Seratti Group

The Challenge

Eleven, a San Francisco-based integrated marketing firm, contracted the Seratti Group to conduct some research for their client, BEA. The purpose of the research was to gather feedback relative to the site redesign effort Eleven was currently engaged in for BEA. Specifically, Eleven and BEA wanted to understand the competitive landscape, perceptions of the current BEA site, and reactions to the new site.

The Strategy

The Seratti Group recommended an approach designed specifically to elicit the feedback desired by both the design studio as well as the client, BEA. Dr. Karen Seratti, of the Seratti Group, conducted a total of 13 in-depth interviews with IT professionals employed at companies of a significant size in a variety of industries. All participants were asked about their familiarity with and perceptions of the websites from a selection of BEA's largest competitors. Participants were then escorted to the current BEA site where they were asked to provide their initial reactions and to complete a few simple tasks in order to benchmark current ease-of-use levels. Subsequently, the participants were shown prototypes of the new BEA website concept, and asked to share their opinions about the redesigned site as well as again complete the same set of tasks in order to gauge the effects of the information architecture and visual design modifications.

The Results

In general, results showed that the major software company websites do not leave much of an impression nor are they memorable to users. Most of the participants agreed that all of the websites reviewed appeared to use similar layouts, prompting one participant to note, "I wonder if they all use the same design template?"

Interestingly, this finding may not be as negative as it may initially appear:

Participants stated emphatically that as busy IT professionals they do not have time to spend on websites that are not relevant and responsive to their needs. Having websites that are architected and presented similarly, may in fact aid in users' ease of access to desired information.

While managers and director-level IT professionals seem to pay somewhat more attention to marketing messages than hands-on developers, developers were much more interested in product-related information and solutions than marketing campaigns or messages, using various sites frequently to aid in problem-solving. As a result, feedback clearly revealed that, in general, these site users don't like websites that change; they not only prefer but require a consistent experience as they are usually searching for a solution to a specific problem when they visit a site. For this reason, change for novelty's sake is frowned upon, although any improvement that enhances the experience and helps increase the speed and ease of access to desired information is welcomed.



Financial Technology Consumer Partners BEA Riverdeep Apple	The Challenge Eleven, a San Francisco-based integrated marketing firm, contracted the Seratti Group to conduct some research for their client, BEA. The purpose of the research was to gather feedback relative to the site redesign effort Eleven was currently engaged in for BEA. Specifically, Eleven and BEA wanted to understand the competitive landscape, perceptions of the current BEA site, and reactions to the new site. The Strategy The Seratti Group recommended an approach designed specifically to elicit the feedback desired by both the design studio as well as the client, BEA. Dr. Karen Seratti, of the Seratti Group, conducted a total of 13 in-depth interviews with IT professionals employed at companies of a significant size in a variety of industries. All participants were asked about their familiarity with and perceptions of the websites from a selection of BEA's largest competitors. Participants were then escorted to the current BEA site where they were asked to provide their initial reactions and to complete a few simple tasks in order to benchmark current ease-of-use levels. Subsequently, the participants were shown prototypes of the new BEA website concept, and asked to share their opinions about the redesigned site as well as again complete the same set of tasks in order to gauge the effects of the information architecture and visual design modifications. The Results In general, results showed that the major software company websites do not leave much of an impression nor are they memorable to users. Most of the participants agreed that all of the websites reviewed appeared to use similar layouts, prompting one participant to note, "I wonder if they all use the same design template?" Interestingly, this finding may not be as negative as it may initially appear: Participants stated emphatically that as busy IT professionals they do not have time to spend on websites that are not relevant and responsive to their needs. Having websites that are architected and presented similarly, may in fact aid in users' ease of access to desired information. While managers and director-level IT professionals seem to pay somewhat more attention to marketing messages than hands-on developers, developers were much more interested in product-related information and solutions than marketing campaigns or messages, using various sites frequently to aid in problem-solving. As a result, feedback clearly revealed that, in general, these site users don't like websites that change; they not only prefer but require a consistent experience as they are usually searching for a solution to a specific problem when they visit a site. For this reason, change for novelty's sake is frowned upon, although any improvement that enhances the experience and helps increase the speed and ease of access to desired information is welcomed.