Introduction

I've created a quick voluntary redesign of the XE Trade currency exchange service dashboard and Basic Trade (first screen only), out of sheer frustration when I first used their service a few months ago. When I started this post, I wasn't aware that XE Trade was in the process of updating their site. A notification on the login screen now tells me my account will be migrated to the new design at some point, but for the moment, the screenshots presented are exactly what I see. Information on how to preview the new UI is found in the P.S. below. Any new accounts will probably have the shiny new look.

Background

XE.com is well known for its online Universal Currency Converter, running since 1995. I've been using the UCC for well over 10 years now and it's brilliant. According to their website, they began their online foreign exchange service in 2002, apparently known as XE Trade Global Payments (unfortunately, I couldn't find that exactl title anywhere within the service).

However, it seems to me their foreign exchange service was designed for people with a financial services background or intimate knowledge of currency trading, and not the rest of us. But perhaps they should! For example, someone who wants to send some money to their sister in Sydney or is going abroad temporarily, or happens to have a bank account in another country might have trouble figuring it out.

Side story: six years ago, while living in the UK, five of my friends and I went on The Great Scottish Road Trip. At the present time, five of us have left the UK and are now resident in the USA, Canada, and Australia. The one remaining in the UK is actually German. We are regular people, who like a bit of adventure. People like us probably aren't XE Trade's dominant market segment, but the world is getting smaller and there's a genuine need to assist these folks.

Therefore, I am approaching this quick redesign of the existing design from the average person's point of view.

To move money to a foreign account, the default option is to move money from one's own domestic bank account to one's own foreign bank account, but it means having to pay large bank fees on both sides of the transaction. It's your money all along but the banks each take a chunk of it. Thanks a lot. Although I've been aware of XE Trade's online service for a few years now (as an American ex-pat, moving money from US accounts to foreign accounts is a hot topic!), it wasn't until I returned to the US earlier this year that I signed up.

Setting up a new XE Trade account takes a bit of work. Rightly so, there is a long application form and several identity checks that one must satisfy in order to make their first currency exchange. Once I got the phone call that I was verified, I was very keen to move money to my new checking account here. What a disappointment! I went in circles, had to look up terminology, had to Google with the phrase 'book a trade', and I had no idea how to 'initiate a trade'. The inconsistent terminology is a problem. Trade, exchange, order, bid, buy/sell, forward, transaction, booking... they seem to be used interchangeably for what is actually a foreign exchange transaction. Once you figure that out, life gets little bit easier ....well, when using the service!

And no, I didn't call customer service because I only had my British cell phone and besides, I wasn't going to be beaten. A couple hours later, I did figure it out.

The Dashboard's Usability Problems

The dashboard is the page that appears once you've logged in. Overall, it's a pretty overwhelming first impression, according to one volunteer usability tester.

[caption id="caption" align="alignnone" width="493" caption="Existing XE Trade dashboard with my notes. Click image to see full size."][/caption]

• It's pretty obvious that you're on a dashboard of sorts, but there are far too many choices and no clear call to action.
• There is no visual hierarchy; every heading is about the same size.
• The font sizes are too small.
• The Payment Details section contains words 'add', 'edit' and 'view'. They don't look clickable, but in that layout, they seem like they should be clickable.
• The Reporting section has links to transaction history, and there's also Finalized Transactions and Activity Summary sections. These should be streamlined and reorganized.
• Accounts Maintenance is unlikely to be used often and doesn't need to be on the main dashboard.
• Keyboard users are forced to tab through each of the '?' help buttons, which isn't great for accessibility.

Proposed Dashboard Changes

[caption id="caption" align="alignnone" width="604" caption="Wireframe of redesign of XE Trades dashboard. Click image to see full size."][/caption]

1. The utility navigation includes links to Home (xe.com) and About XE Trade (xe.com/fx/).
2. The logged in users name is now appearing, along with a customer number (handy if you need to call customer service). It's welcoming to see one's own name (unless further research says it shouldn't be implemented on this site). The username remains under the utility navigation.
3. 'Your Activity' includes active and recently completed transactions.
4. A single link will help users decide which option they should choose.
5. Information underneath each type of exchange service has been rewritten to sound more human and less financially-focused.
6. The dashboard has been divided into four tabs.

Note: Research would need to be done to determine if some of their exchange services are more popular than others. It might be advisable to give the less popular options a lower priority on the page.

The Basic Trade's Usability Problems

[caption id="caption" align="alignnone" width="505" caption="Screenshot of current Basic Trade page with my notes. Click image to see full size."][/caption]

In the existing site, the very first question asked is whether the trade is being done on behalf of a third party. My initial reaction to this question was confusion. What counts as a third party? Do that many people create transactions for third parties?

It's worth noting that in the new demo, the Third Party question is now the first step (on it's own page) of Basic Trade. I am assuming there are good reasons why they've put Third Party on it's own page now — overall workflow with the underlying technology, perhaps? And perhaps people were forgetting to add their third party information prior to starting the Basic Trade process.

Next, the Buy or Sell Amount section is a slightly confusing. First of all, if you're moving money from one bank account to another, you're not buying anything, you're just exchanging currency, so the terminology seems a bit strange. Secondly, these form feels don't flow very well and are slightly nerve-racking. They've tried to explain how to fill in each input on the right side of the page, but it's not quite successful.

Proposed Basic Trade Changes

1. Let users know how many steps there will be and how far they've progressed.
2. The form needs to be a lot friendlier or at the very least, not be so confusing.
3. A large 'Next' button would make it absolutely clear what the next step is. Subsequent pages should allow them to return to the previous page. Rather than a 'Cancel' button, which could prove devastating, microcopy should let them know they can cancel the transaction simply by navigating away (thereby not completing the transaction).

Final Thoughts

Don't get me wrong, I think XE Trade is a fantastic service. It's been very handy during the awkward first months of moving abroad, when you aren't necessarily getting paid in the local currency. They have great customer service and I'll recommend them to anyone in my situation.

I do, however, hope they give me the user interface shown in the demo sooner rather than later, because it looks far more attractive and usable. And I'll be sure to have fun dissecting the new UI as soon as I can!

P.S. You can preview the new user interface in their Flash demos. The new UI is a big improvement over the old one: the four steps on the Basic Trade page are labeled A-D, the progress bar shows steps 1-3 and they're using tabs to break up the dashboard, just as I have done. I don't recall seeing a link to the Flash demos when I signed up at xe.com four months ago, which either means the demos are new or they aren't making them visible enough. Another tip for them: make sure you put a link to the home page from the demo page!