deep account history is one of the key factors that make for an excellent account information experience

While there are still some firms that could stand to increase the amount of account history accessible from their websites ndash US Bank comes to mind ndash most banks we track through our Bank Monitor service now provide at least 12 months of online account history Unfortunately many of these same banks including Bank of America and Wells Fargo fail to provide the same historical archive via their tablet applications as they do online Although these two institutions offer 12 and 18 months of history via their websites respectively their iPad apps are limited to three months of history

To improve the user experience and provide banking customers with the information they find most valuable we suggest banks model themselves after Chase and Citizens Bank both of which provide over a year of history both on their website and tablet app

WebsiteArchive (mos)

iPad Archive (mos)

Bank of America 12 3

Chase 24 24

Citizens 18 18

US Bank 3 3

Wells Fargo 18 3

Account History Archives

Citizens Bankrsquos Calendar Interface Frustrates Users

24

FIN

DIN

GS

Like most firms Citizens offers a calendar tool in several areas of the website including the transaction history interface allowing users to select dates for future transactions or set a timeframe for viewing account history Unfortunately there are two aspects of the toolrsquos design that caused problems for users

When the tool first launches the current date is highlighted in green As users select a different date the number is updated in the date entry field at the bottom of the interface but the current date remains highlighted within the calendar Users expect a visual cue to verify that their selection has been successfully entered into the interface As a result many participants clicked on the appropriate date several times before noticing it had appeared in the date entry field

After selecting a date users are presented with two options at the bottom of the calendar interface ndash Close and Insert With the correct date appearing in the date entry field many users believed they had successfully inputted the date into the main interface they were working in and chose Close to shut the calendar window Unfortunately users must click Insert first and then Close to exit the window which again goes against the usersrsquo expectations Making matters worse the Insert button offers no visual cue to suggest it has been clicked meaning the user has to verify their selection has been added to the main interface before closing the window

Although these flaws didnrsquot have a major impact on participantsrsquo ability to complete the task it did frustrate users as the tool didnrsquot function the way they anticipated Citizens Bank Calendar Interface

Most Banks Fail to Provide Filter and Sorting Features on Tablet Apps

25

FIN

DIN

GS

Itrsquos essential that banks provide a deep archive of account information but itrsquos equally important for banking customers to have access to the tools they need to sift through their account history and locate information regarding specific transactions On the Web banks typically offer a combination of sort filter and search tools that enable users to quickly locate the account information theyrsquore looking for The best interfaces like those provided by Bank of America and Wells Fargo feature a combination of all three

Although these tools may be commonplace on bank websites they are far from prevalent within mobile banking apps In fact of the banks included in this study Citizens is the only firm that provides a filter tool within its apprsquos transaction history interface the firmrsquos Date Range button located in the top right corner of the app allows users to view transactions for a specified date range

Therersquos no doubt that the date range filter made it easier for our study participants to complete the third iPad task on the Citizens app That said Citizens along with all of the other firms we tested in this study does not offer sort or search functionality that would enable users to reorganize columns of data or isolate particular transaction types As a result participants were forced to scroll through their entire transaction history in order to complete the task an effort that proved especially frustrating for the individuals testing the apps that donrsquot feature a date range filter

In the short term it could be argued that this type of functionality might not be necessary as most firms only provide a limited amount of history through their app interface However as banks look to expand their history archive they should also look to incorporate sorting and filter capabilities to improve the user experience

Citizens Bankrsquos Mobile App Date Range Filter

26

FIN

DIN

GS

Access to Date Range Filter from Account Detail Screen Date Range Filter Calendar Interface

Date Range Filter Interface

Participants Struggled to Find Wells Fargorsquos ATM Locator

27

FIN

DIN

GS

For the fourth task in the website portion of the test sessions participants were directed to locate the bankrsquos closest ATM While we didnrsquot expect users to have much difficulty accomplishing such a basic task we were very interested to see what would happen when participants were directed away from the private site to the public site where most banks house their branch and ATM locator tools Similarly we were interested to see what would happen when the participants were faced with the following task ndash setting an account alert ndashwhich would require they navigate back to the private site Although moving between the two sites caused minor problems for some users overall navigation between the two sites had very little impact on participantsrsquo ability to complete the task

That said we were surprised when the individuals testing the Wells Fargo site had severe difficulty finding the firmrsquos ATM locator tool Unlike most banks which typically position links to this feature in a Help or Customer Service area of the site or provide Contact Us or similar links in one of the universal menus Wells Fargo does not provide direct access to a branch or ATM locator tool from the private banking website we use to access our account Instead users had to navigate to the firmrsquos public website on their own While each of the participants eventually completed the task it was only after an exhaustive search through the private site which had a major impact on the time it took users to complete the task

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

180

200

220

240

Task1

Task2

Task3

Task4

Task5

Task6

Task7

Task8

Bank ofAmerica

Chase

Citizens

US Bank

Wells Fargo

Average

Average Task Completion Times

Banks Make it Easy to Locate Nearby ATMs via Apps

28

FIN

DIN

GS

As with the bank websites we tested users were able to locate the nearest ATM via the tablet app with relative ease However the data collected during the sessions highlights some meaningful differences in terms of the comparative usability of the apps particularly in terms of the number of finger taps participants performed while completing the tasks and the total time US Bank users averaged just one tap and slightly over seven seconds to find the nearest ATM thanks to the fact that the firm positions its ATM locator interface in the static right column on the apprsquos homepage By comparison the participants who tested the Bank of America app averaged twelve taps and over 65 seconds to accomplish the same task

US Bankrsquos Sidebar ATM Locator Tool

Bank of America and Chase Offer Similar ATM Locators with Varying Results

29

FIN

DIN

GS

In general Bank of America and Chase take a similar approach to their ATM Locators Both firms offer a ubiquitous link to the tool and the underlying maps have a similar look and feel Yet while the general strategy is similar the firms vary significantly in terms of implementation

Chase provides one of the smoothest ATM location experiences The firm positions a large button with an image of an ATM on the bottom of the home screen making for one of the more easily recognizable options in our sample set As for functionality the app automatically launches a map highlighting the nearest ATMs and branches The interface also features a search field should the user wish to find other locations

Bank of America on the other hand uses a map pin icon positioned along the left column of the app to direct users to its tool While the pin icon is certainly common in location services it was not instantly recognizable to every study participant Bank of Americarsquos tool also suffered from functionality issues Like the Chase interface a map automatically loads when the user taps the map pin icon but instead of displaying nearby locations users were presented with a map of the entire United States Nearly every participant attempted to pinch-to-zoom to their current location and voiced their frustration with the process After zooming in all the way users discovered the map did not show any ATM locations at which point they realized they needed to manually enter their desired location or select the current location icon in the upper-left corner of the app

Chase Bankrsquos ATM Locator Interface

30

FIN

DIN

GS

ATMBranch Locator Button on Homepage ATMBranch Locator Interface

Bank of Americarsquos ATM Locator Interface

31

FIN

DIN

GS

ATMBranch Locator Map Pin Button ATMBranch Locator Map and Search Input Field

System Usability Scale (SUS) Survey Results Suggest Participants Prefer Tablet Experience Over Websites

32

FIN

DIN

GS

After completing the usability tests on both the website and the tablet application participants were asked to complete a standard ten-question System Usability Scale survey This common questionnaire is used to determine an individualrsquos perception of the usability of an interface both in terms of ease-of-use and learnability An average SUS score is 68 Based on our findings participants expressed a strong preference for tablet apps ndash865 average SUS score ndash over their traditional website counterparts ndash 611 average SUS score

Certainly there are a number of factors that affect their impressions not the least of which is the limited capacity of the apps in terms of content and functionality as compared to the wealth of resources available through banking websites Still the data seems to reinforce the concept that users prefer interfaces that are simple straightforward and predictable This suggests banks and other financial institutions should endeavor to employ these concepts in the design of their websites

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Bank ofAmerica

Chase CitizensBank

US Bank WellsFargo

SUS Scores

WebsiteScores

AppScores

68

611

865

Corporate Insight Is Here to Help

33

User testing is a powerful research tool that should be incorporated into your broader design process It can help you

Understand the needs and expectations of your clients

Prioritize improvements to your interface

Discover design flaws

Improve customer satisfaction

Corporate Insight is here to help with all of your user testing needs We can

Collaborate with you to design a study that tests the key features of your website or mobile app andor the platforms offered by your key competitors

Recruit participants that represent your target audience

Provide you with a detailed analysis of test sessions

Assist you with your existing usability efforts by moderating tests you have designed or hosting tests at our facility conveniently located above Grand Central Station in Midtown Manhattan

In addition to our user testing services we also offer Expert Reviews assessing your interface based on established usability heuristics design principles and industry best practices We also perform in-depth Website Audits benchmarking your customer website and mobile platform against peers in terms of design functionality navigation and usability and offering precise actionable recommendations to help you improve your offering

CO

RP

OR

AT

E I

NS

IGH

T I

S H

ER

E T

O H

ELP

Impact of US Bank ldquoAdd Contactrdquo Usability Issues on Number of Taps per Task

22

FIN

DIN

GS

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

20

Bank of America Chase Citizens Bank US Bank Wells Fargo

Nu

mb

er

of

Tap

s

Average Taps vs Minimum Possible Taps Required to Complete Task

Average Taps perTask

MinimumNumber of TapsRequired toComplete Task

Some Banks Offer Less Account History via Tablet Apps

23

FIN

DIN

GS

At Corporate Insight we regularly field surveys to understand what the most important website features are to financial services customers Time and again respondents rank account information at the top of the list Although itrsquos only one aspect of account information access to a deep account history is one of the key factors that make for an excellent account information experience

While there are still some firms that could stand to increase the amount of account history accessible from their websites ndash US Bank comes to mind ndash most banks we track through our Bank Monitor service now provide at least 12 months of online account history Unfortunately many of these same banks including Bank of America and Wells Fargo fail to provide the same historical archive via their tablet applications as they do online Although these two institutions offer 12 and 18 months of history via their websites respectively their iPad apps are limited to three months of history

To improve the user experience and provide banking customers with the information they find most valuable we suggest banks model themselves after Chase and Citizens Bank both of which provide over a year of history both on their website and tablet app

WebsiteArchive (mos)

iPad Archive (mos)

Bank of America 12 3

Chase 24 24

Citizens 18 18

US Bank 3 3

Wells Fargo 18 3

Account History Archives

Citizens Bankrsquos Calendar Interface Frustrates Users

24

FIN

DIN

GS

Like most firms Citizens offers a calendar tool in several areas of the website including the transaction history interface allowing users to select dates for future transactions or set a timeframe for viewing account history Unfortunately there are two aspects of the toolrsquos design that caused problems for users

When the tool first launches the current date is highlighted in green As users select a different date the number is updated in the date entry field at the bottom of the interface but the current date remains highlighted within the calendar Users expect a visual cue to verify that their selection has been successfully entered into the interface As a result many participants clicked on the appropriate date several times before noticing it had appeared in the date entry field

After selecting a date users are presented with two options at the bottom of the calendar interface ndash Close and Insert With the correct date appearing in the date entry field many users believed they had successfully inputted the date into the main interface they were working in and chose Close to shut the calendar window Unfortunately users must click Insert first and then Close to exit the window which again goes against the usersrsquo expectations Making matters worse the Insert button offers no visual cue to suggest it has been clicked meaning the user has to verify their selection has been added to the main interface before closing the window

Although these flaws didnrsquot have a major impact on participantsrsquo ability to complete the task it did frustrate users as the tool didnrsquot function the way they anticipated Citizens Bank Calendar Interface

Most Banks Fail to Provide Filter and Sorting Features on Tablet Apps

25

FIN

DIN

GS

Itrsquos essential that banks provide a deep archive of account information but itrsquos equally important for banking customers to have access to the tools they need to sift through their account history and locate information regarding specific transactions On the Web banks typically offer a combination of sort filter and search tools that enable users to quickly locate the account information theyrsquore looking for The best interfaces like those provided by Bank of America and Wells Fargo feature a combination of all three

Although these tools may be commonplace on bank websites they are far from prevalent within mobile banking apps In fact of the banks included in this study Citizens is the only firm that provides a filter tool within its apprsquos transaction history interface the firmrsquos Date Range button located in the top right corner of the app allows users to view transactions for a specified date range

Therersquos no doubt that the date range filter made it easier for our study participants to complete the third iPad task on the Citizens app That said Citizens along with all of the other firms we tested in this study does not offer sort or search functionality that would enable users to reorganize columns of data or isolate particular transaction types As a result participants were forced to scroll through their entire transaction history in order to complete the task an effort that proved especially frustrating for the individuals testing the apps that donrsquot feature a date range filter

In the short term it could be argued that this type of functionality might not be necessary as most firms only provide a limited amount of history through their app interface However as banks look to expand their history archive they should also look to incorporate sorting and filter capabilities to improve the user experience

Citizens Bankrsquos Mobile App Date Range Filter

26

FIN

DIN

GS

Access to Date Range Filter from Account Detail Screen Date Range Filter Calendar Interface

Date Range Filter Interface

Participants Struggled to Find Wells Fargorsquos ATM Locator

27

FIN

DIN

GS

For the fourth task in the website portion of the test sessions participants were directed to locate the bankrsquos closest ATM While we didnrsquot expect users to have much difficulty accomplishing such a basic task we were very interested to see what would happen when participants were directed away from the private site to the public site where most banks house their branch and ATM locator tools Similarly we were interested to see what would happen when the participants were faced with the following task ndash setting an account alert ndashwhich would require they navigate back to the private site Although moving between the two sites caused minor problems for some users overall navigation between the two sites had very little impact on participantsrsquo ability to complete the task

That said we were surprised when the individuals testing the Wells Fargo site had severe difficulty finding the firmrsquos ATM locator tool Unlike most banks which typically position links to this feature in a Help or Customer Service area of the site or provide Contact Us or similar links in one of the universal menus Wells Fargo does not provide direct access to a branch or ATM locator tool from the private banking website we use to access our account Instead users had to navigate to the firmrsquos public website on their own While each of the participants eventually completed the task it was only after an exhaustive search through the private site which had a major impact on the time it took users to complete the task

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

180

200

220

240

Task1

Task2

Task3

Task4

Task5

Task6

Task7

Task8

Bank ofAmerica

Chase

Citizens

US Bank

Wells Fargo

Average

Average Task Completion Times

Banks Make it Easy to Locate Nearby ATMs via Apps

28

FIN

DIN

GS

As with the bank websites we tested users were able to locate the nearest ATM via the tablet app with relative ease However the data collected during the sessions highlights some meaningful differences in terms of the comparative usability of the apps particularly in terms of the number of finger taps participants performed while completing the tasks and the total time US Bank users averaged just one tap and slightly over seven seconds to find the nearest ATM thanks to the fact that the firm positions its ATM locator interface in the static right column on the apprsquos homepage By comparison the participants who tested the Bank of America app averaged twelve taps and over 65 seconds to accomplish the same task

US Bankrsquos Sidebar ATM Locator Tool

Bank of America and Chase Offer Similar ATM Locators with Varying Results

29

FIN

DIN

GS

In general Bank of America and Chase take a similar approach to their ATM Locators Both firms offer a ubiquitous link to the tool and the underlying maps have a similar look and feel Yet while the general strategy is similar the firms vary significantly in terms of implementation

Chase provides one of the smoothest ATM location experiences The firm positions a large button with an image of an ATM on the bottom of the home screen making for one of the more easily recognizable options in our sample set As for functionality the app automatically launches a map highlighting the nearest ATMs and branches The interface also features a search field should the user wish to find other locations

Bank of America on the other hand uses a map pin icon positioned along the left column of the app to direct users to its tool While the pin icon is certainly common in location services it was not instantly recognizable to every study participant Bank of Americarsquos tool also suffered from functionality issues Like the Chase interface a map automatically loads when the user taps the map pin icon but instead of displaying nearby locations users were presented with a map of the entire United States Nearly every participant attempted to pinch-to-zoom to their current location and voiced their frustration with the process After zooming in all the way users discovered the map did not show any ATM locations at which point they realized they needed to manually enter their desired location or select the current location icon in the upper-left corner of the app

Chase Bankrsquos ATM Locator Interface

30

FIN

DIN

GS

ATMBranch Locator Button on Homepage ATMBranch Locator Interface

Bank of Americarsquos ATM Locator Interface

31

FIN

DIN

GS

ATMBranch Locator Map Pin Button ATMBranch Locator Map and Search Input Field

System Usability Scale (SUS) Survey Results Suggest Participants Prefer Tablet Experience Over Websites

32

FIN

DIN

GS

After completing the usability tests on both the website and the tablet application participants were asked to complete a standard ten-question System Usability Scale survey This common questionnaire is used to determine an individualrsquos perception of the usability of an interface both in terms of ease-of-use and learnability An average SUS score is 68 Based on our findings participants expressed a strong preference for tablet apps ndash865 average SUS score ndash over their traditional website counterparts ndash 611 average SUS score

Certainly there are a number of factors that affect their impressions not the least of which is the limited capacity of the apps in terms of content and functionality as compared to the wealth of resources available through banking websites Still the data seems to reinforce the concept that users prefer interfaces that are simple straightforward and predictable This suggests banks and other financial institutions should endeavor to employ these concepts in the design of their websites

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Bank ofAmerica

Chase CitizensBank

US Bank WellsFargo

SUS Scores

WebsiteScores

AppScores

68

611

865

Corporate Insight Is Here to Help

33

User testing is a powerful research tool that should be incorporated into your broader design process It can help you

Understand the needs and expectations of your clients

Prioritize improvements to your interface

Discover design flaws

Improve customer satisfaction

Corporate Insight is here to help with all of your user testing needs We can

Collaborate with you to design a study that tests the key features of your website or mobile app andor the platforms offered by your key competitors

Recruit participants that represent your target audience

Provide you with a detailed analysis of test sessions

Assist you with your existing usability efforts by moderating tests you have designed or hosting tests at our facility conveniently located above Grand Central Station in Midtown Manhattan

In addition to our user testing services we also offer Expert Reviews assessing your interface based on established usability heuristics design principles and industry best practices We also perform in-depth Website Audits benchmarking your customer website and mobile platform against peers in terms of design functionality navigation and usability and offering precise actionable recommendations to help you improve your offering

CO

RP

OR

AT

E I

NS

IGH

T I

S H

ER

E T

O H

ELP

Some Banks Offer Less Account History via Tablet Apps

23

FIN

DIN

GS

At Corporate Insight we regularly field surveys to understand what the most important website features are to financial services customers Time and again respondents rank account information at the top of the list Although itrsquos only one aspect of account information access to a deep account history is one of the key factors that make for an excellent account information experience

While there are still some firms that could stand to increase the amount of account history accessible from their websites ndash US Bank comes to mind ndash most banks we track through our Bank Monitor service now provide at least 12 months of online account history Unfortunately many of these same banks including Bank of America and Wells Fargo fail to provide the same historical archive via their tablet applications as they do online Although these two institutions offer 12 and 18 months of history via their websites respectively their iPad apps are limited to three months of history

To improve the user experience and provide banking customers with the information they find most valuable we suggest banks model themselves after Chase and Citizens Bank both of which provide over a year of history both on their website and tablet app

WebsiteArchive (mos)

iPad Archive (mos)

Bank of America 12 3

Chase 24 24

Citizens 18 18

US Bank 3 3

Wells Fargo 18 3

Account History Archives

Citizens Bankrsquos Calendar Interface Frustrates Users

24

FIN

DIN

GS

Like most firms Citizens offers a calendar tool in several areas of the website including the transaction history interface allowing users to select dates for future transactions or set a timeframe for viewing account history Unfortunately there are two aspects of the toolrsquos design that caused problems for users

When the tool first launches the current date is highlighted in green As users select a different date the number is updated in the date entry field at the bottom of the interface but the current date remains highlighted within the calendar Users expect a visual cue to verify that their selection has been successfully entered into the interface As a result many participants clicked on the appropriate date several times before noticing it had appeared in the date entry field

After selecting a date users are presented with two options at the bottom of the calendar interface ndash Close and Insert With the correct date appearing in the date entry field many users believed they had successfully inputted the date into the main interface they were working in and chose Close to shut the calendar window Unfortunately users must click Insert first and then Close to exit the window which again goes against the usersrsquo expectations Making matters worse the Insert button offers no visual cue to suggest it has been clicked meaning the user has to verify their selection has been added to the main interface before closing the window

Although these flaws didnrsquot have a major impact on participantsrsquo ability to complete the task it did frustrate users as the tool didnrsquot function the way they anticipated Citizens Bank Calendar Interface

Most Banks Fail to Provide Filter and Sorting Features on Tablet Apps

25

FIN

DIN

GS

Itrsquos essential that banks provide a deep archive of account information but itrsquos equally important for banking customers to have access to the tools they need to sift through their account history and locate information regarding specific transactions On the Web banks typically offer a combination of sort filter and search tools that enable users to quickly locate the account information theyrsquore looking for The best interfaces like those provided by Bank of America and Wells Fargo feature a combination of all three

Although these tools may be commonplace on bank websites they are far from prevalent within mobile banking apps In fact of the banks included in this study Citizens is the only firm that provides a filter tool within its apprsquos transaction history interface the firmrsquos Date Range button located in the top right corner of the app allows users to view transactions for a specified date range

Therersquos no doubt that the date range filter made it easier for our study participants to complete the third iPad task on the Citizens app That said Citizens along with all of the other firms we tested in this study does not offer sort or search functionality that would enable users to reorganize columns of data or isolate particular transaction types As a result participants were forced to scroll through their entire transaction history in order to complete the task an effort that proved especially frustrating for the individuals testing the apps that donrsquot feature a date range filter

In the short term it could be argued that this type of functionality might not be necessary as most firms only provide a limited amount of history through their app interface However as banks look to expand their history archive they should also look to incorporate sorting and filter capabilities to improve the user experience

Citizens Bankrsquos Mobile App Date Range Filter

26

FIN

DIN

GS

Access to Date Range Filter from Account Detail Screen Date Range Filter Calendar Interface

Date Range Filter Interface

Participants Struggled to Find Wells Fargorsquos ATM Locator

27

FIN

DIN

GS

For the fourth task in the website portion of the test sessions participants were directed to locate the bankrsquos closest ATM While we didnrsquot expect users to have much difficulty accomplishing such a basic task we were very interested to see what would happen when participants were directed away from the private site to the public site where most banks house their branch and ATM locator tools Similarly we were interested to see what would happen when the participants were faced with the following task ndash setting an account alert ndashwhich would require they navigate back to the private site Although moving between the two sites caused minor problems for some users overall navigation between the two sites had very little impact on participantsrsquo ability to complete the task

That said we were surprised when the individuals testing the Wells Fargo site had severe difficulty finding the firmrsquos ATM locator tool Unlike most banks which typically position links to this feature in a Help or Customer Service area of the site or provide Contact Us or similar links in one of the universal menus Wells Fargo does not provide direct access to a branch or ATM locator tool from the private banking website we use to access our account Instead users had to navigate to the firmrsquos public website on their own While each of the participants eventually completed the task it was only after an exhaustive search through the private site which had a major impact on the time it took users to complete the task

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

180

200

220

240

Task1

Task2

Task3

Task4

Task5

Task6

Task7

Task8

Bank ofAmerica

Chase

Citizens

US Bank

Wells Fargo

Average

Average Task Completion Times

Banks Make it Easy to Locate Nearby ATMs via Apps

28

FIN

DIN

GS

As with the bank websites we tested users were able to locate the nearest ATM via the tablet app with relative ease However the data collected during the sessions highlights some meaningful differences in terms of the comparative usability of the apps particularly in terms of the number of finger taps participants performed while completing the tasks and the total time US Bank users averaged just one tap and slightly over seven seconds to find the nearest ATM thanks to the fact that the firm positions its ATM locator interface in the static right column on the apprsquos homepage By comparison the participants who tested the Bank of America app averaged twelve taps and over 65 seconds to accomplish the same task

US Bankrsquos Sidebar ATM Locator Tool

Bank of America and Chase Offer Similar ATM Locators with Varying Results

29

FIN

DIN

GS

In general Bank of America and Chase take a similar approach to their ATM Locators Both firms offer a ubiquitous link to the tool and the underlying maps have a similar look and feel Yet while the general strategy is similar the firms vary significantly in terms of implementation

Chase provides one of the smoothest ATM location experiences The firm positions a large button with an image of an ATM on the bottom of the home screen making for one of the more easily recognizable options in our sample set As for functionality the app automatically launches a map highlighting the nearest ATMs and branches The interface also features a search field should the user wish to find other locations

Bank of America on the other hand uses a map pin icon positioned along the left column of the app to direct users to its tool While the pin icon is certainly common in location services it was not instantly recognizable to every study participant Bank of Americarsquos tool also suffered from functionality issues Like the Chase interface a map automatically loads when the user taps the map pin icon but instead of displaying nearby locations users were presented with a map of the entire United States Nearly every participant attempted to pinch-to-zoom to their current location and voiced their frustration with the process After zooming in all the way users discovered the map did not show any ATM locations at which point they realized they needed to manually enter their desired location or select the current location icon in the upper-left corner of the app

Chase Bankrsquos ATM Locator Interface

30

FIN

DIN

GS

ATMBranch Locator Button on Homepage ATMBranch Locator Interface

Bank of Americarsquos ATM Locator Interface

31

FIN

DIN

GS

ATMBranch Locator Map Pin Button ATMBranch Locator Map and Search Input Field

System Usability Scale (SUS) Survey Results Suggest Participants Prefer Tablet Experience Over Websites

32

FIN

DIN

GS

After completing the usability tests on both the website and the tablet application participants were asked to complete a standard ten-question System Usability Scale survey This common questionnaire is used to determine an individualrsquos perception of the usability of an interface both in terms of ease-of-use and learnability An average SUS score is 68 Based on our findings participants expressed a strong preference for tablet apps ndash865 average SUS score ndash over their traditional website counterparts ndash 611 average SUS score

Certainly there are a number of factors that affect their impressions not the least of which is the limited capacity of the apps in terms of content and functionality as compared to the wealth of resources available through banking websites Still the data seems to reinforce the concept that users prefer interfaces that are simple straightforward and predictable This suggests banks and other financial institutions should endeavor to employ these concepts in the design of their websites

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Bank ofAmerica

Chase CitizensBank

US Bank WellsFargo

SUS Scores

WebsiteScores

AppScores

68

611

865

Corporate Insight Is Here to Help

33

User testing is a powerful research tool that should be incorporated into your broader design process It can help you

Understand the needs and expectations of your clients

Prioritize improvements to your interface

Discover design flaws

Improve customer satisfaction

Corporate Insight is here to help with all of your user testing needs We can

Collaborate with you to design a study that tests the key features of your website or mobile app andor the platforms offered by your key competitors

Recruit participants that represent your target audience

Provide you with a detailed analysis of test sessions

Assist you with your existing usability efforts by moderating tests you have designed or hosting tests at our facility conveniently located above Grand Central Station in Midtown Manhattan

In addition to our user testing services we also offer Expert Reviews assessing your interface based on established usability heuristics design principles and industry best practices We also perform in-depth Website Audits benchmarking your customer website and mobile platform against peers in terms of design functionality navigation and usability and offering precise actionable recommendations to help you improve your offering

CO

RP

OR

AT

E I

NS

IGH

T I

S H

ER

E T

O H

ELP

Citizens Bankrsquos Calendar Interface Frustrates Users

24

FIN

DIN

GS

Like most firms Citizens offers a calendar tool in several areas of the website including the transaction history interface allowing users to select dates for future transactions or set a timeframe for viewing account history Unfortunately there are two aspects of the toolrsquos design that caused problems for users

When the tool first launches the current date is highlighted in green As users select a different date the number is updated in the date entry field at the bottom of the interface but the current date remains highlighted within the calendar Users expect a visual cue to verify that their selection has been successfully entered into the interface As a result many participants clicked on the appropriate date several times before noticing it had appeared in the date entry field

After selecting a date users are presented with two options at the bottom of the calendar interface ndash Close and Insert With the correct date appearing in the date entry field many users believed they had successfully inputted the date into the main interface they were working in and chose Close to shut the calendar window Unfortunately users must click Insert first and then Close to exit the window which again goes against the usersrsquo expectations Making matters worse the Insert button offers no visual cue to suggest it has been clicked meaning the user has to verify their selection has been added to the main interface before closing the window

Although these flaws didnrsquot have a major impact on participantsrsquo ability to complete the task it did frustrate users as the tool didnrsquot function the way they anticipated Citizens Bank Calendar Interface

Most Banks Fail to Provide Filter and Sorting Features on Tablet Apps

25

FIN

DIN

GS

Itrsquos essential that banks provide a deep archive of account information but itrsquos equally important for banking customers to have access to the tools they need to sift through their account history and locate information regarding specific transactions On the Web banks typically offer a combination of sort filter and search tools that enable users to quickly locate the account information theyrsquore looking for The best interfaces like those provided by Bank of America and Wells Fargo feature a combination of all three

Although these tools may be commonplace on bank websites they are far from prevalent within mobile banking apps In fact of the banks included in this study Citizens is the only firm that provides a filter tool within its apprsquos transaction history interface the firmrsquos Date Range button located in the top right corner of the app allows users to view transactions for a specified date range

Therersquos no doubt that the date range filter made it easier for our study participants to complete the third iPad task on the Citizens app That said Citizens along with all of the other firms we tested in this study does not offer sort or search functionality that would enable users to reorganize columns of data or isolate particular transaction types As a result participants were forced to scroll through their entire transaction history in order to complete the task an effort that proved especially frustrating for the individuals testing the apps that donrsquot feature a date range filter

In the short term it could be argued that this type of functionality might not be necessary as most firms only provide a limited amount of history through their app interface However as banks look to expand their history archive they should also look to incorporate sorting and filter capabilities to improve the user experience

Citizens Bankrsquos Mobile App Date Range Filter

26

FIN

DIN

GS

Access to Date Range Filter from Account Detail Screen Date Range Filter Calendar Interface

Date Range Filter Interface

Participants Struggled to Find Wells Fargorsquos ATM Locator

27

FIN

DIN

GS

For the fourth task in the website portion of the test sessions participants were directed to locate the bankrsquos closest ATM While we didnrsquot expect users to have much difficulty accomplishing such a basic task we were very interested to see what would happen when participants were directed away from the private site to the public site where most banks house their branch and ATM locator tools Similarly we were interested to see what would happen when the participants were faced with the following task ndash setting an account alert ndashwhich would require they navigate back to the private site Although moving between the two sites caused minor problems for some users overall navigation between the two sites had very little impact on participantsrsquo ability to complete the task

That said we were surprised when the individuals testing the Wells Fargo site had severe difficulty finding the firmrsquos ATM locator tool Unlike most banks which typically position links to this feature in a Help or Customer Service area of the site or provide Contact Us or similar links in one of the universal menus Wells Fargo does not provide direct access to a branch or ATM locator tool from the private banking website we use to access our account Instead users had to navigate to the firmrsquos public website on their own While each of the participants eventually completed the task it was only after an exhaustive search through the private site which had a major impact on the time it took users to complete the task

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

180

200

220

240

Task1

Task2

Task3

Task4

Task5

Task6

Task7

Task8

Bank ofAmerica

Chase

Citizens

US Bank

Wells Fargo

Average

Average Task Completion Times

Banks Make it Easy to Locate Nearby ATMs via Apps

28

FIN

DIN

GS

As with the bank websites we tested users were able to locate the nearest ATM via the tablet app with relative ease However the data collected during the sessions highlights some meaningful differences in terms of the comparative usability of the apps particularly in terms of the number of finger taps participants performed while completing the tasks and the total time US Bank users averaged just one tap and slightly over seven seconds to find the nearest ATM thanks to the fact that the firm positions its ATM locator interface in the static right column on the apprsquos homepage By comparison the participants who tested the Bank of America app averaged twelve taps and over 65 seconds to accomplish the same task

US Bankrsquos Sidebar ATM Locator Tool

Bank of America and Chase Offer Similar ATM Locators with Varying Results

29

FIN

DIN

GS

In general Bank of America and Chase take a similar approach to their ATM Locators Both firms offer a ubiquitous link to the tool and the underlying maps have a similar look and feel Yet while the general strategy is similar the firms vary significantly in terms of implementation

Chase provides one of the smoothest ATM location experiences The firm positions a large button with an image of an ATM on the bottom of the home screen making for one of the more easily recognizable options in our sample set As for functionality the app automatically launches a map highlighting the nearest ATMs and branches The interface also features a search field should the user wish to find other locations

Bank of America on the other hand uses a map pin icon positioned along the left column of the app to direct users to its tool While the pin icon is certainly common in location services it was not instantly recognizable to every study participant Bank of Americarsquos tool also suffered from functionality issues Like the Chase interface a map automatically loads when the user taps the map pin icon but instead of displaying nearby locations users were presented with a map of the entire United States Nearly every participant attempted to pinch-to-zoom to their current location and voiced their frustration with the process After zooming in all the way users discovered the map did not show any ATM locations at which point they realized they needed to manually enter their desired location or select the current location icon in the upper-left corner of the app

Chase Bankrsquos ATM Locator Interface

30

FIN

DIN

GS

ATMBranch Locator Button on Homepage ATMBranch Locator Interface

Bank of Americarsquos ATM Locator Interface

31

FIN

DIN

GS

ATMBranch Locator Map Pin Button ATMBranch Locator Map and Search Input Field

System Usability Scale (SUS) Survey Results Suggest Participants Prefer Tablet Experience Over Websites

32

FIN

DIN

GS

After completing the usability tests on both the website and the tablet application participants were asked to complete a standard ten-question System Usability Scale survey This common questionnaire is used to determine an individualrsquos perception of the usability of an interface both in terms of ease-of-use and learnability An average SUS score is 68 Based on our findings participants expressed a strong preference for tablet apps ndash865 average SUS score ndash over their traditional website counterparts ndash 611 average SUS score

Certainly there are a number of factors that affect their impressions not the least of which is the limited capacity of the apps in terms of content and functionality as compared to the wealth of resources available through banking websites Still the data seems to reinforce the concept that users prefer interfaces that are simple straightforward and predictable This suggests banks and other financial institutions should endeavor to employ these concepts in the design of their websites

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Bank ofAmerica

Chase CitizensBank

US Bank WellsFargo

SUS Scores

WebsiteScores

AppScores

68

611

865

Corporate Insight Is Here to Help

33

User testing is a powerful research tool that should be incorporated into your broader design process It can help you

Understand the needs and expectations of your clients

Prioritize improvements to your interface

Discover design flaws

Improve customer satisfaction

Corporate Insight is here to help with all of your user testing needs We can

Collaborate with you to design a study that tests the key features of your website or mobile app andor the platforms offered by your key competitors

Recruit participants that represent your target audience

Provide you with a detailed analysis of test sessions

Assist you with your existing usability efforts by moderating tests you have designed or hosting tests at our facility conveniently located above Grand Central Station in Midtown Manhattan

In addition to our user testing services we also offer Expert Reviews assessing your interface based on established usability heuristics design principles and industry best practices We also perform in-depth Website Audits benchmarking your customer website and mobile platform against peers in terms of design functionality navigation and usability and offering precise actionable recommendations to help you improve your offering

CO

RP

OR

AT

E I

NS

IGH

T I

S H

ER

E T

O H

ELP

Most Banks Fail to Provide Filter and Sorting Features on Tablet Apps

25

FIN

DIN

GS

Itrsquos essential that banks provide a deep archive of account information but itrsquos equally important for banking customers to have access to the tools they need to sift through their account history and locate information regarding specific transactions On the Web banks typically offer a combination of sort filter and search tools that enable users to quickly locate the account information theyrsquore looking for The best interfaces like those provided by Bank of America and Wells Fargo feature a combination of all three

Although these tools may be commonplace on bank websites they are far from prevalent within mobile banking apps In fact of the banks included in this study Citizens is the only firm that provides a filter tool within its apprsquos transaction history interface the firmrsquos Date Range button located in the top right corner of the app allows users to view transactions for a specified date range

Therersquos no doubt that the date range filter made it easier for our study participants to complete the third iPad task on the Citizens app That said Citizens along with all of the other firms we tested in this study does not offer sort or search functionality that would enable users to reorganize columns of data or isolate particular transaction types As a result participants were forced to scroll through their entire transaction history in order to complete the task an effort that proved especially frustrating for the individuals testing the apps that donrsquot feature a date range filter

In the short term it could be argued that this type of functionality might not be necessary as most firms only provide a limited amount of history through their app interface However as banks look to expand their history archive they should also look to incorporate sorting and filter capabilities to improve the user experience

Citizens Bankrsquos Mobile App Date Range Filter

26

FIN

DIN

GS

Access to Date Range Filter from Account Detail Screen Date Range Filter Calendar Interface

Date Range Filter Interface

Participants Struggled to Find Wells Fargorsquos ATM Locator

27

FIN

DIN

GS

For the fourth task in the website portion of the test sessions participants were directed to locate the bankrsquos closest ATM While we didnrsquot expect users to have much difficulty accomplishing such a basic task we were very interested to see what would happen when participants were directed away from the private site to the public site where most banks house their branch and ATM locator tools Similarly we were interested to see what would happen when the participants were faced with the following task ndash setting an account alert ndashwhich would require they navigate back to the private site Although moving between the two sites caused minor problems for some users overall navigation between the two sites had very little impact on participantsrsquo ability to complete the task

That said we were surprised when the individuals testing the Wells Fargo site had severe difficulty finding the firmrsquos ATM locator tool Unlike most banks which typically position links to this feature in a Help or Customer Service area of the site or provide Contact Us or similar links in one of the universal menus Wells Fargo does not provide direct access to a branch or ATM locator tool from the private banking website we use to access our account Instead users had to navigate to the firmrsquos public website on their own While each of the participants eventually completed the task it was only after an exhaustive search through the private site which had a major impact on the time it took users to complete the task

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

180

200

220

240

Task1

Task2

Task3

Task4

Task5

Task6

Task7

Task8

Bank ofAmerica

Chase

Citizens

US Bank

Wells Fargo

Average

Average Task Completion Times

Banks Make it Easy to Locate Nearby ATMs via Apps

28

FIN

DIN

GS

As with the bank websites we tested users were able to locate the nearest ATM via the tablet app with relative ease However the data collected during the sessions highlights some meaningful differences in terms of the comparative usability of the apps particularly in terms of the number of finger taps participants performed while completing the tasks and the total time US Bank users averaged just one tap and slightly over seven seconds to find the nearest ATM thanks to the fact that the firm positions its ATM locator interface in the static right column on the apprsquos homepage By comparison the participants who tested the Bank of America app averaged twelve taps and over 65 seconds to accomplish the same task

US Bankrsquos Sidebar ATM Locator Tool

Bank of America and Chase Offer Similar ATM Locators with Varying Results

29

FIN

DIN

GS

In general Bank of America and Chase take a similar approach to their ATM Locators Both firms offer a ubiquitous link to the tool and the underlying maps have a similar look and feel Yet while the general strategy is similar the firms vary significantly in terms of implementation

Chase provides one of the smoothest ATM location experiences The firm positions a large button with an image of an ATM on the bottom of the home screen making for one of the more easily recognizable options in our sample set As for functionality the app automatically launches a map highlighting the nearest ATMs and branches The interface also features a search field should the user wish to find other locations

Bank of America on the other hand uses a map pin icon positioned along the left column of the app to direct users to its tool While the pin icon is certainly common in location services it was not instantly recognizable to every study participant Bank of Americarsquos tool also suffered from functionality issues Like the Chase interface a map automatically loads when the user taps the map pin icon but instead of displaying nearby locations users were presented with a map of the entire United States Nearly every participant attempted to pinch-to-zoom to their current location and voiced their frustration with the process After zooming in all the way users discovered the map did not show any ATM locations at which point they realized they needed to manually enter their desired location or select the current location icon in the upper-left corner of the app

Chase Bankrsquos ATM Locator Interface

30

FIN

DIN

GS

ATMBranch Locator Button on Homepage ATMBranch Locator Interface

Bank of Americarsquos ATM Locator Interface

31

FIN

DIN

GS

ATMBranch Locator Map Pin Button ATMBranch Locator Map and Search Input Field

System Usability Scale (SUS) Survey Results Suggest Participants Prefer Tablet Experience Over Websites

32

FIN

DIN

GS

After completing the usability tests on both the website and the tablet application participants were asked to complete a standard ten-question System Usability Scale survey This common questionnaire is used to determine an individualrsquos perception of the usability of an interface both in terms of ease-of-use and learnability An average SUS score is 68 Based on our findings participants expressed a strong preference for tablet apps ndash865 average SUS score ndash over their traditional website counterparts ndash 611 average SUS score

Certainly there are a number of factors that affect their impressions not the least of which is the limited capacity of the apps in terms of content and functionality as compared to the wealth of resources available through banking websites Still the data seems to reinforce the concept that users prefer interfaces that are simple straightforward and predictable This suggests banks and other financial institutions should endeavor to employ these concepts in the design of their websites

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Bank ofAmerica

Chase CitizensBank

US Bank WellsFargo

SUS Scores

WebsiteScores

AppScores

68

611

865

Corporate Insight Is Here to Help

33

User testing is a powerful research tool that should be incorporated into your broader design process It can help you

Understand the needs and expectations of your clients

Prioritize improvements to your interface

Discover design flaws

Improve customer satisfaction

Corporate Insight is here to help with all of your user testing needs We can

Collaborate with you to design a study that tests the key features of your website or mobile app andor the platforms offered by your key competitors

Recruit participants that represent your target audience

Provide you with a detailed analysis of test sessions

Assist you with your existing usability efforts by moderating tests you have designed or hosting tests at our facility conveniently located above Grand Central Station in Midtown Manhattan

In addition to our user testing services we also offer Expert Reviews assessing your interface based on established usability heuristics design principles and industry best practices We also perform in-depth Website Audits benchmarking your customer website and mobile platform against peers in terms of design functionality navigation and usability and offering precise actionable recommendations to help you improve your offering

CO

RP

OR

AT

E I

NS

IGH

T I

S H

ER

E T

O H

ELP

Citizens Bankrsquos Mobile App Date Range Filter

26

FIN

DIN

GS

Access to Date Range Filter from Account Detail Screen Date Range Filter Calendar Interface

Date Range Filter Interface

Participants Struggled to Find Wells Fargorsquos ATM Locator

27

FIN

DIN

GS

For the fourth task in the website portion of the test sessions participants were directed to locate the bankrsquos closest ATM While we didnrsquot expect users to have much difficulty accomplishing such a basic task we were very interested to see what would happen when participants were directed away from the private site to the public site where most banks house their branch and ATM locator tools Similarly we were interested to see what would happen when the participants were faced with the following task ndash setting an account alert ndashwhich would require they navigate back to the private site Although moving between the two sites caused minor problems for some users overall navigation between the two sites had very little impact on participantsrsquo ability to complete the task

That said we were surprised when the individuals testing the Wells Fargo site had severe difficulty finding the firmrsquos ATM locator tool Unlike most banks which typically position links to this feature in a Help or Customer Service area of the site or provide Contact Us or similar links in one of the universal menus Wells Fargo does not provide direct access to a branch or ATM locator tool from the private banking website we use to access our account Instead users had to navigate to the firmrsquos public website on their own While each of the participants eventually completed the task it was only after an exhaustive search through the private site which had a major impact on the time it took users to complete the task

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

180

200

220

240

Task1

Task2

Task3

Task4

Task5

Task6

Task7

Task8

Bank ofAmerica

Chase

Citizens

US Bank

Wells Fargo

Average

Average Task Completion Times

Banks Make it Easy to Locate Nearby ATMs via Apps

28

FIN

DIN

GS

As with the bank websites we tested users were able to locate the nearest ATM via the tablet app with relative ease However the data collected during the sessions highlights some meaningful differences in terms of the comparative usability of the apps particularly in terms of the number of finger taps participants performed while completing the tasks and the total time US Bank users averaged just one tap and slightly over seven seconds to find the nearest ATM thanks to the fact that the firm positions its ATM locator interface in the static right column on the apprsquos homepage By comparison the participants who tested the Bank of America app averaged twelve taps and over 65 seconds to accomplish the same task

US Bankrsquos Sidebar ATM Locator Tool

Bank of America and Chase Offer Similar ATM Locators with Varying Results

29

FIN

DIN

GS

In general Bank of America and Chase take a similar approach to their ATM Locators Both firms offer a ubiquitous link to the tool and the underlying maps have a similar look and feel Yet while the general strategy is similar the firms vary significantly in terms of implementation

Chase provides one of the smoothest ATM location experiences The firm positions a large button with an image of an ATM on the bottom of the home screen making for one of the more easily recognizable options in our sample set As for functionality the app automatically launches a map highlighting the nearest ATMs and branches The interface also features a search field should the user wish to find other locations

Bank of America on the other hand uses a map pin icon positioned along the left column of the app to direct users to its tool While the pin icon is certainly common in location services it was not instantly recognizable to every study participant Bank of Americarsquos tool also suffered from functionality issues Like the Chase interface a map automatically loads when the user taps the map pin icon but instead of displaying nearby locations users were presented with a map of the entire United States Nearly every participant attempted to pinch-to-zoom to their current location and voiced their frustration with the process After zooming in all the way users discovered the map did not show any ATM locations at which point they realized they needed to manually enter their desired location or select the current location icon in the upper-left corner of the app

Chase Bankrsquos ATM Locator Interface

30

FIN

DIN

GS

ATMBranch Locator Button on Homepage ATMBranch Locator Interface

Bank of Americarsquos ATM Locator Interface

31

FIN

DIN

GS

ATMBranch Locator Map Pin Button ATMBranch Locator Map and Search Input Field

System Usability Scale (SUS) Survey Results Suggest Participants Prefer Tablet Experience Over Websites

32

FIN

DIN

GS

After completing the usability tests on both the website and the tablet application participants were asked to complete a standard ten-question System Usability Scale survey This common questionnaire is used to determine an individualrsquos perception of the usability of an interface both in terms of ease-of-use and learnability An average SUS score is 68 Based on our findings participants expressed a strong preference for tablet apps ndash865 average SUS score ndash over their traditional website counterparts ndash 611 average SUS score

Certainly there are a number of factors that affect their impressions not the least of which is the limited capacity of the apps in terms of content and functionality as compared to the wealth of resources available through banking websites Still the data seems to reinforce the concept that users prefer interfaces that are simple straightforward and predictable This suggests banks and other financial institutions should endeavor to employ these concepts in the design of their websites

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Bank ofAmerica

Chase CitizensBank

US Bank WellsFargo

SUS Scores

WebsiteScores

AppScores

68

611

865

Corporate Insight Is Here to Help

33

User testing is a powerful research tool that should be incorporated into your broader design process It can help you

Understand the needs and expectations of your clients

Prioritize improvements to your interface

Discover design flaws

Improve customer satisfaction

Corporate Insight is here to help with all of your user testing needs We can

Collaborate with you to design a study that tests the key features of your website or mobile app andor the platforms offered by your key competitors

Recruit participants that represent your target audience

Provide you with a detailed analysis of test sessions

Assist you with your existing usability efforts by moderating tests you have designed or hosting tests at our facility conveniently located above Grand Central Station in Midtown Manhattan

In addition to our user testing services we also offer Expert Reviews assessing your interface based on established usability heuristics design principles and industry best practices We also perform in-depth Website Audits benchmarking your customer website and mobile platform against peers in terms of design functionality navigation and usability and offering precise actionable recommendations to help you improve your offering

CO

RP

OR

AT

E I

NS

IGH

T I

S H

ER

E T

O H

ELP

Participants Struggled to Find Wells Fargorsquos ATM Locator

27

FIN

DIN

GS

For the fourth task in the website portion of the test sessions participants were directed to locate the bankrsquos closest ATM While we didnrsquot expect users to have much difficulty accomplishing such a basic task we were very interested to see what would happen when participants were directed away from the private site to the public site where most banks house their branch and ATM locator tools Similarly we were interested to see what would happen when the participants were faced with the following task ndash setting an account alert ndashwhich would require they navigate back to the private site Although moving between the two sites caused minor problems for some users overall navigation between the two sites had very little impact on participantsrsquo ability to complete the task

That said we were surprised when the individuals testing the Wells Fargo site had severe difficulty finding the firmrsquos ATM locator tool Unlike most banks which typically position links to this feature in a Help or Customer Service area of the site or provide Contact Us or similar links in one of the universal menus Wells Fargo does not provide direct access to a branch or ATM locator tool from the private banking website we use to access our account Instead users had to navigate to the firmrsquos public website on their own While each of the participants eventually completed the task it was only after an exhaustive search through the private site which had a major impact on the time it took users to complete the task

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

180

200

220

240

Task1

Task2

Task3

Task4

Task5

Task6

Task7

Task8

Bank ofAmerica

Chase

Citizens

US Bank

Wells Fargo

Average

Average Task Completion Times

Banks Make it Easy to Locate Nearby ATMs via Apps

28

FIN

DIN

GS

As with the bank websites we tested users were able to locate the nearest ATM via the tablet app with relative ease However the data collected during the sessions highlights some meaningful differences in terms of the comparative usability of the apps particularly in terms of the number of finger taps participants performed while completing the tasks and the total time US Bank users averaged just one tap and slightly over seven seconds to find the nearest ATM thanks to the fact that the firm positions its ATM locator interface in the static right column on the apprsquos homepage By comparison the participants who tested the Bank of America app averaged twelve taps and over 65 seconds to accomplish the same task

US Bankrsquos Sidebar ATM Locator Tool

Bank of America and Chase Offer Similar ATM Locators with Varying Results

29

FIN

DIN

GS

In general Bank of America and Chase take a similar approach to their ATM Locators Both firms offer a ubiquitous link to the tool and the underlying maps have a similar look and feel Yet while the general strategy is similar the firms vary significantly in terms of implementation

Chase provides one of the smoothest ATM location experiences The firm positions a large button with an image of an ATM on the bottom of the home screen making for one of the more easily recognizable options in our sample set As for functionality the app automatically launches a map highlighting the nearest ATMs and branches The interface also features a search field should the user wish to find other locations

Bank of America on the other hand uses a map pin icon positioned along the left column of the app to direct users to its tool While the pin icon is certainly common in location services it was not instantly recognizable to every study participant Bank of Americarsquos tool also suffered from functionality issues Like the Chase interface a map automatically loads when the user taps the map pin icon but instead of displaying nearby locations users were presented with a map of the entire United States Nearly every participant attempted to pinch-to-zoom to their current location and voiced their frustration with the process After zooming in all the way users discovered the map did not show any ATM locations at which point they realized they needed to manually enter their desired location or select the current location icon in the upper-left corner of the app

Chase Bankrsquos ATM Locator Interface

30

FIN

DIN

GS

ATMBranch Locator Button on Homepage ATMBranch Locator Interface

Bank of Americarsquos ATM Locator Interface

31

FIN

DIN

GS

ATMBranch Locator Map Pin Button ATMBranch Locator Map and Search Input Field

System Usability Scale (SUS) Survey Results Suggest Participants Prefer Tablet Experience Over Websites

32

FIN

DIN

GS

After completing the usability tests on both the website and the tablet application participants were asked to complete a standard ten-question System Usability Scale survey This common questionnaire is used to determine an individualrsquos perception of the usability of an interface both in terms of ease-of-use and learnability An average SUS score is 68 Based on our findings participants expressed a strong preference for tablet apps ndash865 average SUS score ndash over their traditional website counterparts ndash 611 average SUS score

Certainly there are a number of factors that affect their impressions not the least of which is the limited capacity of the apps in terms of content and functionality as compared to the wealth of resources available through banking websites Still the data seems to reinforce the concept that users prefer interfaces that are simple straightforward and predictable This suggests banks and other financial institutions should endeavor to employ these concepts in the design of their websites

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Bank ofAmerica

Chase CitizensBank

US Bank WellsFargo

SUS Scores

WebsiteScores

AppScores

68

611

865

Corporate Insight Is Here to Help

33

User testing is a powerful research tool that should be incorporated into your broader design process It can help you

Understand the needs and expectations of your clients

Prioritize improvements to your interface

Discover design flaws

Improve customer satisfaction

Corporate Insight is here to help with all of your user testing needs We can

Collaborate with you to design a study that tests the key features of your website or mobile app andor the platforms offered by your key competitors

Recruit participants that represent your target audience

Provide you with a detailed analysis of test sessions

Assist you with your existing usability efforts by moderating tests you have designed or hosting tests at our facility conveniently located above Grand Central Station in Midtown Manhattan

In addition to our user testing services we also offer Expert Reviews assessing your interface based on established usability heuristics design principles and industry best practices We also perform in-depth Website Audits benchmarking your customer website and mobile platform against peers in terms of design functionality navigation and usability and offering precise actionable recommendations to help you improve your offering

CO

RP

OR

AT

E I

NS

IGH

T I

S H

ER

E T

O H

ELP

Banks Make it Easy to Locate Nearby ATMs via Apps

28

FIN

DIN

GS

As with the bank websites we tested users were able to locate the nearest ATM via the tablet app with relative ease However the data collected during the sessions highlights some meaningful differences in terms of the comparative usability of the apps particularly in terms of the number of finger taps participants performed while completing the tasks and the total time US Bank users averaged just one tap and slightly over seven seconds to find the nearest ATM thanks to the fact that the firm positions its ATM locator interface in the static right column on the apprsquos homepage By comparison the participants who tested the Bank of America app averaged twelve taps and over 65 seconds to accomplish the same task

US Bankrsquos Sidebar ATM Locator Tool

Bank of America and Chase Offer Similar ATM Locators with Varying Results

29

FIN

DIN

GS

In general Bank of America and Chase take a similar approach to their ATM Locators Both firms offer a ubiquitous link to the tool and the underlying maps have a similar look and feel Yet while the general strategy is similar the firms vary significantly in terms of implementation

Chase provides one of the smoothest ATM location experiences The firm positions a large button with an image of an ATM on the bottom of the home screen making for one of the more easily recognizable options in our sample set As for functionality the app automatically launches a map highlighting the nearest ATMs and branches The interface also features a search field should the user wish to find other locations

Bank of America on the other hand uses a map pin icon positioned along the left column of the app to direct users to its tool While the pin icon is certainly common in location services it was not instantly recognizable to every study participant Bank of Americarsquos tool also suffered from functionality issues Like the Chase interface a map automatically loads when the user taps the map pin icon but instead of displaying nearby locations users were presented with a map of the entire United States Nearly every participant attempted to pinch-to-zoom to their current location and voiced their frustration with the process After zooming in all the way users discovered the map did not show any ATM locations at which point they realized they needed to manually enter their desired location or select the current location icon in the upper-left corner of the app

Chase Bankrsquos ATM Locator Interface

30

FIN

DIN

GS

ATMBranch Locator Button on Homepage ATMBranch Locator Interface

Bank of Americarsquos ATM Locator Interface

31

FIN

DIN

GS

ATMBranch Locator Map Pin Button ATMBranch Locator Map and Search Input Field

System Usability Scale (SUS) Survey Results Suggest Participants Prefer Tablet Experience Over Websites

32

FIN

DIN

GS

After completing the usability tests on both the website and the tablet application participants were asked to complete a standard ten-question System Usability Scale survey This common questionnaire is used to determine an individualrsquos perception of the usability of an interface both in terms of ease-of-use and learnability An average SUS score is 68 Based on our findings participants expressed a strong preference for tablet apps ndash865 average SUS score ndash over their traditional website counterparts ndash 611 average SUS score

Certainly there are a number of factors that affect their impressions not the least of which is the limited capacity of the apps in terms of content and functionality as compared to the wealth of resources available through banking websites Still the data seems to reinforce the concept that users prefer interfaces that are simple straightforward and predictable This suggests banks and other financial institutions should endeavor to employ these concepts in the design of their websites

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Bank ofAmerica

Chase CitizensBank

US Bank WellsFargo

SUS Scores

WebsiteScores

AppScores

68

611

865

Corporate Insight Is Here to Help

33

User testing is a powerful research tool that should be incorporated into your broader design process It can help you

Understand the needs and expectations of your clients

Prioritize improvements to your interface

Discover design flaws

Improve customer satisfaction

Corporate Insight is here to help with all of your user testing needs We can

Collaborate with you to design a study that tests the key features of your website or mobile app andor the platforms offered by your key competitors

Recruit participants that represent your target audience

Provide you with a detailed analysis of test sessions

Assist you with your existing usability efforts by moderating tests you have designed or hosting tests at our facility conveniently located above Grand Central Station in Midtown Manhattan

In addition to our user testing services we also offer Expert Reviews assessing your interface based on established usability heuristics design principles and industry best practices We also perform in-depth Website Audits benchmarking your customer website and mobile platform against peers in terms of design functionality navigation and usability and offering precise actionable recommendations to help you improve your offering

CO

RP

OR

AT

E I

NS

IGH

T I

S H

ER

E T

O H

ELP

Bank of America and Chase Offer Similar ATM Locators with Varying Results

29

FIN

DIN

GS

In general Bank of America and Chase take a similar approach to their ATM Locators Both firms offer a ubiquitous link to the tool and the underlying maps have a similar look and feel Yet while the general strategy is similar the firms vary significantly in terms of implementation

Chase provides one of the smoothest ATM location experiences The firm positions a large button with an image of an ATM on the bottom of the home screen making for one of the more easily recognizable options in our sample set As for functionality the app automatically launches a map highlighting the nearest ATMs and branches The interface also features a search field should the user wish to find other locations

Bank of America on the other hand uses a map pin icon positioned along the left column of the app to direct users to its tool While the pin icon is certainly common in location services it was not instantly recognizable to every study participant Bank of Americarsquos tool also suffered from functionality issues Like the Chase interface a map automatically loads when the user taps the map pin icon but instead of displaying nearby locations users were presented with a map of the entire United States Nearly every participant attempted to pinch-to-zoom to their current location and voiced their frustration with the process After zooming in all the way users discovered the map did not show any ATM locations at which point they realized they needed to manually enter their desired location or select the current location icon in the upper-left corner of the app

Chase Bankrsquos ATM Locator Interface

30

FIN

DIN

GS

ATMBranch Locator Button on Homepage ATMBranch Locator Interface

Bank of Americarsquos ATM Locator Interface

31

FIN

DIN

GS

ATMBranch Locator Map Pin Button ATMBranch Locator Map and Search Input Field

System Usability Scale (SUS) Survey Results Suggest Participants Prefer Tablet Experience Over Websites

32

FIN

DIN

GS

After completing the usability tests on both the website and the tablet application participants were asked to complete a standard ten-question System Usability Scale survey This common questionnaire is used to determine an individualrsquos perception of the usability of an interface both in terms of ease-of-use and learnability An average SUS score is 68 Based on our findings participants expressed a strong preference for tablet apps ndash865 average SUS score ndash over their traditional website counterparts ndash 611 average SUS score

Certainly there are a number of factors that affect their impressions not the least of which is the limited capacity of the apps in terms of content and functionality as compared to the wealth of resources available through banking websites Still the data seems to reinforce the concept that users prefer interfaces that are simple straightforward and predictable This suggests banks and other financial institutions should endeavor to employ these concepts in the design of their websites

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Bank ofAmerica

Chase CitizensBank

US Bank WellsFargo

SUS Scores

WebsiteScores

AppScores

68

611

865

Corporate Insight Is Here to Help

33

User testing is a powerful research tool that should be incorporated into your broader design process It can help you

Understand the needs and expectations of your clients

Prioritize improvements to your interface

Discover design flaws

Improve customer satisfaction

Corporate Insight is here to help with all of your user testing needs We can

Collaborate with you to design a study that tests the key features of your website or mobile app andor the platforms offered by your key competitors

Recruit participants that represent your target audience

Provide you with a detailed analysis of test sessions

Assist you with your existing usability efforts by moderating tests you have designed or hosting tests at our facility conveniently located above Grand Central Station in Midtown Manhattan

In addition to our user testing services we also offer Expert Reviews assessing your interface based on established usability heuristics design principles and industry best practices We also perform in-depth Website Audits benchmarking your customer website and mobile platform against peers in terms of design functionality navigation and usability and offering precise actionable recommendations to help you improve your offering

CO

RP

OR

AT

E I

NS

IGH

T I

S H

ER

E T

O H

ELP

Chase Bankrsquos ATM Locator Interface

30

FIN

DIN

GS

ATMBranch Locator Button on Homepage ATMBranch Locator Interface

Bank of Americarsquos ATM Locator Interface

31

FIN

DIN

GS

ATMBranch Locator Map Pin Button ATMBranch Locator Map and Search Input Field

System Usability Scale (SUS) Survey Results Suggest Participants Prefer Tablet Experience Over Websites

32

FIN

DIN

GS

After completing the usability tests on both the website and the tablet application participants were asked to complete a standard ten-question System Usability Scale survey This common questionnaire is used to determine an individualrsquos perception of the usability of an interface both in terms of ease-of-use and learnability An average SUS score is 68 Based on our findings participants expressed a strong preference for tablet apps ndash865 average SUS score ndash over their traditional website counterparts ndash 611 average SUS score

Certainly there are a number of factors that affect their impressions not the least of which is the limited capacity of the apps in terms of content and functionality as compared to the wealth of resources available through banking websites Still the data seems to reinforce the concept that users prefer interfaces that are simple straightforward and predictable This suggests banks and other financial institutions should endeavor to employ these concepts in the design of their websites

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Bank ofAmerica

Chase CitizensBank

US Bank WellsFargo

SUS Scores

WebsiteScores

AppScores

68

611

865

Corporate Insight Is Here to Help

33

User testing is a powerful research tool that should be incorporated into your broader design process It can help you

Understand the needs and expectations of your clients

Prioritize improvements to your interface

Discover design flaws

Improve customer satisfaction

Corporate Insight is here to help with all of your user testing needs We can

Collaborate with you to design a study that tests the key features of your website or mobile app andor the platforms offered by your key competitors

Recruit participants that represent your target audience

Provide you with a detailed analysis of test sessions

Assist you with your existing usability efforts by moderating tests you have designed or hosting tests at our facility conveniently located above Grand Central Station in Midtown Manhattan

In addition to our user testing services we also offer Expert Reviews assessing your interface based on established usability heuristics design principles and industry best practices We also perform in-depth Website Audits benchmarking your customer website and mobile platform against peers in terms of design functionality navigation and usability and offering precise actionable recommendations to help you improve your offering

CO

RP

OR

AT

E I

NS

IGH

T I

S H

ER

E T

O H

ELP

Bank of Americarsquos ATM Locator Interface

31

FIN

DIN

GS

ATMBranch Locator Map Pin Button ATMBranch Locator Map and Search Input Field

System Usability Scale (SUS) Survey Results Suggest Participants Prefer Tablet Experience Over Websites

32

FIN

DIN

GS

After completing the usability tests on both the website and the tablet application participants were asked to complete a standard ten-question System Usability Scale survey This common questionnaire is used to determine an individualrsquos perception of the usability of an interface both in terms of ease-of-use and learnability An average SUS score is 68 Based on our findings participants expressed a strong preference for tablet apps ndash865 average SUS score ndash over their traditional website counterparts ndash 611 average SUS score

Certainly there are a number of factors that affect their impressions not the least of which is the limited capacity of the apps in terms of content and functionality as compared to the wealth of resources available through banking websites Still the data seems to reinforce the concept that users prefer interfaces that are simple straightforward and predictable This suggests banks and other financial institutions should endeavor to employ these concepts in the design of their websites

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Bank ofAmerica

Chase CitizensBank

US Bank WellsFargo

SUS Scores

WebsiteScores

AppScores

68

611

865

Corporate Insight Is Here to Help

33

User testing is a powerful research tool that should be incorporated into your broader design process It can help you

Understand the needs and expectations of your clients

Prioritize improvements to your interface

Discover design flaws

Improve customer satisfaction

Corporate Insight is here to help with all of your user testing needs We can

Collaborate with you to design a study that tests the key features of your website or mobile app andor the platforms offered by your key competitors

Recruit participants that represent your target audience

Provide you with a detailed analysis of test sessions

Assist you with your existing usability efforts by moderating tests you have designed or hosting tests at our facility conveniently located above Grand Central Station in Midtown Manhattan

In addition to our user testing services we also offer Expert Reviews assessing your interface based on established usability heuristics design principles and industry best practices We also perform in-depth Website Audits benchmarking your customer website and mobile platform against peers in terms of design functionality navigation and usability and offering precise actionable recommendations to help you improve your offering

CO

RP

OR

AT

E I

NS

IGH

T I

S H

ER

E T

O H

ELP

System Usability Scale (SUS) Survey Results Suggest Participants Prefer Tablet Experience Over Websites

32

FIN

DIN

GS

After completing the usability tests on both the website and the tablet application participants were asked to complete a standard ten-question System Usability Scale survey This common questionnaire is used to determine an individualrsquos perception of the usability of an interface both in terms of ease-of-use and learnability An average SUS score is 68 Based on our findings participants expressed a strong preference for tablet apps ndash865 average SUS score ndash over their traditional website counterparts ndash 611 average SUS score

Certainly there are a number of factors that affect their impressions not the least of which is the limited capacity of the apps in terms of content and functionality as compared to the wealth of resources available through banking websites Still the data seems to reinforce the concept that users prefer interfaces that are simple straightforward and predictable This suggests banks and other financial institutions should endeavor to employ these concepts in the design of their websites

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Bank ofAmerica

Chase CitizensBank

US Bank WellsFargo

SUS Scores

WebsiteScores

AppScores

68

611

865

Corporate Insight Is Here to Help

33

User testing is a powerful research tool that should be incorporated into your broader design process It can help you

Understand the needs and expectations of your clients

Prioritize improvements to your interface

Discover design flaws

Improve customer satisfaction

Corporate Insight is here to help with all of your user testing needs We can

Collaborate with you to design a study that tests the key features of your website or mobile app andor the platforms offered by your key competitors

Recruit participants that represent your target audience

Provide you with a detailed analysis of test sessions

Assist you with your existing usability efforts by moderating tests you have designed or hosting tests at our facility conveniently located above Grand Central Station in Midtown Manhattan

In addition to our user testing services we also offer Expert Reviews assessing your interface based on established usability heuristics design principles and industry best practices We also perform in-depth Website Audits benchmarking your customer website and mobile platform against peers in terms of design functionality navigation and usability and offering precise actionable recommendations to help you improve your offering

CO

RP

OR

AT

E I

NS

IGH

T I

S H

ER

E T

O H

ELP

Corporate Insight Is Here to Help

33

User testing is a powerful research tool that should be incorporated into your broader design process It can help you

Understand the needs and expectations of your clients

Prioritize improvements to your interface

Discover design flaws

Improve customer satisfaction

Corporate Insight is here to help with all of your user testing needs We can

Collaborate with you to design a study that tests the key features of your website or mobile app andor the platforms offered by your key competitors

Recruit participants that represent your target audience

Provide you with a detailed analysis of test sessions

Assist you with your existing usability efforts by moderating tests you have designed or hosting tests at our facility conveniently located above Grand Central Station in Midtown Manhattan

In addition to our user testing services we also offer Expert Reviews assessing your interface based on established usability heuristics design principles and industry best practices We also perform in-depth Website Audits benchmarking your customer website and mobile platform against peers in terms of design functionality navigation and usability and offering precise actionable recommendations to help you improve your offering

CO

RP

OR

AT

E I

NS

IGH

T I

S H

ER

E T

O H

ELP

Corporate Insight Thought Leadership

34

CO

RP

OR

AT

E I

NS

IGH

T T

HO

UG

HT

LE

AD

ER

SH

IP

Optimizing the Online amp Mobile Experience for Retirement Plan Participants

This slide deck features industry best practices and includes five recommendations for DC plan providers looking to improve their Web and mobile offerings

2013 Mobile Finance Trends and Innovations

This study includes commentary on mobile developments key takeaways for financial services firms and thoughts on whatrsquos next for mobile finance

Asset Management and Social Media A Guide to Social Marketing

This guide looks at how asset management firms use popular social media platforms such as LinkedIn Twitter Facebook YouTube and Google+ to connect directly with investors and financial advisors Also available as a slide deck

The Millennial Opportunity Whitepaper

Examines the marketing tactics strategies and online resources leading financial institutions are using to connect with Millennials Also available as a slide deck

User Insights Vol 1 Brokerage iPhone Apps

This study examines the brokerage industryrsquos most popular mobile apps by conducting usability tests on iPhone apps offered by Charles Schwab ETRADE Fidelity and Merrill Lynch focusing on design and core features like trade order entry and stock quotes

About the Author

35

AB

OU

T T

HE

AU

TH

OR

Alan Maginn is the Director of User Research on Corporate Insightrsquos Consulting Services team He has been with the firm since 2004 He received his Certified Usability Analyst accreditation from Human Factors International in 2011 and has since led the development of Corporate Insightrsquos User Research services In addition to his work regarding usability Alan has also led CIrsquos social media research since 2008 Prior to that he was Senior Analyst for Corporate Insightrsquos Mutual Fund Monitor-Advisor service

CONTACT ALAN

Alan MaginnDirector User Research2128322002 ext 116amaginncorporateinsightcomalanmaginn