Like a number of other Malaysia bloggers, I was invited to witness and experience the private launch of the new Maybank2u website dubbed Maybank2u 2.0. Yes, as loosely the term is used I was really surprised the effort and responsibility Maybank’s virtual banking group has taken to upgrade their current website – it’s terrible now.
If there was one thing I always banged the current Maybank2u website, it was it’s information architecture or call it; website structure. I remember without fail I’d comment on how I couldn’t find anything I wanted and resorted to using Google whenever I wanted to find what I wanted on Maybank2u. But all that’s going to change – I hope.
Let’s begin with the introduction of the most important part in a website – the homepage.
I’m going to keep my review and comments brief otherwise this will be a very long entry – which I don’t want. Especially not to bore you guys. :)
Strengths:
- It’s more organized – hooray!
- Love big headings.
- Like the access to quick guides.
- It IS clean. :P
Weaknesses:
- Large icons are competing with Related Links logos for attention.
- Customer service in a different color makes it more distracting when you already have colorful icons and the logos mentioned.
- First time login has gone missing. I’d have actually preferred it on the homepage because you’re talking about users who’ve not used the site even once before.
- I’d try a darker yellow for the headings as it’s not exactly contrasting enough against the white background.
- This might be just me but I feel there could be an icon usage overload in the website.
For those who’ve not read my website reviews before, weaknesses are items which can be improved or considered to better the user experience when using the website. I’d prefer using weaknesses (which can be bettered) than to say they are problems or faults.
Continuing on, here’s a series of screenshots I’ve taken to topup my mobile prepaid and transfer money to valid parties. These are some of the common activities done for Internet banking besides paying your bills online.
And here are the strengths and weaknesses I’ve found while using the new Maybank2u website for my internet banking needs. This is a very brief list.
Strengths:
- Simple login process.
- Clean dashboard.
- Love the fact I’ve a message area now. So no pop-ups required. Hooray!
- Like how the side menu navigation has an on-status now.
- Like the display steps when I’m doing something. Can make it bigger though.
- Love the new information layout displayed at the end of my process. Easier to scan.
- Definitely love the fact I can now schedule future transfers! :D
Weaknesses:
- Main menu unavailable after clicking login. Can’t go back to the homepage without clicking Back button.
- First time login users have to come into the login page to activate their account – personal thoughts.
- First time login action isn’t very prominent thus forcing new users to find the required item.
- Online stocks login shouldn’t be placed where it is – another personal thought.
- Forgot password messages should be more prominent because I believe forgotten passwords is the next greatest priority compared to logging in.
- Quick action (or access) to most common activities in the Dashboard after logging in is placed in an awkward place. And, I wouldn’t use a jump menu.
- Request TAC is hidden far away on the Transfer landing page when it’s actually one of the most important things used in Internet banking for Maybank.
- Request TAC number should be made into a button so you don’t have to think if it’s a link as you’re about to make a transder. Especially when the links are not underlined anymore.
- I felt disoriented using the Transfer landing page for the first time. My partner said it’s because the content are not as balanced as the ones found in the Dashboard.
- Could consider moving recipient email beneath account selector so it’s more relevant or connected.
- Too many items on the logout screen or no organization. Could be arranged as short thank you message, activity history then make a 2 action option for users to pick right away.
Dining at Delicious during the launch was tasteful. But I was more impressed with one of the slides shared by Maybank’s virtual banking department. It displayed a real summary of how much commitment and importance Maybank had finally given to its website. This should be the way in any given website project big or small. If a Client can say “it’s only a website” then it’s an insult.
This process has not only helped the new Maybank2u website by leaps and bounds but proved with the right process, a corporate website can achieve significant improvement and efficiency.
This is what I’ve been always promoting. And, this is what Simpleet Solutions also aims to offer even to the medium-large corporate market we serve in Malaysia. By the way, this new Maybank2u website was done by a much larger agency. :P
Have you tried out the new Maybank2u website? What do you think about it?
It does look a lot cleaner, but I’m not really a fan of those large icons indeed!
And its black background that ends abruptly against the white foreground could be quite hard on the eyes.
The black ending abruptly it’s one of the design trends you can find online. Maybe it looks abrupt here because the colors are direct opposites rather than closely related. :)
you took the time to list down the strengths and weaknesses. thats a real feat man. haha. design is ok lah. i mean, everyone has their own opinions but the best is, its better than before haha.
but all the problems with cannot go back to previous page (back button stuff), did they miss a usability test? the task based one. For instance, you get a group of people, have ten tasks ready and see where they stumble and fall.
cause if they really did this, they’ll notice that people had to use the back button too often when they made a mistake. (yeah la, you click on wrong link, you’ll want to go back the previous page)
eh next time can ajak me to tag along if you go to these talks/presentations? :)
Well, it was a launch after all. And being a M2U user myself, I only want something I’d want to use without any stress whatsoever. :P
As for the invitation, I’ll see what I can do at the next one when I get the chance. ;)