Web User Experience Blog

Little late in posting this but the new VeriSign.com homepage is officially live. It was made official before the new year after conducting tests to determine which of several designs was performing best. The winner was determined after examining usage and analytics patterns from visitors to the site over approximately a quarter. We conducted A/B tests on a couple of new designs along with the original homepage.

With the redesign, the intent is to improve your overall user experience by updating the look and feel of the design so it is more pleasing to the eye, surface more relevant content, and improve the overall usability. We know that our users are busy and that their time is valuable, so we've strived to optimize the homepage so it is more gateway-oriented - allowing you to learn about what you need to faster and get you to where you need to faster so you can ultimately be successful. Navigational elements, entry points, and content was written so they are scannable and intuitive to enable quick and easier access.

Here is an overview of the page:
1. The new country site selector is an in-page popup pane which allows you to select the site you wish to visit directly from the homepage without leaving the page.

2. The top level navigation bar has an onhover color change effect to indicate menu items are active as well as downward facing carats to visually indicate that there are flyout menus for sublinks. These links provide valuable deep links into specific content areas.

3. There is now a full-page interactive flash banner which houses multiple overarching messages which helps you learn about issues relevant to you and how VeriSign helps you solve them.

4. For users looking to transact, there is a clearly defined and improved space for this purpose beneath the flash banner.

5. In the center well area, there is a section for learning about the latest product promotions, events, announcements, etc. This component is in the form of an interactive auto-rotating scroller which is also self-directed.

6. To the right of the promotional area, we have an accordian which we are using to surface task based as well as role-based navigation and quick links to other destinations on the site.

7. At the bottom of the page, there is a News ticker to keep you up-to-date on the latest news from VeriSign. This element also auto-rotates as well as allows for manual rotation.

8. We have 'Feedback' links in the header and footer of the page for easy access and in case you miss it in either spot.

Overall, there are more Web 2.0-esque features and functionality on the page. There are more bells and whistles intended to enable interactivity and functionality. We strived to carefully balance form and function. The elements have been pulled together in a cohesive and synergistic manner to enhance - not encumber - the user experience.

Check it out at www.verisign.com and let us know how it is working for you. Would love to hear your comments.

Posted by Reshma Kumar at 10:21 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Here is an informative video review of one of VeriSign's SSL Certificates - Secure Site Pro with EV SSL. Conducted by Armando Roggio of the PeC Review, he explains what EV SSL is and why you need it.

He also rates the product a 4.5 out of 5!

"I really like VeriSign's Secure Site Pro with EV SSL. I believe it does a good job of actually securing customer data as it passes back and forth between the browser and server, and I think that it gives merchants an equally powerful tool for encouraging customers to buy. Bottom line, that security seal and green extension in the address bar make customers feel safe." - Armando Roggio, The PeC Review

My favorite part of the video is that he shows several pages on the site - navigating from the new VeriSign.com homepage to the SSL: How It Works page.

Watch video: VeriSign's Secure Site Pro with EV SSL

Posted by Reshma Kumar at 5:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Happy holidays to everyone!

Hope your New Year is a good one.

Posted by Reshma Kumar at 2:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Doing your holiday shopping? Here are some quick tips for staying safe online:

1) Make sure site is secure. Look for some kind of trust mark such as the VeriSign Check. Click on the check to ensure the check is authentic because a fake site can also fake the seal. A new window should open and make sure the organization listed is the business you're expecting and the site listed matches the URL of the site you are transacting with.

2) Look at the browser address bar before entering any personally identiable information. The URL should start with 'https' with the 's' meaning 'secure' versus 'http'.

3) Make sure the lock icon appears in the top (in Internet Explorer) or bottom (in Firefox) of the window of the browser and not on the page itself. Some fraudulent sites will mimic a browser bar at the bottom of the page with a lock image. You should be able to click on the lock to see site security information.

Posted by Reshma Kumar at 3:38 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

In the spirit of giving, the VeriSign Web team donated time yesterday at the Family Giving Tree.

Web team elves sorted gifts in the hope of making every child feel special and like a valuable part of their community.

Great work everyone! And thanks to Debbie for suggesting and organizing this.

Posted by Reshma Kumar at 10:20 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

We recently added some visual uplift to a few of our SSL pages to augment the textual copy. Given that different users consume content differently through a combination of text and/or graphics, we wanted to ensure we were designing for this. For instance, for those of you wondering How Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) Works, we have put together a visual of the three ways SSL protects your Website and customers, along with diagrams of how encryption and authentication works.

The information page on E-Commerce, Trust, and SSL now has some additional graphics and a bold, can't-miss graphic of key stats.

(Sources: Synovate/GMI Research, September 2008; Javelin Strategy and Research, March 2009)

As well, the Server-Gated Cryptography (SGC): True 128-Bit SSL Encryption page has also benefited from a little visual reinforcement.

By iterating on the presentation of the content through a mix of text, graphics, and diagrams, our goal is to present the content in a more engaging, interesting, and easily consumable format. As a result, we hopefully get these pages working a little harder and better in informing and educating users.

Posted by Reshma Kumar at 2:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Tim Callan, VP of Marketing for the SSL business, recently wrote about the newly redesigned Thawte Website.

Posted by Reshma Kumar at 8:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

We just launched the redesign of the watch.tv homepage last Monday. One of the elements that we had a lot of fun putting together was the digital media frenzy animation at the top of the page. There is a good amount of Web 2.0 features such as video, links to our social media spaces, integration of twitter and blog feeds, and an interactive carousel slideshow. The rest of the site will be catching up shortly. Check out the video below:

Posted by Reshma Kumar at 9:37 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

The new homepage design which we are testing out was on display at Analyst Day in New York City on Thursday. The day ended with the VeriSign Team ringing the NASDAQ closing bell.

Posted by Reshma Kumar at 7:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

We have rolled out a new header and footer on the VeriSign.com site.

We simplified and streamlined the options. For example, we combined the country site identifier and the worldwide site selector into one utility. Using an in-page popup, users can now navigate to another country site from the page they are on without going to a new page to select the country site they wish to visit.

The search utility has been consolidated into a single unit encompassing the 'Search' label, text field, and search button.

On- and off-states have been added to the top-level navigation. The pull-down menus on the navigation have been freshened up and the links and hovers made blue to denote them as more actionable.

The footer has been pared down and includes the standard footer links and the VeriSign Secured Seal to verify the authenticity of the site.

And, the 'feedback' () link in the header and footer with the rotating cross-hair icon allows users to easily provide their feedback as they navigate the site. Look forward to your feedback.

Posted by Reshma Kumar at 12:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

We have been looking into getting a digital asset management system to house, manage, and retrieve our graphical, marketing, and other files. In researching this online, we found that there wasn't a lot helpful information out there. So, to save you some time, here are some things to look for when picking an asset management system:

• Hosted (SaaS) or in-house client-side application
• Ease of use and user-friendly interface - This one was key for us as we found many solutions with complex, multi-stepped, and poor UIs.
• Disk space - default capacity and scaling up options
• Subscription and setup fees
• Number of users and admins supported and upgrading options
• Ability to brand interface
• File upload & download options - single file, batch uploads, ftp
• Basic and advanced search capabilities
• Supported file formats
• Preview mode of static versus multimedia files - being able to view a streaming file snippet within the tool is a great feature
• Ability add metadata, keywords, captioning, etc.
• Auto-rendering multiple file sizes of a single file
• Report generation and alerts
• Localization support
• Lightbox/favorites
• Third-party access - e.g. for agencies you work with, you can send them a pick-up link for a file without the need to login to access the file.
• Access rights - security and password protection capabilities.
• Customer references

Posted by Reshma Kumar at 12:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

We have rolled out our new homepage redesign today! Select users will see the new page initially; some may see different versions of the new homepage as we are conducting tests. The final redesign will be switched over in the coming month when it will be available to everyone.

The goals of the redesign include improving the usability and usefulness of the homepage. Our hope is that it helps you to be more successful and productive as a gateway to accomplishing your tasks.

What hasn't changed on our homepage:

• Positioning of the contact us and worldwide sites links, and search utility.


• Top level navigation menu functions in the same way with dropdown menus.


• We didn't really remove anything although we improved the content.

Here are the main changes you can expect to find:

• Interactive banner: An informational section to learn more about Internet-related issues which affect you and your business and how VeriSign can help.


• SSL Certificates box: Quick and easier access to select and manage certificates.


• Featured items: Carousel slide show highlighting products, events, and more.


• Quick navigation: Accordion panels allowing you to self-select based on your role (Information for), task (I need to), or simply jump links into popular/key sections (Quick links).


• News bar: News ticker to get the latest VeriSign news.

Test drive it for yourself and let us know what you think: www.verisign.com.

Stay tuned for future posts on the new homepage!

REDESIGNED HOMEPAGE:

CURRENT HOMEPAGE:

Posted by Reshma Kumar at 4:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)