Public site: Two different audiences (prospects and clients) competed for time and effort, so team wanted to identify what each audience needed from the site to help prioritize the work.
Careers site: Leaders shared various needs for redesign of site but needed to find out what real candidates wanted.
Secure accounts site: Siloed teams under multiple leaders worked on parts of the site, separately. Designers wanted to know what users really cared about to help focus their time.
Top tasks methodology*
Implemented top tasks methodology and performed the following.
- Interviewed subject matter experts and stakeholders and performed competitive review to identify possible tasks.
- Created a short list of tasks and reviewed with stakeholders.
- Sent survey to 385 or more respondents of a representative audience per study. (Requested and managed client lists. Procured prospect, student and corporate candidate panels. Worked with internal market research team to use experienced advisor panel.)
- Correlated survey responses with web analytics and client data, when relevant.
- Directed statistical data analysis.
- Created sumary and unabridged report templates and reports.
- Presented results to many audiences.
- Incorporated findings into future research studies.
- Measured delivery of top tasks in additional studies.
Results are proprietary, but the impacts on the various teams, follow.
Public site
Prospects are clients (of some company).
- Prospects and clients top tasks overlap, resulting in focused priorities for the team.
- Identified a difference in confidence managing finances between prospects and clients.
- Survey spurred further research about presenting costs information.
Careers site
Sharing results with recruiters, and then leaders of recruiters, increased value placed on user needs.
- Certain candidates have similar needs.
- Priorities of experienced advisor recruits change with age and experience.
Secure accounts site
Clients want to know how well their accounts are doing (of course).
- Respondents use the site as indicated by their top task choices (web analytics match top tasks).
- Learned effect of total household investible assets on which task was chosen.
*For more information on the top tasks methodology by Gerry McGovern, please see:
A List Apart article: What Really Matters: Focusing on Top Tasks by Gerry McGovern - April 21, 2015
Book: Top tasks - a how-to guide by Gerry McGovern - October 08, 2018