Tools can be really helpful when they are well designed and easy to find. It is not enough however to build a tool and put it online—it needs to be integrated properly with other content so that it is available to the right consumers when they need it. At the very least, adding a tool cannot cause confusion.
While recently reviewing ‘How Much Do I Need’ calculators on twenty leading US Life Insurance sites, we came across a situation where a confusing link to a useful tool could well lead to task abandoment or at least annoyance.
The graphic below was on the main life insurance page of a leading insurer. Although it appears to link a calculator, it instead leads to a life insurance quote engine.
There is a calculator on the destination page but you have to complete step one of the quote process before you can use it. Unless you have time and patience, the chances are you wouldn’t do that. Most people would just get slowed down in mid-task, and many would get annoyed.
This is a pity, because the calculator itself is well designed and ranked highly against competitors, and people that would find it while in the ‘get a quote’ task mindset would probably love it. So the issue is that the expectation formed by the link is not met by the destination.
The linking confusion is compounded by the fact that this company actually does have another (standalone) calculator linked from the end of the main life insurance page.
On most sites tasks aren’t managed: content is. Each department has its own content and puts it up on the website. On the other hand, consumers don’t think in terms of departments; they think in terms of their own tasks. This is why it is important that companies get staff to manage tasks rather than functional departments.
If there had been someone properly managing the ‘How Much Do I Need?’ task on the site from which the example above was taken, they’d almost certainly have ensured that this confusion did not arise.
Customer-centric, task-focused design should always be at the top of the agenda when adding new content is being considered.
State Farm has continued to improve its site with a redesigned life insurance section. Last month we showcased the new homepage, featuring a de-cluttered, task-focused look that sought to simplify and speed up the user experience. This design philosophy has now been extended to new site areas and represents a considerable improvement.
The new version of State Farm's life insurance main page (above) is significantly more user-centric than the old (below)
This has not been a cosmetic redesign. The colors, fonts, and graphic elements are largely unchanged. Instead, what matters most to site visitors has been radically overhauled: the words, the local navigation, and the content.
We’ll look at the changes in detail in the future (in our customer-only publication Insurance Website Review), but some of the key improvements include:
- Removal of material irrelevant to people researching life insurance from content area
- Addition of content that facilitates easy product comparison
- ‘Get a quote’ and ‘Find an agent’ are integrated prominently within the page design
- Extension from the home page of task-oriented language that resonates with visitors
- Introduction of expanded local left-sided navigation menu
State Farm’s site improvements reinforce the message that we have been communicating for years. Site content and navigation, along with the words chosen for links and general text, needs to align with customer expectations. People come to websites with tasks in mind. The two challenges for companies are firstly to know what the expectations are, and then to tailor the site design accordingly (or rebuild it from scratch).
Company-centric designs – where content is added just because one department or another thought it was a good idea, or for political reasons monthly newsletters – are going the way of the dinosaur. Successful site design comes from knowing with site visitors are expecting, and knowing what they want to do on your site. Good design, of any form, is not a form of artistic expression, and is only successful when it puts the user first.
The page heading on State Farm’s main life insurance page now reads ‘Life insurance just got easier’. For site visitors, this is certainly the case.
So, what are your impressions of the updated site? Do you have a site (in insurance or financial services) that deserves to be showcased?
Without a clear call to action, content is useless.
This may seem like a harsh statement, but if prospects don’t know what to do after browsing product information, or can’t quickly find how to get a quote or to get in touch, you’ll lose them.
Some life insurers have already realized this apparently obvious conclusion, but a surprising number have not. They tease prospects with long pages of product information and hope they’ll spend time searching for an elusive next step link. Getting prospects to engage is a process that starts on the homepage, leads through product overviews and choosing, and, all going well, ends with a quotation, a call or a contact with an agent. This chain of events is only as strong as its weakest link, and if the link to the final step is missing or hard to find, it breaks and the prospect goes elsewhere.
MetLife is an example of a company that leaves nothing to chance. The screenshot below is of its Term Life page. After the ‘Basics’ and ‘Details’ pages, prospects get to the ‘What’s Next’ page. There are no fewer than seven next step links on this section of the page: Find an office near you, have a representative contact you, try the life insurance selector, request a no-obligation quote, another no-obligation quote form, a ‘get a quote’ link, and another ‘Find a MetLife Office’ link. Prospects are spoilt for choice.
Seven next step options in this section of the MetLife Term Life page
A key area for a next step link is at the end of a product page. Prospects that read the page should be rewarded with clear options to take it a stage further.
State Farm places a big red button at the end of its life products pages, along with a sentence offering two next step choices.
State Farm's next step options are displayed clearly at the end of product pages
Some sites we evaluate contain no clear next step links, while others almost whisper the next step by having a single link buried in the sidebar. Product pages are no place for subtlety, however, and brash links that shout at prospects will ensure that interested visitors know where to go.
Product comparison tables are a great way to highlight differences between offerings. They save visitors time, removing the need to read lots of content to establish which products are most suitable.
Surprisingly, many life insurance websites force visitors into doing the work. Products are described, in summary or detailed form, without a list of differences. Some sites we have evaluated don’t even discuss differences in text areas, and just provide long lists of features.
A simple table takes little time or effort to produce. Some companies have clearly considered what prospects need to know and have produced tables that are easy to read. Thrivent Financial’s, for example, lists features that are available across five insurance products.
Thrivent's table of differences is simple and easy to read
Nationwide offers a similar table, with the addition of ‘Learn More’ buttons that provide a quick path to detailed information about each product.
Nationwide's table of differences includes a 'Learn More' link
Western & Southern’s table offers another dimension of information, including advantages and disadvantages of each feature for each product.
Life insurance is complicated for novices, and not providing a table of differences is adding unnecessary complexity to the education process.
