Survey rates ASB Bank tops for NZ website design

Friday, January 25, 2008

Survey rates ASB Bank tops for NZ website design

The ASB bank and phone companies Telecom and Vodafone have rated highest in an analysis of website design of New Zealand’s most-visited homepages.

The Massey University survey, thought to be the first quantitative analysis of the nation's top 50 websites, used 12 internationally-recognised criteria to assess their user-friendliness.

ASB bank has come out with the highest score of 11 out of a possible 12, while arch-rivals Telecom and Vodafone were second-equal with 10 points each. Fourth-equal with 9.5 points were Trademe and the University of Otago.

Study co-author Associate Professor Dennis Viehland of the College of Business, a specialist in information systems, says page design and usability are the most important areas to get right in order for a website to attract readers and keep them coming back.

Dr Viehland and co-author Fei Zhao, from the College of Sciences Institute of Information and Mathematical Sciences, say the survey provides detailed, helpful insights on effective web design for users, page designers and the businesses or services they represent.

“The gateway to any website is its homepage. Thus the design of the homepage is critical to make a positive first impression and to guide the visitor through the site,” they say.

“For commercial businesses, competitors are only a mouse click away. Businesses are more likely to lose customers if their websites cannot attract and hold a visitor’s attention.”

The study’s findings will be presented at the International Conference on Applications and Principles of Information Science being held at Massey’s Auckland campus next week (28-30 January).

ENDS

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