ABSTRACT
A bank is a financial establishment that accepts money deposited by customers, channels those deposits into lending activities and pays it out when required and makes loans at interest. They are found all over the world such as Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank Barclays Bank in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The thing though is not all are the same but are different to suit the special and always varying needs of their clients. Most banks go to great lenths to ensure that their customers are satisfied with the services they are offering, and if not, they always try to make relevant adjustments. The following tries to show just how different yet the same banks could be.
INTRODUCTION
A website is a collection of related web pages, images, texts, scripts, video, audio and multimedia files hosted on at least one web server that is visible on the internet. The best websites are created with a keen understanding of visitors’ interests, needs and expectations. Text, visual design, organization and navigation should all work together to allow visitors to find key information and complete critical tasks quickly and easily (Krug, 2005). It is on this criterion that most similarities are to be found since all websites want a satisfactory interaction for their visitors while on their websites. The ways in which the different pages of your site relate to one another and ensures information is organized in a consistent and predictable way on each page is called information architecture and it is on that basis we shall site our first similarities (Nielsen, 1999).
GOALS AND PREFERENCES
First there are some similarities in defining the key stake holder’s expectations in creating their sites that falls under their goals. They are explaining what they do which is banking, how they do it and what they offer. For example, most of the ADCB website and that of Barclays Bank navigational structures already have the word bank on them for example Personal Banking and Premier Banking respectively. These further have navigational links that will take the audience to their banking content. There is a great functional requirement similarity in the websites. For example both of them provide a self-service option for example that of ADCB falls under ‘Ways To Bank’ while that of Barclays UAE falls under ‘Mobile and Tablet Banking’. Another is that both are offering website accounts to their banks where their audiences can log in. Both websites are moderate in length and do not therefore have pages that will require them add another level of navigation that will link directly to overview pages that contain brief introductory content aimed at each of your site’s key audiences. For a new audience, the website have an option where one can get to know about them on ther nagivation written ‘About Us’. Finally, an audience seeing these websites for the first time will first see their captivating pictures (Krug, 2005). They are picture slides that instantly captivate you with a welcoming atmosphere hinting at an audiences desires, with pictures of joyous looking satisfied people and cool places through a brilliant blend of HD colours and a tinge of sophistication creating a most desirable allure.
SPECIALIZED SERVICES
The ADCB site offers specific customer satisfaction especially for its main clients, that is, the locals of the UAE. A small instance like the point where it offers Islamic Banking shows that the bank is conscious of the fact of a majority Islam population and cares to cater for that need through pictures and it also has a words in Arabic for the same cause. It also caters for the fact that it is cosmopolitan and provides services to that population as well through use of english and such options as offshore banking. The same would not be said for Barclays ae because it seem to cater for overseas clients with an affiliation to the UAE.
MAJOR DIFFERENCES
The two websites also have differences and these differences vary in how conspicous they are. It is very obvious from the pictures that Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank’s website is more influenced by the UAE culture. There are more pictures of men in Akaru Arab head gear and women in Hijabs. There are also several writings in Arabic in the ACDB website than Barclays UAE. The Barclays UAE’s pictures of people are more Caucasian. This marries with the second difference where it could be assumed that the target audience of the Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank is more of the native people who are mostly Arab while Barclay’s which is international will not target just the Arab community but the bigger spectrum. There is a difference in the navigation structure. That of Barclays UAE has vertical navigation from the horizontal navigation bars on their home pate while that of Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank does not. For example, when you point your cursor on Premier Banking, the following vertical option will appear, Premier Banking Account, Premier credit card and Refer a Premier. The is another visual difference where the website of Barclays UAE is not cluttered. That of the Abu Dhabi is a little more cluttered at the bottom of their home page. The ACDB Bank and website has more offers than Barclays ae. On the main horizantal bar ACDB has 12 offers while Barclays ae offers eight. ADCB website is also a most colourful site that keeps one alert. It color vary from red, to blue green. One subconciously finds themself clicking sites to see which color it will turn to next. It also has some brown and many moving pictures while that of Barclays bank is monotonous blue that does put an effort to keep their audience glued to their screen but from one instance.
SHORTCOMINGS
Both websites are magnificent.They are both very attractive and almost flawless. A few changes could be used on the ACDB website by adding vertical navigational bars to their functional requirement. There is also quite a build up of clutter at the bottom of their website with related links. This can have a page of its own so that the home page remains simple and neat. While most audiences should understand Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank serves the locals, ACDB should also understand the UAE is a very metropolitan city. A joke is normally told that Dubai is the only place you will see a lady in full Hijab and a westerner in his Speedo underwear. With this in mind, they should also include more pictures with a great variety of races. It is also quite difficult to know which is the home page because all pages seem to be given the same importance. One would tend to think that a website should have a main page that really defines who they are apart from what else they do. While ACDB is a very catchy name. It would be great if the website would help the audience decipher what it stands for. Barlcay ae should make a few tweaks as well. Once you go into other pages such as Premier Banking, you it is difficult going back to the home page unless you use the going back option offered by the internet provider. As new audience to this website, I had to reopen it almost four times because its picuters do not show any affiliation to the UAE. Most pictures are of White men and it could be mistaken as a website for a bank in Europe. It also does seem to openly engage the locals in offers such as education which would be essential in creating as good pr for them. I should build a sense of community where the UAE can relate to. This website also has a more elitist feel to it. Barclays Bank is generally for the upper class but it would not do harm for showing especially in just a few picutures the occasional interraction it has encountered with the middle class because there may be just a few people who might be needing exactly what it is they have to offer. Fourthly the pictures in this bank are skewed towards luxurious life styles. While this is true about Barclays clients, they should also put a blend of pictures showing the business ventures they Barclays can help you achieve. Finally, Barclay ae is quite a monotonous website with the same colours splashed on each page. After sometime of viewing the website, it give one a tired unterested feel.
CONCLUSION
In conclusion, we can say these two banks are very different but all successful in their own right because they have managed to tailor their services to perfectlyfit the needs of their clients.
References
Krug, Steve. Don’t Make Me Think! A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability. 2nd Edition.
Indianapolis, IN: New Riders Publishing, 2005.
Nielsen, Jakob. Designing Web Usability: The Practice of Simplicity. Indianapolis, IN: New Riders
Publishing, 1999.
