first direct has relaunched its customer website, www.firstdirect.com, as it looks to reflect the changing nature of how customers communicate with the bank. It used crowdsourcing venture, firstdirectLab, to gather the thoughts and opinions of the public on how the website could be improved.

Stage one improvements include: New look and feel and improved search functionality making the site easier to navigate; New tools and guides area dedicated to helping people help themselves with financial decisions such as loan amounts or mortgage affordability; Information on first direct's communities and social networks; Corporate Social Leadership (CSR) events calendar to give customers the opportunity to get involved with charitable events

Natalie Cowen, head of brand at first direct comments: "We wanted to create a space for our customers to take online banking beyond a purely transactional relationship and create more of a first direct community, in short, creating 'online banking with chemistry'. This is the first wave in a series of changes over the coming months. We plan to keep improving the site by introducing more tools, self-service functionality and by further integrating with our social media channels. We also had a lot of constructive feedback on the internet banking section of the site, so we'll be looking at how we can make improvements there too."

The new look site has received less than stellar customer reviews. So far 431 people have left comments with an average rating of two stars (out of five). Feedback has included 'This seems a backward step for FD. The site appears to have been design by an eleven year old!' and 'Horrid!! I can't see anything useful...hate black and white (have probs with sharp contrast - dyslexia eye condition (very common)...HATE IT!'

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