PNC Financial Services

PNC Financial Services Group is the fifth largest bank in the United States with 51,000 employees and assets exceeding $270B (US).
pnc bankIn 2008, PNC Financial recognized an opportunity to improve the performance of its intranet by developing a measurable intranet strategy that aligned with its corporate objectives and supporting the execution of that strategy with intuitive usability and an engaging user interface. This initiative was born out of several organizational challenges it was facing at the time:
  • The intranet was eight years old and dated in terms of overall functionality and usability.
  • It had a very large and complex intranet which consisted of over 30 databases, some with over 100,000 documents.
  • Effective site governance was lacking.

Solution

Prescient proposed the following solution to help PNC redevelop its intranet:
  • Conduct a complete assessment and gap analysis of the site’s current state and look at ways to improve navigation, usability, links, content etc.
  • Gather business requirements from key stakeholders.
  • Organize the site to serve as a central repository of timely and relevant information that is packaged intuitively.
  • Restructure the site’s information architecture in an effort to group content according to how users look for information and what they want to find.
  • Accommodate a wider range of online services and functionality immediately and scalable for the future.
  • Improve internal management and support of the intranet.
  • Site needs to be updated in terms of strategy, values, mission etc.
  • Conduct an analysis of leading intranet sites in the financial industry, and recommend features that PNC’s intranet site should have based on best practices.

Recognizing the value Prescient could bring to the project, PNC hired Prescient to manage the intranet redevelopment project.  Prescient completed a comprehensive assessment phase, incorporating user and business requirements into the Planning Phase deliverables. At a high-level the project consisted of:

  • The development of a measurable, consensus-based strategic plan.
  • A user-defined information architecture developed through card sorting, intranet usability best practices and usability testing.
  • Creating wireframes and a look-and-feel to deliver an engaging user interface.
  • A governance model to ensure the intranet would be managed effectively.

Results

The client was very satisfied by Prescient’s work. The client gave us the following scores in the post-implementation survey (out of 10):
9 - Meeting expectations
9 - Communication/organization
9.5 - Quality of deliverables
9 - Consultant effectiveness
9 - Overall satisfaction
PNC

Prescient Digital Media's Design Concept for PNC Financial Services