A long-term partnership with ICS

The collaboration with ICS arose a few years ago when we were asked to participate in one of their projects. Our design and front-end expertise would be the perfect complement. Together with Clixicon's backend development, ICS's market insights and Online Dialog's knowledge on conversion improvement, a promising partnership was born.

One of the biggest projects we have done with ICS is making the existing VISA World Card website responsive. It was quite a challenge to communicate the extensive features of their products in the clearest way possible while ensuring that it became responsive on any screen size.

Designing a clear structure

There was such a large amount of information available that the first step was to break all this information down into smaller portions. When information is presented in small portions, the brain can process it more quickly and easily.

Making it visually appealing

Next, a new online style had to be designed. For this, we used "storytelling" to clearly convey the message of ICS to its online visitors.

By laying out paragraphs spatially and using lots of white in the background, the website was given a clean and uncluttered look. This would not only ensure that the message would be conveyed more clearly, it would also contribute to increasing the conversion rate.

Another element that was important for the conversion rate was the use of color. Call-to-Action buttons, for example, had to stand out but not come across as intrusive. The color orange, which was already included in the ICS corporate identity, lent itself perfectly to such action elements.

One template for future projects

Because the design and our approach proved successful, it has since served as a template for other ICS sites and pages we have worked on.

In 2015, ICS launched a new product: revolving credit. With this service, ICS offers the ability to convert debts with several debtors into one loan at a lower interest rate. Given that this was a new product, there was a lot to explain. How does it work? What is the benefit? When can I use this? How much will it cost? These are just a few examples of the many questions people had. To answer all these questions, we introduced "widgets. These allow the user to do complicated calculations without too much effort. It also provides insight into the various benefits of the product.

Mobile first

After mapping out customer journeys, it became clear that it is very likely that the user will first interact with the site via his or her cell phone during the orientation phase. To ensure that the site would also be easily accessible and reachable on a phone, we used the "mobile first" approach. This means that we set up the mobile structure first and only then worked out the desktop version.

Making the application process easier

While filling out the widgets, a lot of information is given about the user's requirements regarding the product. This information is also needed while filling out the application form. To accommodate the user during this process, we can reuse the previously entered information here.

We have reduced the original, fairly complicated application process to a form of only three steps. Here only the most relevant questions are asked based on previous actions.

Testing and fine-tuning

Nothing is perfect overnight. After working out the first design and putting it online on a staging environment, it was time for a test. This test was conducted by Valsplat, an expert in the field of user testing. The outcome and the resulting advice was used to optimize the functionality and content for the live environment.