Background
First Commonwealth Bank supports a diverse audience through its website, from individuals opening their first checking account to business owners managing payments and receivables. While the platform offered extensive content and functionality, the overall experience wasn’t always working in customers’ favor. Users were encountering friction at critical moments, with complex navigation, unclear login pathways, and difficult-to-use comparison tools creating unnecessary obstacles along key journeys.
Our approach centered on understanding the banking experience from the customer’s point of view. We analyzed real-world user journeys to uncover where customers encountered friction, uncertainty, or barriers to completing key tasks. These insights informed a focused evaluation of the most business-critical pages and features, where we conducted a comprehensive UX review guided by established usability principles and digital best practices. Every finding was translated into clear, prioritized recommendations designed to improve clarity, ease of use, and task completion, directly shaping the UX strategy that guided the redesign during the Umbraco upgrade.
Solution
Based on findings from the UX audit, the redesign focused on reducing friction at key moments in the customer journey, particularly around navigation, account access, and product comparison. The following examples represent several high-priority enhancements delivered as part of a broader UX and CMS modernization effort.
Navigation Simplification
We restructured the mega menu into clear, customer-focused categories (Bank, Borrow, Invest, Protect) that better aligned with user expectations. This reduced choice overload, improved findability, and created a more consistent experience across desktop and mobile.
Centralized Login Experience
The login modal was redesigned to include all banking portals in one place, eliminating the need for users to search across the site and making account access faster and more intuitive.
Improved Product Comparison
Account comparison tools were rebuilt to function cleanly across devices. Enhancements like improved sticky headers on desktop and a mobile-friendly layout helped users maintain context and evaluate options with greater clarity.
Enhanced Product Overview Pages
Account option cards were redesigned to surface key information, such as fees and benefits, more prominently. Stronger visual hierarchy and more scannable layouts made it easier for users to compare accounts and move forward confidently.
These targeted improvements, along with broader experience enhancements across the site, laid the foundation for measurable improvements in usability, engagement, and task completion.
Impact
By grounding the redesign in real customer journeys, insights from the comprehensive UX audit directly shaped targeted design and functionality improvements, reducing friction across critical banking user flows. The resulting experience delivers a more intuitive, accessible, and SEO-optimized site that is fully ADA compliant and better aligned with both customer expectations and business objectives. Once approved, the high-fidelity designs were brought to life through the CMS upgrade—enhancing site security, performance, and scalability while providing a future-ready, flexible foundation for continued growth.
