Optimizing EQ Bank's user experience to cut CACs and drive conversions

Our approach to optimization is deeply rooted in our frameworks. Using our LIFT and Levers™ frameworks, our team evaluated Equitable Bank’s website and identified crucial areas for improvement. This included a deep-dive web analytics audit and a review of our experiment archive to identify winning strategies from similar programs that could be adapted to Equitable Bank’s unique context.

Through this initial research, we were able to identify several areas of improvement and begin driving results right from the get-go.

Reimagining EQ Bank’s homepage hero section

Like many websites, EQ Bank’s homepage included a carousel that rotated through a number of its most popular products. Our initial research suggested this was a worst-of-both-worlds approach, neither highlighting the bank’s value proposition nor showcasing its products.

Reimagining EQ Bank’s homepage hero section

As a result, we chose to remove the hero carousel altogether and replace it with a fixed hero section highlighting the bank’s primary value proposition. All the products previously mentioned in the carousel were then moved into quick link cards directly below the hero.

This homepage redesign significantly increased email verifications and improved overall application completion rates by almost 10%.

Quicklinks Redesign

In another homepage test, we tackled the Quicklinks section below the fold. Our research suggested that the way the information was being presented was confusing for users and that it might be harming their ability to find relevant products.

Improving the information architecture of the Quicklinks section

We therefore decided to reimagine this section’s information architecture, creating clear product categories and improving the overarching layout. These changes were soon validated when we ran this new Quicklinks section against the previous one in an a/b test and it increased overall application completes by 7.5%.

Using our Levers Framework to drive through the program’s plateau

Unfortunately, despite hitting all of our launch and CPA targets during the initial period of our engagement, we eventually hit a stumbling block: the winning tests began to dry up, and we were faced with a series of losing and inconclusive tests.

For example, in one test we ran on the Comprehension Lever (more on Levers shortly), we sought to improve visibility and awareness of EQ Bank’s Personal banking products. To do this, we adopted an industry best practice that involved auto-exposing ‘Personal’ navigational elements, but this test produced an inconclusive result.

Autoexposing ‘Personal’ navigation elements produced a negative result

Similarly, in another test, this time on the Motivation Lever, we tested different value propositions and messaging to determine the most effective ways to communicate Equitable Bank’s offering. After seven days, neither variation proved successful, and application starts and email verifications decreased.

Testing different value propositions had a negative affect in both variants.

Performance plateaus of this sort are a common problem for early optimization programs. If handled poorly, they can spell the demise of a program. However, provided we have a structured means of extracting macro-insights from our testing programs, negative and inconclusive tests can often be just as valuable – if not more so – than winners.

At Conversion, we’ve developed the Levers™ Framework for this purpose.

The Levers Framework is a data-backed taxonomy of the user experience features that influence user behaviour. To provide a high-level overview, this framework, detailed here, categorizes experiments into five core levers:

• Cost Lever – Addressing the perceived and actual financial-, time-, or effort-related costs associated with taking action.
• Trust Lever – Building confidence in the brand, product, or service to alleviate anxieties and reassure users as to its trustworthiness.
• Usability Lever – Enhancing the ease of use and intuitiveness of a digital experience to remove friction and improve engagement.
• Comprehension Lever – Ensuring users fully understand the product, service, or offer to make informed decisions.
• Motivation Lever – Strengthening the user’s drive to take action through persuasive messaging, urgency, or compelling value propositions.

By applying our Levers Framework to the complete set of tests we’d run so far — winners, losers, and inconclusives — we unearthed several macro-insights that allowed us to break through the plateau and begin driving results once again.

One such insight related to Usability: tests run on the Usability lever had a significantly higher win rate and average uplift than those run on other levers. We therefore chose to 1) prioritise tests on the Usability lever, since these were performing best; and 2) transform some of our previous losers and inconclusive tests into Usability focussed tests.

For two powerful examples, consider the following tests:

We re-tested the navigation structure, this time focussing on Usability improvements in the form of more explicit calls-to-action (CTAs) and a more intuitive layout. These refinements significantly improved visitors’ ability to find relevant information and take desired actions, which in turn resulted in a significant increase in conversions.

By switching our focus from Comprehension to Usability, we were able to improve the Nav bar and drive a conversion rate uplift

In another test, we chose to return our attention to the Quicklinks section on the homepage. We believed the Usability of this section could be improved further by making the copy more concise and readable, and we were proven right: when we ran this newly created version of the Quicklinks section against the control in an a/b test, it increased all of our KPIs by at least 5%.

By further improving the Usability of the Quicklinks section, we were able to drive significant conversion rate uplifts

Experimentation isn’t just about winning—it’s about learning. By applying our Levers Framework to the full set of experiments we’d run so far with Equitable Bank, we were able to identify macro-trends and push straight through our performance plateau to begin driving results once again.