Website User Experience 2010: Australian Wireless Carriers

To test how well Australia's wireless carriers serve potential customers through their websites, Forrester tested the online user experience of the five largest: 3, Optus, Telstra, Virgin Mobile, and Vodafone. The results were wide-ranging but lackluster. While Vodafone performed the best overall, no site earned a passing score. In particular, we found that no site had all of the functionality that the user required, site performance was average or worse, and task flows on most sites were inefficient. However, there were still some areas that made certain carriers, especially Vodafone, stand out from the rest. In particular, Vodafone provides the most efficient experience, while 3's landing page points out all key features users need to find the right phone and plan for them. To improve the overall site experience, Australian wireless carriers should build smart tools for real user needs, establish a culture of performance optimization, and simplify their information architectures.