Interview:

Brokerage Site Letting You Down? Talk to Chuck!

Despite the gloomy headlines and gloomier still 401(k) statements, Benchmark found a bright spot on the financial horizon: the recently redesigned Schwab.com. “Fewer clicks” was one of the guiding principles as the Schwab team analyzed user needs and transactions, took apart the architecture, and reconfigured the navigation and functionality to create a smoother, faster, easier experience. To get the inside story behind the new Schwab.com, we talked to Chuck — rather, to Andrew Salesky, senior vice president, web services.

Benchmark: What are the objectives behind the redesign and rebuild of Schwab.com?

Andrew Salesky: Schwab.com has been active for over ten years. When we stepped back and looked at it, and based on client feedback, our site organization was somewhat complex. And it really had a 20th century look and feel, given when we originally launched the site.

So our objectives were really two-fold. One is based upon the client feedback we’ve received to make it easier to use, which to us translated into fewer clicks to get to the information that clients most utilize.

And then the second was really a visual look and feel objective, of making the new site more of a close cousin to our unsecured or prospect site, which had been redesigned just about three years ago. So, we wanted to make it easier to use and also give it a refreshed look and feel.