Silicon Valley Bank recently upgraded their web site, and with it came a new user interface that is a perfect example of what you should not do when developing for the web.

First, the new web site only works with Microsoft Internet Explorer, on a computer equipped with Microsoft Windows. Last time I checked, quite many people made some good money buying and selling the stock of a company called Apple Computer. This company was started in Silicon Valley, is still there today, and commands a healthy market share of end users who happen to live in the Bay Area and work for Silicon Valley companies. The idea that such users cannot use the website of a financial instutition called Silicon Valley Bank somehow escapes me.

Second, the new login screen uses a funky virtual keyboard that can only be used with a mouse, supposedly for security reasons. Your password has to have eight characters, no more, no less, and has to contain special characters. Somehow, a dash sign is not considered as a special-enough character, but a pound sign is. Go figure! Well, figuring this out required five attempts for me, and I worry that I won’t be able to remember the password I used for the winning one. Security must rhyme with lottery I guess.

Third, approving a wire transfer takes no less than five mouse clicks on three different screens. At the end of the day, this might be the best feature of all, for creditors won’t be paid as fast as they used to, which means that we will have more money on our bank account. Too bad it’s not a money market account…

Request to Silicon Valley Bank: please fix your system.