How do users experience the new website design?

IkGaStarten, Rabobank's knowledge platform for start-up entrepreneurs is getting a revamped visual identity and website. The current website uses many elements of older Rabobank branding and is being revamped according to new brand guidelines. The fact that the current website resembles Rabobank has had a positive effect on the lead funnel in recent years: many visitors also arrive at Rabobank.nl via IkGaStarten. Still, Rabobank is choosing to give the website a stronger own identity in the future. In doing so, different visual elements will still be used to make the relationship with Rabobank 'logical'. The big question is: Will this new design have a positive impact on the user experience of the new IkGaStarten website?

Challenge

User experience research website

Rabobank wanted to make sure that the new look and features did not detract from the current performance while also finding ways to improve it. With the goal that IkGaStarten now - and in the future - continues to provide entrepreneurs in the start-up phase with good information and inspiration. And that Rabobank's lead funnel continues to function effectively, despite the fact that the visual identity has changed.

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Vision

To find out, Blauw tested the user experience (UX) of four different landing pages during a moderated online UX test with entrepreneurs. With the insights and results from the research, Rabobank knows what does and does not contribute to a good user experience.

Solution

The research questions UX research

To improve the user experience of the new website, the following questions were examined:

What do users think of the new look and feel of the website and do they recognize the link to Rabobank?
How do visitors perceive the amount of content?
How do users experience the new features on the website?
How do users experience landing from IkGaStarten to Rabobank's website?

Using a moderated UX test to explain participant behavior

To answer the research questions, we presented clickable prototypes to startups during one day of user testing. In a moderated user test, we go into depth with the user and ask further questions where relevant. This gives a good picture of product understanding, content experience and landing experience on the Rabobank website. In addition, we discover how users use the new features and whether they experience any problems when using the functionalities.

The entrepreneurs were invited for this survey in a veiled way. This means that they do not know in advance that this is a survey for Rabobank. In this way, we prevent respondents from pre-orienting themselves to the topic and participating in the survey with unwanted prior knowledge. We present the various landing pages alternately to the different participants first. In this way, we test for each page whether Rabobank's objectives are achieved and we get a picture of the extent to which the page on which people land affects their experience of the website.

Rabobank was able to watch all interviews anonymously during the interviews and pass us specific questions for the participant. In addition, after each interview we have a short debrief with Rabobank to discuss key insights and determine the focus for the next interview. This allows us to easily adjust during the research and ensure that all questions and assumptions from the client are answered.

What is a moderated ux test?

Moderated UX testing is a method of investigating the user experience of a (digital) product with the help of an interviewer. Moderated UX testing can be conducted in person (at our office or workplace, where a moderator can observe user interactions and the participant's body language) or remotely (via a video call, where the moderator asks participants to share their screens).

Benefits of moderated ux testing

Moderated tests are good for collecting qualitative feedback. You use them to find the answer to "Why?" questions, such as "Why did participants interact with a product in a certain way?" or "Why do users experience a problem when using a feature?" This makes conducting a moderated UX test very valuable when a team is working on a product concept and wants to explore different solutions. Also, when making major changes to existing designs, it is more convenient to do a moderated UX test first.

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Result

What did this UX test yield for Rabobank?

At the end of the research day, we discussed the initial insights with Rabobank's content marketers, interaction designer and UX designer, and then Blauw summarized the key insights and leads in a practical report.

This gave Rabobank in-depth insight into the understandability and usability of the new functionalities, navigation, layout, and design of the various landing pages. The visual report helps Rabobank validate the choice of certain design choices and gives them concrete starting points to optimize the User Experience of the new website.

More about our UX research can be found on the website of our label yourUX

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