Author: Philip Morton, Principal Consultant

A UX review of 100 global services company websites

www.foolproof.co.uk

Our review of the websites of 100 services companies shows that these websites pose a difficult design challenge.

Global services companies often have a wide range of

products and services, so their websites tend to have

large quantities of diverse content.

Buyers of digital services are informed critics of web

design and will notice any areas of weakness.

Some industry terminology is standard, but others

vary from provider to provider.

Websites of this kind tend to accumulate content

rapidly, so need a structure that scales and processes

to support content creation.

Wide ranging products & services Rapid accumulation of content

Inconsistent terminology Buyers are informed critics

There are 7 areas where websites

of this kind could be improved

1. Explaining what you do

2. Showing your work

3. Site navigation

4. Consistency of content

5. Getting in touch with you

6. Choice of imagery

7. Sharing a point-of-view

1. Explaining what you do

— Potential clients and customers may be unsure of the services that they offer.

— Companies with a wide range of products and services can find it difficult to summarise everything they do.

— Not understanding the company makes it difficult to understand other content on their website.

Services companies don’t always clearly explain what they do.

Wicresoft

DC Holdings

Best practice examples: explaining what the company does

Ellucian

Rolls-Royce

G4S

ustwo

2. Showing your work

— Visitors will be looking to understand who the company has worked with, the types of projects undertaken and the measurable impact they made on their client’s business.

— Showcasing work is the best way to get potential clients and jobseekers excited about working with a company.

— Case studies can also be hard to find, are hidden in PDFs or are primarily text-based.

— Showing work is the best way for the visitor to understand what the company does.

Companies don’t always provide enough evidence that they have successfully delivered projects for big brands.

Getronics

CenturyLink

Best practice examples: showcasing work

Siemens - https://www.siemens.com/global/en/home/company/topic-areas/ingenuity-for-life/gotthard-base-tunnel.html

SapientNitro - http://www.sapientnitro.com/en-us.html#work/featured/tourism-queensland/best-job-in-the-world

Best practice examples: showcasing work

Arup - http://www.arup.com/markets/sport Rolls-Royce - http://www.rolls-royce.com/products-and-services/marine/ship-design.aspx#section-overview

3. Site navigation and structure

— Companies find it hard to categorise their products and services, especially if there is overlap between them.

— Finding the information you need often means going deep into the site to get what you want.

— Some have no way to navigate to other sections of a category once a few levels deep within the site.

BT

With so many products and services, many companies find it hard to organise their websites in a way that makes it easy to navigate.

BT

IBM

Best practice examples: site navigation

Harbinger Systems

itransition

Hewlett Packard Enterprise

Rolls-Royce

4. Consistency of content

— Some pages have generic content while others have more detail.

— The tone-of-voice often varies from one area of the website to another.

— Some websites contain too much jargon or buzzwords that can be found on their competitors’ websites.

With so much content, some websites struggle to maintain a level of quality and consistency.

Getronics

Best practice examples: content

Harbinger Systems

Hewlett Packard Enterprises – HPE Datacenter Care.

Explains the service category and its benefits in a simple way, ensuring the reader has context for the rest of the page.

Evidence of results that clients have experienced.

A written and visual explanation in detail.

Straightforward outline of the sub-categories within this category of services.

Testimonial with a video link.

Relevant case studies to show further evidence that they can deliver.

http://www8.hp.com/uk/en/business-services/it-services/datacenter-care-services.html

Best practice examples: content

— Despite being a page about business software, the copy here is straightforward and easy to understand.

— There’s a consistent writing style: economical, precise and accessible to anyone.

http://www.apple.com/uk/ipad/business/work-with-apple/ibm/

Apple – iPad and Business

5. Getting in touch with you

— These contact details appear on every page, but other companies have a more personal and informal approach which is probably more effective.

If visitors go to a website and want to make contact with the company, there are often only generic contact details for getting in touch.

Getronics

Hitachi

Best practice examples: contact us

Rolls-Royce

Rolls-Royce

Arup

IBM

Capgemini

6. Choice of imagery

— Imagery used on the websites is often generic stock photography.

— Using stereotypical or poor stock photography risks being seen as inauthentic.

— Some images have little to do with the content they are associated with.

— The best sites we reviewed used real people in real life contexts, with few abstract photos.

It’s hard for services-based companies to find good imagery to use.

Teletech

DC Holdings

Best practice examples: imagery

Rolls-Royce: real people and real-life context, with no models or abstract imagery.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise: relevant, consistent photography.

7. Sharing a point-of-view

— Sometimes companies don’t provide their opinion on the trends and perspectives on the markets they compete in.

— Blogs and white papers are available on most websites, but they can be hard to find and are not integrated with the rest of the site’s content.

Some websites have a large amount of content making the site feel like simply a catalogue for their products.

Iron Mountain

Serco

Best practice examples: point-of-view

Hewlett Packard Enterprise

Rolls-Royce

SAP

Rolls-Royce

Accenture

General Electric

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e. info@foolproof.co.ukt. 020 7539 3840

Philip Morton, Principal Consultant