CUA of the Month – January, 2009

E-Business Team
"The difference between our approach now and the way we used to do things is like night and day."
 
E-Business Team
AAA Mid-Atlantic

The Road Map to Usability AAA Mid-Atlantic's E-Business Team Puts User Experience in the Fast Lane

by Doug Gorney

With nearly four million members, AAA Mid-Atlantic is among AAA's largest clubs. That means their website is like a busy freeway interchange. Used each month by hundreds of thousands of members and non-members alike, the site features details about everything from roadside assistance and membership benefits to car insurance, loans, and travel packages. As a critical information hub, managed by AAA Mid-Atlantic's E-Business team, it needs to provide an exceptional user experience. But like drivers without maps, users were getting lost on the site.

Members complained that the site wasn't organized or presented as well as it could be – and that told the E-Business team why they weren't getting the performance they wanted from the site. Membership applications and product sales from the site were below expectations.

E-Business Managing Director Scott Gamble said the site gave him a wake-up call the moment he arrived at AAA Mid-Atlantic. "This was one of the first projects I worked on," he says. Right away, he began to understand member complaints and disappointing site metrics. "The site was structured on internal needs only, not on user needs or requirements."

Road Work Ahead – Identifying Usability Gaps

Kim Snedaker, Manager of E-Business Services, led the effort to seek out design firms and usability specialists who could help AAA Mid-Atlantic get back on the road to usability. Happily, she says, she came across HFI. Right away, she says, "Enlightenment began to dawn."

HFI's user experience design specialists worked with AAA Mid-Atlantic to evaluate and redesign their site. Test users reported being overwhelmed by an excess of information.

"It's too jumbled," said one. "There's nothing to catch my attention." The information design was chockablock, Scott found, because "business interests, both strategic and tactical were competitive with regard to their turf on the site."

Kim agrees. "When the business owners came to us, everything was in terms of the Home page – everyone wanted a piece of 'prime' real estate. So it wasn't surprising that the Home page got crowded with too much information. There was a real silo mentality – topics, content, and organization of the site focused on what we thought, rather than what our members and prospects thought. There was a tremendous amount of 'AAA-speak' on the site."

Owning the Vehicle – Meeting E-business Goals with CUA Training

Once they began to work with HFI, Scott and Kim realized two things. First, they wanted to put the user experience at the core of AAA Mid-Atlantic's e-business operations. Second, unless their whole team owned the principles of user-centered design, they would never be able to arrive at that goal. So as they worked with HFI on the website redesign, Scott and Kim went through Certified Usability Analyst training along with almost everyone in their 17-person department.

With CUA training under their seatbelts, the E-Business team was able to look at their site in a whole new way as they collaborated with HFI.

"The training really helped us see how users interacted with the site," says Kim. "As a small but important example, consider our old SAVINGS tab. We called it Savings because the internal name of the program is Show Your Card & Save, and it's referred to internally as Savings. But when we conducted our research, users defined this as Discounts – and more importantly Discounts for Members. Now that shows the importance of labeling. It also shows the importance of having data feed your design."

"As such," Kim adds, "we've changed the label from Savings to Discounts for Members. In our second round of validation testing, when we spoke to users about this label and asked what they would expect to see there, they indicated that, in fact, they expect to see 'All of My Discounts,' the aggregated discounts their AAA membership provides them on auto insurance, travel, etc. Users think much more holistically."

So far the new site design, driven by key marketing objectives and user perceptions, is outperforming the original design in many areas. Members and non-members are finding what they are looking for – user testing revealed a 99% success rate, compared to the original 54% – leading to increases in traffic to key pages like membership and auto insurance, resulting in more online leads, and increased consumer awareness about the breadth of AAA's product offerings.

The Long and Winding Road to Usability

Scott, Kim and their team understand that user-centered design is more like a road than a destination. "It's an evolving site," says Scott. "Rome was not built in a day. We are approaching the new website in a systematic, phased fashion that gives us an opportunity to succeed by building on preceding phases. Now we're implementing persuasive Web 2.0 features like social networking for the AAA community."

Kim says that many of their ongoing design initiatives are centered around persuasion, emotion, and trust (PET design™). "It's important to engage our members in an ongoing fashion," says Kim. "We've reorganized the site and begun the process of restyling our content with an emotional appeal – rewriting it from a perspective of being in our users' shoes."

The E-Business team is happy about how CUA training has already begun to impact AAA Mid-Atlantic.

"It has provided a different perspective," says Scott. "The difference between our approach now and the way we used to do things is like night and day. Now, when we engage a business line on any project or initiative, they understand that we will deliver a solution to their business objectives by utilizing a user-centered approach…looking at a more balanced approach between the user experience and perspective and our own internal business needs."

"It's nothing short of a culture change," agrees Kim. "Over time, hopefully, we'll have institutionalized usability so well that every area of the organization will be thinking that way on its own."

Spencer Gerrol, HFI's Executive Director, says that since undergoing CUA training, AAA Mid-Atlantic's E-Business team are not just practitioners of user-centered design, they are becoming real leaders in the field. "They can become teachers of the value of usability," he says.

Scott modestly says, "What we wanted to do was work with HFI at every step, not just follow along. We wanted to really be involved in the process. HFI were great mentors, but because we had taken CUA training we weren't going to be beholden to them either – we were going to apply these principles ourselves. We've put tools in our toolbox, now let's apply them in an ongoing, evolutionary way."

Certainly seems as if CUA training has put AAA Mid-Atlantic's E-Business team in the driver's seat.

CUA of the Month

Each month we highlight the successes and achievements of a different member of our CUA community. If you are a Certified Usability Analyst and would like to be considered for CUA of the Month recognition, please send a brief professional bio to hfi@humanfactors.com

Privacy policy

Reviewed: 18 Mar 2014

This Privacy Policy governs the manner in which Human Factors International, Inc., an Iowa corporation ("HFI") collects, uses, maintains and discloses information collected from users (each, a "User") of its humanfactors.com website and any derivative or affiliated websites on which this Privacy Policy is posted (collectively, the "Website"). HFI reserves the right, at its discretion, to change, modify, add or remove portions of this Privacy Policy at any time by posting such changes to this page. You understand that you have the affirmative obligation to check this Privacy Policy periodically for changes, and you hereby agree to periodically review this Privacy Policy for such changes. The continued use of the Website following the posting of changes to this Privacy Policy constitutes an acceptance of those changes.

Cookies

HFI may use "cookies" or "web beacons" to track how Users use the Website. A cookie is a piece of software that a web server can store on Users’ PCs and use to identify Users should they visit the Website again. Users may adjust their web browser software if they do not wish to accept cookies. To withdraw your consent after accepting a cookie, delete the cookie from your computer.

Privacy

HFI believes that every User should know how it utilizes the information collected from Users. The Website is not directed at children under 13 years of age, and HFI does not knowingly collect personally identifiable information from children under 13 years of age online. Please note that the Website may contain links to other websites. These linked sites may not be operated or controlled by HFI. HFI is not responsible for the privacy practices of these or any other websites, and you access these websites entirely at your own risk. HFI recommends that you review the privacy practices of any other websites that you choose to visit.

HFI is based, and this website is hosted, in the United States of America. If User is from the European Union or other regions of the world with laws governing data collection and use that may differ from U.S. law and User is registering an account on the Website, visiting the Website, purchasing products or services from HFI or the Website, or otherwise using the Website, please note that any personally identifiable information that User provides to HFI will be transferred to the United States. Any such personally identifiable information provided will be processed and stored in the United States by HFI or a service provider acting on its behalf. By providing your personally identifiable information, User hereby specifically and expressly consents to such transfer and processing and the uses and disclosures set forth herein.

In the course of its business, HFI may perform expert reviews, usability testing, and other consulting work where personal privacy is a concern. HFI believes in the importance of protecting personal information, and may use measures to provide this protection, including, but not limited to, using consent forms for participants or "dummy" test data.

The Information HFI Collects

Users browsing the Website without registering an account or affirmatively providing personally identifiable information to HFI do so anonymously. Otherwise, HFI may collect personally identifiable information from Users in a variety of ways. Personally identifiable information may include, without limitation, (i)contact data (such as a User’s name, mailing and e-mail addresses, and phone number); (ii)demographic data (such as a User’s zip code, age and income); (iii) financial information collected to process purchases made from HFI via the Website or otherwise (such as credit card, debit card or other payment information); (iv) other information requested during the account registration process; and (v) other information requested by our service vendors in order to provide their services. If a User communicates with HFI by e-mail or otherwise, posts messages to any forums, completes online forms, surveys or entries or otherwise interacts with or uses the features on the Website, any information provided in such communications may be collected by HFI. HFI may also collect information about how Users use the Website, for example, by tracking the number of unique views received by the pages of the Website, or the domains and IP addresses from which Users originate. While not all of the information that HFI collects from Users is personally identifiable, it may be associated with personally identifiable information that Users provide HFI through the Website or otherwise. HFI may provide ways that the User can opt out of receiving certain information from HFI. If the User opts out of certain services, User information may still be collected for those services to which the User elects to subscribe. For those elected services, this Privacy Policy will apply.

How HFI Uses Information

HFI may use personally identifiable information collected through the Website for the specific purposes for which the information was collected, to process purchases and sales of products or services offered via the Website if any, to contact Users regarding products and services offered by HFI, its parent, subsidiary and other related companies in order to otherwise to enhance Users’ experience with HFI. HFI may also use information collected through the Website for research regarding the effectiveness of the Website and the business planning, marketing, advertising and sales efforts of HFI. HFI does not sell any User information under any circumstances.

Disclosure of Information

HFI may disclose personally identifiable information collected from Users to its parent, subsidiary and other related companies to use the information for the purposes outlined above, as necessary to provide the services offered by HFI and to provide the Website itself, and for the specific purposes for which the information was collected. HFI may disclose personally identifiable information at the request of law enforcement or governmental agencies or in response to subpoenas, court orders or other legal process, to establish, protect or exercise HFI’s legal or other rights or to defend against a legal claim or as otherwise required or allowed by law. HFI may disclose personally identifiable information in order to protect the rights, property or safety of a User or any other person. HFI may disclose personally identifiable information to investigate or prevent a violation by User of any contractual or other relationship with HFI or the perpetration of any illegal or harmful activity. HFI may also disclose aggregate, anonymous data based on information collected from Users to investors and potential partners. Finally, HFI may disclose or transfer personally identifiable information collected from Users in connection with or in contemplation of a sale of its assets or business or a merger, consolidation or other reorganization of its business.

Personal Information as Provided by User

If a User includes such User’s personally identifiable information as part of the User posting to the Website, such information may be made available to any parties using the Website. HFI does not edit or otherwise remove such information from User information before it is posted on the Website. If a User does not wish to have such User’s personally identifiable information made available in this manner, such User must remove any such information before posting. HFI is not liable for any damages caused or incurred due to personally identifiable information made available in the foregoing manners. For example, a User posts on an HFI-administered forum would be considered Personal Information as provided by User and subject to the terms of this section.

Security of Information

Information about Users that is maintained on HFI’s systems or those of its service providers is protected using industry standard security measures. However, no security measures are perfect or impenetrable, and HFI cannot guarantee that the information submitted to, maintained on or transmitted from its systems will be completely secure. HFI is not responsible for the circumvention of any privacy settings or security measures relating to the Website by any Users or third parties.

Correcting, Updating, Accessing or Removing Personal Information

If a User’s personally identifiable information changes, or if a User no longer desires to receive non-account specific information from HFI, HFI will endeavor to provide a way to correct, update and/or remove that User’s previously-provided personal data. This can be done by emailing a request to HFI at hfi@humanfactors.com. Additionally, you may request access to the personally identifiable information as collected by HFI by sending a request to HFI as set forth above. Please note that in certain circumstances, HFI may not be able to completely remove a User’s information from its systems. For example, HFI may retain a User’s personal information for legitimate business purposes, if it may be necessary to prevent fraud or future abuse, for account recovery purposes, if required by law or as retained in HFI’s data backup systems or cached or archived pages. All retained personally identifiable information will continue to be subject to the terms of the Privacy Policy to which the User has previously agreed.

Contacting HFI

If you have any questions or comments about this Privacy Policy, you may contact HFI via any of the following methods:
Human Factors International, Inc.
PO Box 2020
1680 highway 1, STE 3600
Fairfield IA 52556
hfi@humanfactors.com
(800) 242-4480

Terms and Conditions for Public Training Courses

Reviewed: 18 Mar 2014

Cancellation of Course by HFI

HFI reserves the right to cancel any course up to 14 (fourteen) days prior to the first day of the course. Registrants will be promptly notified and will receive a full refund or be transferred to the equivalent class of their choice within a 12-month period. HFI is not responsible for travel expenses or any costs that may be incurred as a result of cancellations.

Cancellation of Course by Participants (All regions except India)

$100 processing fee if cancelling within two weeks of course start date.

Cancellation / Transfer by Participants (India)

4 Pack + Exam registration: Rs. 10,000 per participant processing fee (to be paid by the participant) if cancelling or transferring the course (4 Pack-CUA/CXA) registration before three weeks from the course start date. No refund or carry forward of the course fees if cancelling or transferring the course registration within three weeks before the course start date.

Cancellation / Transfer by Participants (Online Courses)

$100 processing fee if cancelling within two weeks of course start date. No cancellations or refunds less than two weeks prior to the first course start date.

Individual Modules: Rs. 3,000 per participant ‘per module’ processing fee (to be paid by the participant) if cancelling or transferring the course (any Individual HFI course) registration before three weeks from the course start date. No refund or carry forward of the course fees if cancelling or transferring the course registration within three weeks before the course start date.

Exam: Rs. 3,000 per participant processing fee (to be paid by the participant) if cancelling or transferring the pre agreed CUA/CXA exam date before three weeks from the examination date. No refund or carry forward of the exam fees if requesting/cancelling or transferring the CUA/CXA exam within three weeks before the examination date.

No Recording Permitted

There will be no audio or video recording allowed in class. Students who have any disability that might affect their performance in this class are encouraged to speak with the instructor at the beginning of the class.

Course Materials Copyright

The course and training materials and all other handouts provided by HFI during the course are published, copyrighted works proprietary and owned exclusively by HFI. The course participant does not acquire title nor ownership rights in any of these materials. Further the course participant agrees not to reproduce, modify, and/or convert to electronic format (i.e., softcopy) any of the materials received from or provided by HFI. The materials provided in the class are for the sole use of the class participant. HFI does not provide the materials in electronic format to the participants in public or onsite courses.