Charcol,
the leading UK independent mortgage and financial advisor has
launched its revamped website www.charcolonline.co.uk.
Charcolonline has processed over £1 billion worth of
online mortgage applications since its launch in 1999.
Charcol commissioned The Usability
Company at the start of the project to simplify the process of both
finding a mortgage and applying for a mortgage online. This was
achieved through a series of one to one Usability Evaluations,
using participants recruited from Charcol's target demographic, at
the beginning and end of the redevelopment process with over 80% of
The Usability Company's recommendations being implemented.
Charcol monitor the performance of
the website using sophisticated tools and these provided The
Usability Company with valuable information about where in the site
and the various key processes users were failing and/or leaving. The
Usability Evaluations identified why the users were having problems
and the Usability Specialist, Marty Carroll, who has specialist
qualifications in Psychology, Cognitive Science and Human
Factors, made recommendations about how the site should be improved.
Issues
ranged from major - those that actually caused a barrier to users
completing their goals, to minor - those that were simply
frustrating. Implementation of the recommendations has made the site
even easier to use.
Marty Carroll, Head of the
Usability Practice at TUC explained:
"The site meets the many
various needs of its' audience in a timely and easy to use manner.
Finding a mortgage is not one of the easiest things in life but
this site's design manages to take away much of the stress".
Russell Gould, online development
director, Charcol comments:
"The challenge for
Charcolonline was how to improve an already hugely successful site. The usability testing enabled us to
better understand how customers actually navigated the site and
pinpointed any areas that could be improved upon. The result
following the site redesign, we believe, is a much more
individualised, slicker and user-friendly online experience."
Stop press - Charcol has just won
The New Media Age Effectiveness Award for Online Banking and
Personal Finance. 'The company has succeeded in making a complex
product easily accessible to an online audience.' (NMA 4th
July)
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