May 13 2009
Paying bills online is something I really appreciate. Not only is it purely convenient and faster than writing a check and mailing it out, it's a huge paper saver. And being a web designer I can't help but observe how each company handles their online payment apps. Most of them are okay to good. As I went to pay my water bill for the second time ever, I couldn't help notice how horrible the usability was! Let me walk you through it.
So we start with the home page. Now, where is the link to pay my bill? I looked for "Pay your bill" or something similar and it took me a few more seconds than it should have.
*Click image to enlarge* Looking back at the home page I now see the Quick Links section in the top of the right sidebar. Is it me or is that the smallest font ever for any sort of "Quick Links" area ever? However, that's not even where I began to look for the link to pay my bill online. After a bit I finally found it:
*Click image to enlarge* Customer Service > Your Bill. That sort of makes sense again. I still wonder why there isn't a big "Pay your bill" link or button or graphic on the home page though. In any case, by clicking on the "Your Bill" link I figured I'd be taken to a login form where I could login and view and pay my bill. Nope. Instead I got this page:
*Click image to enlarge* A bunch of text I didn't bother reading. Instead, I looked (again) for the "Pay bill online" link. At least this time it was at the top of the list, except it was called "Your online account access". Huh? Why the inconsistency? Okay, fine, let's get on with it. Again, I expect to be taken to a login form so I can just pay my bill. Wrong again. I get this page:
*Click image to enlarge* More text I don't want to read! Oh but now the link has moved up in the hierarchy. Except the wording has changed again! "Your Online Account" – does clicking on this give me a login form? Here's hoping.
*Click image to enlarge* Doh! Wrong again! I get a pop-up window with yet another link to click on. (Note to Clean Water Services: 1999 called and they want their pop-up windows back.) Okay, so this will by my fourth click. Let's see what happens...
*Click image to enlarge* Hurray! A login form! Finally! ### Recap So basically it took 4 clicks to get to a login form so I could pay my water bill. Why?? For what it's worth, the quick link takes you straight to the pop-up window. Still, the number of links and their misleading text is a serious usability problem. Perhaps more disappointing is that their effort to make a quick links area is half-hearted at best. The text is smaller than all the other text on the page and is in a somewhat odd position for what it's supposed to be doing. I obviously don't know what kind of traffic Clean Water Services gets or what people click on most (those are hard to gauge by the way), but I would wager that paying a bill online is near the top of the list. So I wonder why that isn't a more prominent link on the home page. Okay, so yes, now that I know that the quick link to bill pay really IS a quick link, I'll probably click on it from now on. But the 4 clicks I had to go through first didn't exactly leave a favorable impression on me. Maybe I'll write a check next time.
*Click image to enlarge* Looking back at the home page I now see the Quick Links section in the top of the right sidebar. Is it me or is that the smallest font ever for any sort of "Quick Links" area ever? However, that's not even where I began to look for the link to pay my bill online. After a bit I finally found it:
*Click image to enlarge* Customer Service > Your Bill. That sort of makes sense again. I still wonder why there isn't a big "Pay your bill" link or button or graphic on the home page though. In any case, by clicking on the "Your Bill" link I figured I'd be taken to a login form where I could login and view and pay my bill. Nope. Instead I got this page:
*Click image to enlarge* A bunch of text I didn't bother reading. Instead, I looked (again) for the "Pay bill online" link. At least this time it was at the top of the list, except it was called "Your online account access". Huh? Why the inconsistency? Okay, fine, let's get on with it. Again, I expect to be taken to a login form so I can just pay my bill. Wrong again. I get this page:
*Click image to enlarge* More text I don't want to read! Oh but now the link has moved up in the hierarchy. Except the wording has changed again! "Your Online Account" – does clicking on this give me a login form? Here's hoping.
*Click image to enlarge* Doh! Wrong again! I get a pop-up window with yet another link to click on. (Note to Clean Water Services: 1999 called and they want their pop-up windows back.) Okay, so this will by my fourth click. Let's see what happens...
*Click image to enlarge* Hurray! A login form! Finally! ### Recap So basically it took 4 clicks to get to a login form so I could pay my water bill. Why?? For what it's worth, the quick link takes you straight to the pop-up window. Still, the number of links and their misleading text is a serious usability problem. Perhaps more disappointing is that their effort to make a quick links area is half-hearted at best. The text is smaller than all the other text on the page and is in a somewhat odd position for what it's supposed to be doing. I obviously don't know what kind of traffic Clean Water Services gets or what people click on most (those are hard to gauge by the way), but I would wager that paying a bill online is near the top of the list. So I wonder why that isn't a more prominent link on the home page. Okay, so yes, now that I know that the quick link to bill pay really IS a quick link, I'll probably click on it from now on. But the 4 clicks I had to go through first didn't exactly leave a favorable impression on me. Maybe I'll write a check next time.