Project Commissioner

Super SA

Project Creator

Empired LTD

Project Overview

The Superannuation industry as a whole is going through a period of reform and change, Super SA realised they need to compete on customer experience and put design at the forefront of how that experience is created and curated. We took the time to understand that Super SA is an organisation that has been in operation for 118 years. Super SA is members serving member, member centric culture as it’s a fund for SA government employees. As well as making Super SA competitive, the new website also had to help staff allowing members and financial planners find information easily. This was no small task as the previous website had over a thousand pages and a huge amount of complex financial data. Updating the financial data on the previous site took a full 3 days a month and three staff members to verify. The new website on Optimizely’s platform is updated daily from a CSV file with the latest figures and requires only one staff member to perform this task. This has had a tremendous impact on efficiency and workflow. The result of the improved website meets SA Government policies, guidelines and standards, as well as WCAG Level 2 accessibility. Members have spoken enthusiastically about how information is easily members 'and financial literacy increased. The website has created a huge uptick in efficiency, data and figures quickly and easily updated through the website. What now takes minutes previously took three full workdays.

Team

Empired SuperSA Optimizely

Project Brief

Super SA approached us at Empired, to upgrade and improve their website after identifying it needed a full digital transformation. Super SA’s current website didn’t meet South Australia’s Web Application Standards and Web Security Standards and did not provide a satisfactory user experience because of hundreds of pages of data and a non-intuitive information architecture. The finished result that Empired achieved is a page that is easy to use, intuitive, and compiles huge amounts of complex data into an easily searchable website that can be instantly updated. This is one of the first superannuation websites that puts the end users ahead of the fund data itself, which is not usually the case. It’s not just the large amounts of data in a seamless website that makes this site one of a kind. The structure and taxonomy of the site is designed with customer wants and situations and a human centric approach taken heavily into consideration. Superannuation is an industry that is drowning in data and options for even the most basic super funds. Most websites for superannuation have hundreds of pages of content and data. Super SA considers their website as a crucial component of their core overall strategy and a vital element in their everyday operations. They hope to extend the use of the website platform in the future for more strategies for members.

Project Need

This website has contributed significantly to streamlining customer enquiries and being able to provide accurate and up-to-date information in an instant. Superannuation no longer has to be limited to long and confusing reports thanks to the website topography, caching and content writing implemented on the website. Super SA can proudly serve their customers with vision issues, as the website now adheres to the AA access for visually impaired users. This site also is also easily navigated for customers who are in a fragile or vulnerable because of a recent loss and must access a loved one’s super. Several customers have anecdotally expressed their delight in finding what they are after quickly and easily. Super SA has also reported that many of their educational blog articles or informative pages have seen 100-200% growth year on year and Super SA’s under 35 users has increased by 107%. Super SA is now emboldened by their recent growth and engagement from updating their website and is now considering other digital strategies to help their members understand and make the most of their superannuation knowledge. The website will be used for personalised content in the future and other educational incentives to help their members create their best life.

User Experience

This website has two primary audiences. One is Super SA’s members, who are government employees who are seeking information on their super investments; Super SA member public sector employees, financial planners, employers such as schools, hospitals. The second audience is the team members who work at Super SA. As so much of the desired information is available through the website, customer service operators and other staff can find out the information through the website and instantly send the link to the customer with the enquiry. This has helped enormously with efficiency and communication. This site caters to the audience in multiple ways. The UX/ UI adheres to the AA Government rating requirements developed by the Department of Premier and Cabinet for vision impaired customers. The website was also designed to be clear and easy to read for end users who may be grieving the loss of a loved one or are accessing their super because of an illness or other tragic event. Not all Super SA website users are in this frame of mind. However, the website mapping was designed with empathy and understanding of certain situations, such as the above listed and the confusing nature of superannuation. This website also has huge amounts of information available in few mouse clicks, in an easy-to-read format thanks to extensive caching code, using Optimizely’s framework from the development team.

Project Marketing

The impact of the new website has been immediate and has fulfilled the objectives that Super SA requested. The data is more accurate as it can easily be changed every day and reduces the instances of requiring large rollouts of data. Prior to the new website implementation, the majority of website users were desktop users, however, since the new website launched, there has been a surge in mobile phone users and desktop users increasing website traffic overall. As the previous website was not mobile phone friendly, two website sites were running side by side, one for mobile users and one for desktop users. Because of the new website all traffic is directed to the one website and the user has a wonderful experience regardless of device. Overall traffic increased by 70% year on year, mobile users have increased 1,0002% year on year. The knowledge of investment for super fund members has also increased and has helped members improve their financial literacy regarding superannuation. Several customers have anecdotally expressed their delight in finding what they are after quickly and easily. Super SA has also reported that many of their educational blog articles or informative pages have seen 100-200% growth year on year and Super SA’s under 35 users has increased by 107%.

Project Privacy

Super SA’s website privacy adheres to the requirements of the Superannuation Act 1988, Southern State Superannuation Act 2009 and the Public Corporations Act 1993. It has a member portal that members can access financial information and members are required to set up a password that fulfills the security requirements of the website. Super SA clearly state their data retention strategy and what data is collected on their members. Also mentioned is their Google analytics and cookie policy to ensure all users are aware of their privacy and data. Upon implementation of the website, SSO (Azure AD Authentication), a simplified app deployment with a centralised user portal for security was installed as well as using Optimizely's inbuilt privacy protection that is certified by PCI, ISD27001 and SOC2.