MyMoneyBlog Site Evaluation

1. MyMoneyBlogSite Evaluation Jason Sorley Jan 30, 2012 OPIM 5894 Principle of Web Design & Evaluation

2. Objectives • Identify design/usability issues with MyMoneyBlog • Competitive Benchmark • Expert Analysis • Task Based Scenario Testing • Provide recommendations for website improvement

3. Agenda • Industry Overview • MyMoneyBlog • Purpose • Point of Difference • Business Objective • Target Audience • Competitive Analysis • Analysis & Data Collection • Conclusions • Recommendations

4. Industry Overview • Driven by global recession, a sudden and nearly universal decline in disposable personal income (DPI) the years 2009 thru 2011 witnessed a rapid increase in the number of blogs devoted to personal finance. • WiseBread, which tracks the popularity of top sites within the personal finance genre expanded its scope from measuring and ranking 381 blogs in November of 2009 to 774 as of January 2012 • Key Consumer Drivers • Need for better ways to manage budgets • Find cost savings whenever/wherever • Do more with less • Lack of trust in traditional financial institutions

5. Industry Overview • Increase in absolute number of personal finance blogs also gave rise to specialist blogs within content niches Consumer Segment Topical Male-Focused Deals & Coupons Taxes Gen-Y Couples Retirement Angry? Investing

6. MyMoneyBlog • Purpose • Launched in 2004 as a way to break free of some longstanding financial taboos; namely publicly discussing money, income and investment. • Consumer segment focused: Personal Journey

7. MyMoneyBlog • Point of Difference (POD) • Voyeuristic look into the financial life of a married man currently in his early to mid-thirties.

8. MyMoneyBlog • Very few bloggers making a living in the industry, but may instead view it as a slightly subsidized hobby • 18% of bloggers reported a non-salary income from their blog • Mean income reported was $9,985, <$20,000 for full time professional segment • Most bloggers list “Personal Satisfaction” as the key metric with Revenue falling further down the list • Business Goals • MyMoneyBlog generates limited revenue from advertising based on page views. • Immediate goal for the blog is to generate traffic by providing value to consumers seeking a resource for personal finance information. • Currently the blog generates 450,000 page views and 275,000 unique visitors each month. • Blogger Q&A: “Started the site as a personal outlet for discussing what [he] was learning about personal finance.  As the site grew, it did start generating advertising income that is not insignificant.  Sometime in the future, once things align with a good chunk of savings… [his] goal would be to downshift to part-time work which ideally would just be writing on the blog Source: Technorati’s 2010 report State of the Blogosphere

9. Target Audience • New Users • Those with a new outlook on managing their finances. • Young married couples (Demo) • Driven out of a need to make changes in their finances (Psycho) • This segment is primarily interested in basic information such as: • Budgeting • Paying off debt • Emergency funds • Retirement plans • Peer Benchmarking (vs. blogger) • Read comments/opinion of other (established) users • Post Questions • Established Users • Slightly older/financially established (Demo) • More developed view on managing their personal finances (Psycho). • They likely already have, or are on their way to having, the basics of emergency funds and automated retirement and savings with little-to-no debt. • This segment is visiting MyMoneyBlog to: • Stay up to date on new developments • Optimize their portfolio • Find deals • Reground themselves in the discipline of personal finance • Post comments/opinion

10. Competitive Analysis – 2millionblog • Best Practices: • Clean white background • Clear first level menu bar • Limited/specific options (5) • Guide to 2millionblog for first time users • Static content • Menu • “About 2million blog” • “Current net worth”

11. Competitive Analysis – The Simple Dollar • Best Practices: • Clean white background • First level menu bar • Helpful welcome content for new users • Links to a recent book published by blogger • Provides some added credibility that the opinions listed on the site are from a topical expert. • Clear delineation of content and ads • Content on left vs. ad space on right

12. Task Based Scenario Testing • N = 8 • Focus against new user segment • Observational • Scenarios: • Learn about the blogger and their credentials • Find out how much you should have saved in your emergency fund • Find examples of budgets that you can use to start your own • Results: • Scenario #1 maintained high success rate however new users were not able to immediately locate “about me” link above the fold • Scenario #2 had high success rate, and placement of content at top of second page helped user accomplish task quickly • Scenario #3 had low success rate due to placement of category menu

13. Expert Analysis - Project Checklist • Architecture & Navigation • No first level navigation (menu bar) • Menu options are located on the right side of the page far below the fold • 37 Category Menu options • Layout & Design • Blog format is a long page of content listed in chronological order with the most recent post at the top of the page. • Approximately 90% of the blog content on home page is located below the fold. • Design is cluttered and unfocused • Content • The text is clear and easy to read however it is quite lengthy with recent posts approaching 1,000 words • Graphics • Mouse-over feedback is provided but tends to be repetitive with the content being referenced and is thus not useful

14. Conclusions & Recommendations • MyMoneyBlog is need of MAJOR improvements to design, content and layout • Recommendations: • Total overhaul • Greatest area of need = clear navigational structure • First Level Menu Bar on Home Page • Maximium 5-7 areas • “Directed” navigation menu that more clearly distinguishes content for first time and existing site users • Improved second level functionality thru a tabbed navigation element amongst common category topics such as budgeting, taxes, investing, etc. • Resort 37 category areas (e.g. budgeting for beginners vs. posts on budgeting) • Second area of need = Reduced content on Home page • Too many posts located on the home page • Too much copy included with each post. • Reduce the amount of content on the home page by allowing users to expand article thumbnails • Allows users to select/expand only those that they find relevant. • Allow users to more quickly scan recent posts • Provides the added benefit of allowing them to see more post topics/titles in a shorter amount of time. • Because recommendations are so drastic in scope, final recommendation is to revisit common user scenarios once this has been achieved to identify additional areas for site design and structure.

15. THANK YOU & KEEP ON SAVING