The web developer’s viewpoint Clifford Chance’s recently relaunched website, www.cliffordchance.com, is well presented and offers extensive content and good functionality — a noticeable improvement on its predecessor.
One of the strengths of this website is the extent of its content. In addition to covering the basics, including comprehensive information about the firm, the partners, practice areas, up-to-date news, events and publications and dedicated pages for career opportunities, the website offers further content through the ‘online services’ section.
Before registering, the user is given an overview of this section. This is something we advocate for all firms that offer privileged content online. Many of us have an instinctive aversion to parting with personal information online and need to be reassured before doing so.
We were unable to find either a downloadable ‘corporate’ brochure — to offer to those who are looking for an overview of the firm that can be studied offline — or an online application form for careers seekers, both of which we believe would enhance the website content. We would also have given credit for links to relevant third-party websites and evidence of the firm’s information required under the European Commission E-commerce Directive, neither of which we were able to find.
As the scope of commercial websites becomes greater, there is a risk that website usability suffers. Clifford Chance has organised its website well and the pages are easy to navigate, with laudable use of dynamic menus. The novel feature of being able to create bookmarks within the website shows sympathy for the returning user. The number of mouse clicks between selected pages exceeded our preferred maximum of three, and in some sections there is a need to scroll up or down considerably. Accessibility compliance has not been assessed as part of this study.
Poor design and presentation will quickly deter visitors. A degree of subjectivity is inevitable when assessing design, but we endeavour to quantify key components to set a benchmark. The Clifford Chance website is clean and stylish, and scores well in this category. Consistency of design across the website, measured use of images, adequate ‘white space’ behind text and the clarity of text itself all contribute to a good score. However, points were deducted for dependence on Adobe Acrobat (pdf) and the use of Flash. Despite their perceived ubiquity, these applications are not yet ‘standard’ and consequently users behind a firewall are unable to download such software and could experience access problems. Flash is a matter of taste, but we do recommend that documents be offered in Microsoft Word as well as Adobe Acrobat.
Although there is always some room for improvement, Clifford Chance should be pleased with the scores below, which in turn will set the benchmark for 2005. For those who are familiar with the annual Intendance sector reports, we have refined the scoring system used in our 2004 lawyer surveys, so direct comparisons with these rankings should not be made.
Scoring:
Content: 79.6%
Usability: 75.3%
Design: 87.8%
Overall: 80.9%
. Please note that we have not assessed the pass-word-protected content. Websites were viewed on a resolution of 1024 x 768 pixels, reflecting the increasing popularity of higher resolution screens. James Tuke is a director of Intendance, a web design and consulting firm.
See www.intendance.com
The brand designer’s viewpoint
When we were approached to review the state of affairs of online branding within the legal market we were not exactly bowled over with excitement. The thought of trawling through poorly designed, bland and typically generic websites did not exactly inspire us.
After taking a deep breath we tapped www.cliffordchance.com into our web browser. As the home page took shape, we realised we were going to have to eat our words. First impressions count for a lot in this business; they can make or break a deal. Clifford Chance presented us with a home page rich in content, well organised and structured, inspiring a feeling of calm, confidence and professionalism with a ‘ready-for-business’ attitude.
What impressed us most was the unified and consistent application of the ‘branding’ elements; layout, typography, imagery and colour palette all applied in an uncomplicated and effective manner throughout. A number of ‘soundbite’ boxed areas offer a variety of ways in which to navigate, presented in a well structured and hierarchical style, aided by the use of coloured and tinted blocks, rules, images and a variety of other graphical devices.
From the onset, the home page provides a broad insight into the culture and spirit of the firm. Specific areas of expertise and the worldwide network all appear under the strapline ‘Committed to helping our clients succeed’. The balance between literal, matter-of-fact information and a softer, more emotive message is very successful. The ‘Real Lives, Real People’ section is particularly good in communicating an honest, more personable and approachable side to the firm. Although the site is inevitably content driven, we did feel that more ‘top level’ pull quotes could enhance communication, particularly for the skim reader.
Overall, the visual elements of the site blend together in a distinguishable and effective way, helping provide Clifford Chance with a high degree of ‘stand-out’ within the legal sector. The strong, uncomplicated presentation makes for an easy-touse site while the tone of voice is confident, serious, yet approachable and honest.
In short, this site does justice to a leading global law firm, providing Clifford Chance with a highly successful marketing tool, which we believe to be a good benchmark for this sector.
Scoring:
First impressions: 76%
Application of branding: 82%
Tone of voice: 70%
Differentiation: 68%
Overall: 74%
Nick Trivuncic is a designer at GMDC, a leading brand consulting firm.