In looking at the accordion on the right hand-side of our VeriSign homepage, we find that it performs relatively well. But we felt that "I need to" was more actionable than a more benign "Information for" label and perhaps we should switch the order of the two because the links which were displayed by default would get more clicks. So, we set out to test that theory.

We ran an A/B test and found that usefulness trumped accessibility. Despite the expectation that the panel of links which was exposed by default would get more clicks than links in collapsed panels, that was not the case. When the "Information for" panel was second and its links were therefore hidden by default, users still clicked on the links in that panel more than the exposed "I need to" links. So, despite the position of "Information...

We have rolled out our new homepage redesign today! Select users will see the new page initially; some may see different versions of the new homepage as we are conducting tests. The final redesign will be switched over in the coming month when it will be available to everyone.

The goals of the redesign include improving the usability and usefulness of the homepage. Our hope is that it helps you to be more successful and productive as a gateway to accomplishing your tasks.

What hasn't changed on our homepage:

• Positioning of the contact us and worldwide sites links, and search utility.
• Top level navigation menu functions in the same way with dropdown menus.
• We didn't really remove anything although we improved the content.

Here are the main changes you can expect to find:

• Interactive banner: An informational section to learn more about Internet-related issues...