UK-based Alliance & Leicester doesn't accept the premise that banking websites should be drab and colorless. Their orange-and-blue effort shouts "pay attention," perhaps a bit too loudly.

But there are more things to like in this homepage than there are to criticize.

Like

• Prominent login on left side
• Strong benefit statements in headlines, for example, 50 times more credit interest than other banks
• Interactive loan calculator

Dislike

• Too much animation competing for the eye, for example, four of the banners feature animation, three of which continue to endlessly cycle (if you use animation, make it stop after one or two cycles)
• Overwhelming, where do you look first?
• Everything looks like a come-on, where's the content?

But whether one likes the design or not, the proof is in the results. And I bet the bank pulls in more new business from its home page than its more staid competitors.

However, a bit more restraint might make it work even better.

-- JB