In an analysis of about a dozen U.S. insurer websites, Allstate,Progressive, and State Farm provided the most user-friendlyexperience for finding coverage, obtaining quotes and accessingresources, according to Corporate Insight.

Corporate Insight conducts research on technology in thefinancial-services sector.

The most recent Corporate Insight Monitor gave Allstate an A for offering well-organized content,a variety of homepage quick-links, and product and serviceoverview pages.

Both Progressive and State Farm received A- grades for having astreamlined main menu with rollover options, multiple layers ofcontent and quick-links to other pages. Progressive, however,suffered from minor design inconsistency issues and State Farmlacked resource links throughout the rest of the site.

“All three sites are extremely well-organized, which makes thesites easy for both new and seasoned users to explore,” says LaurenWistrom, senior analyst at P&C Monitor, the industry reportadministered by Corporate Insight.

“They all include Java-enabled main menus that allow users toquickly and easily see each tab's contents upon rollover,” shenotes. “These firms also include overview pages, which offerexplanations of each of the tab's embedded sections, thoughProgressive's interactive, scrolling-based overview page format issuperior to the others.”

She adds that other firms should follow these examples tointroduce a consistent navigation system and to avoid overwhelmingfirst-time users.

The report defines a well-organized site as includingclearly marked navigation menus, quick links to important websiteareas and “breadcrumbs” orienting users back to webpages theyalready clicked.

Out of the firms surveyed in the report, all but three employedrollover main menus, which save space on the page without hidingaccess to important information. Sixty-two percent of firms offersecondary menus and quick-links somewhere on the site, and themajority also display breadcrumbs.

However, only 38 percent offer related resource links throughoutthe site, and only three offer quick-links directly from the mainmenu.

Allstate, Liberty Mutual and State Farm include separateoverhead quick links from the main menu to information about home,retirement and investment plans.

Apart from Chubb, MetLife and Nationwide, all firms displaymultiple layers of content in their main menus, such asform-fulfillment options for quotes, policies and claims.

Chubb, though, is the only firm allowing users to personalizetheir own “interest” list of quick-links saved on thesite.

The Hartford, Progressive and State Farm provide access to aunique collection of tools such as coverage and quote calculatorsand agent locator resources.