Schwab Site for Active Traders Gets A Makeover

Yesterday, Schwab unveiled the results of the facelift it's given to its streetsmart.com site for active-trader customers -- those who trade at least nine times per quarter. The upgrades were based on client research and reviews of competing sites, which led the brokerage to one conclusion - it needed simplicity and ease of use. "Over the years, we've seen in the active trading category the advent of many new tools, with professional trading tools brought down to the consumer level," says Rich Levine, Active Trading Client Experience vice president for Charles Schwab. "But as a result, the complexity and number of available tools has mushroomed. With this release, we've tried to make the trading experience as simple and easy as possible for the mass affluent trader, on whom we focus at Schwab."Schwab aimed to present its existing tools and indicators in a cleaner, less cluttered, and more integrated way. For instance, the previous version used 10-15 icons in the trading tool. "There's a finite set of icons that are universally known," Levine notes. "When you get into your own icons, unless Microsoft has adopted them, there's a learning curve." Schwab's answer was to replace icons with text links and drop down menus that describe exactly what a click will lead to. The firm also added a "Quick Access" toolbar to the right of the screen that contains the most-used tools. Customers can customize toolbars, choosing their own indices to follow. A "Quick Balances" feature gives customers an at-a-glance view of their balances and buying power. The site continues to give customers access to ECN books, with direct access trading for those that qualify.

Customers' cry for website simplicity was a bit of a surprise, Levine says. "We need to keep in mind that just because a client is very active in the marketplace, that doesn't mean they need or want every bell and whistle, and that they want complexity," he says. "At the end of the day, they want a very simple, easy to use and powerful interface. It's the simplicity and integration that empowers the trader, not that you have 1,000 tools to choose from."