Banking Websites

PSECU
ING Direct

I chose to analyze two banking websites that serve a similar purpose (one on a local level, the other on a national level). The first site, PSECU (Pennsylvania State Employees Credit Union) is for residents of Pennsylvania who have an account with the credit union. Previously, the site was only used by state employees who had an account, but recently, the credit union has expanded and anyone in Pennsylvania can join. PSECU’s homepage makes good use of Williams’ principles of alignment, proximity and, to an extent, repetition. The site designer used boxes to separate different sections of the site’s first page and the boxes are aligned such that they create a few distinct vertical lines. All of the text is left-aligned and grouped so that similar information is together. Although the site does use a good deal of white space, I think the same amount of white space could be used more effectively if positioned differently. The site serves its purpose (I use it on a daily basis), but it does poorly what the other site does so well. In terms of contrast, particularly as compared to ING Direct’s site, PSECU’s website is incredibly weak. There really isn’t even an attempt at contrast in the use of color, typeface or font styling.

When you first visit ING’s site, it has a bold homepage with starkly contrasting colors on the left side and the bottom. The bright orange contrasts well with the dark blue and the contrast forces your eye to the white space in the middle where you are presented with an offer for a low mortgage rate or high interest rate. The simplicity of the homepage allows the user to locate what he needs immediately without wading through a lot of links or other text. The site repeats the circular orange graphic both on the homepage and throughout the entire site. The navigation system remains constant on each page you link to. The text for each of the three links on the homepage is right aligned to an orange circle which is on the edge of the blue area on the left. The shape of the white space on the homepage, the orange graphics, the bullets organizing more detailed information, the color scheme and the use of the logo on each page presents a good example of repetition.

I think it’s important to consider the scope of each of these businesses. Although PSECU’s site is lacking in some of Williams’ basic design principles and may not be doing a good job of attracting members to join through the homepage, this bank is working on a much smaller scale than ING is. In addition to its website, PSECU has physical locations that bankers can visit. The same cannot be said for ING Direct. Customers (from many different locations within the United States) perform all of their transactions through this company online, over the phone or through the mail. While I don’t have statistics, I think it’s safe to assume that a lot (perhaps most) of their business is done through their website. An aspect of ING that it prides itself on is the fact that doing business this way eliminates the operational costs of other banks and it seems logical that some of those savings go into making the electronic banking—and the website—they offer as easy as possible.