Research Overview

BACKGROUND

Kaus is a large insurance company that offers insurance policies for both individuals and businesses. They have set themselves apart from their competitors with low rates by offering packages versus customizable options.

With the increased use of the internet and mobile apps, Kaus knows that many people are using these avenues to purchase their policies and wants to target this audience. Their primary goal is to create an easy to browse and filter e-commerce website so they can sell insurance directly to customers.

• Determine the difference in strategy between selling to agents versus selling directly to customers

• Determine the customer demographics (age range, income range, family info)

• What are the positive/negative experiences for customers who currently shop online for insurance

• Identify how competitors are currently selling their insurance online and their successes/failures

ASSUMPTIONS

• Customers are looking for the lowest monthly premium

• Customers who buy insurance online are young individuals or young families

• Customers are generally not aware of insurance terminology or the difference between policies

Research Methodologies

The insurance industry is one of the oldest financial businesses in the US and favors those companies with experience and a long standing history of success. However, even these companies aren’t immune to changes in the industry such as:

• new governmental regulations

• outdated application and underwriting  processes

• impact of climate change on catastrophic claims

• the effects of insurtech (insurance  technology)

With insurtech and digital trends leading the impact on the insurance industry, Kaus needs to focus on creating an easy shopping experience for their customers through their website. This emphasis on digitalization will allow them to embrace the younger demographic who prefer shopping virtually as well as people of all ages who get discouraged by the long and complicated application process.

COMPETITIVE ANALYSIS

A competitive analysis allowed me to figure out who exactly some of Kaus’s competitors are and their strengths and weaknesses. This helped to improve and differentiate the website design.

USER INTERVIEW

Conducting interviews with potential users is a great research method because they provide a source for qualitative data.  From these interviews we can gain insight into the users needs, pain points, and how they generally perform tasks.

Interview Summary
I interviewed five participants ranging from their late 20’s to late 60’s. Four of the participants were male and one participant was a female. Also, four of the participants were working professionals but one is recently retired. I conducted the interviews over the phone but was unable to record the conversation, therefore took notes during the calls. 

Needs

• Users need information to be easily understandable. Most users find it difficult to understand insurance terminology and financial implications of different policies.

• When getting a quote users need to be able to easily compare all the different policies and see the differentiating features.

• Users need to be able to get answers to questions quickly.

‍Goals‍

• Users want to know that the coverage provided in a specific quote is going to cover all their needs. 

• Users want to get the best possible coverage for the lowest monthly premium.

• Users want to get a breakdown of premiums and deductible so they know what is exactly covered and what is not.

• Users prefer getting coverage through one company.

• Users want to be able to get discounts for choosing a bundle through one company.

Research Synthesis

EMPATHY MAP

I used an empathy map to synthesize my interview responses to be able to understand and prioritize the users needs.

Insights

• Participants find insurance terminology complicated

• Participants find the insurance shopping process difficult

• Participants want to save money

• Participants want to find answers easily‍

Needs

• Users need to get additional information on difficult to understand insurance terminology

• Users need to be able to shop for insurance from start to finish intuitively

• Users need to know they can compare policies because they are looking to save money

• Users need to have a central resource for their questions

USER PERSONA

STORYBOARD

Information Architecture

CARD SORT

I conducted an open online card sort with a total of 6 participants, 4 men and 2 women to get an understanding of how users categorize different types of insurances. My participants didn’t repeat category names but categorized them similarly into Auto, Business, Environmental, Health, Personal, and Property.‍

Stats
The most categories created were 7 and the least were 3.
Shortest time: 4:31
Longest time: 14:22

Unique Observation
It was interesting to note that one participant didn’t categorize the insurance by type but rather how it impacts them. For example, ‘Owned’ was insurance for things they owned and ‘Personal’ was for insurance that affected them personally.

INITIAL CONCEPT SKETCHES

USER FLOW

TASK FLOW

Mid-Fidelity Wireframes

DESKTOP WIREFRAMES

RESPONSIVE WIREFRAMES

Branding

LOGO DESIGN

I started my logo design process by coming up with a list of adjectives to describe Kaus from the perspective of my user. Then I sketched out various options that I felt embodied these adjectives. After going through the sketching process and choosing a few concepts to iterate, I settled on the below design as I felt it embodied most of the brand adjectives.

BRAND STYLE TILE

UI KIT

Prototyping

DESKTOP HIGH FIDELITY WIREFRAMES

USABILITY TEST PLAN

I created a usability test plan to have a guideline for the usability test in regards to objectives, tasks, and goals.

Test Goals

• Test the usability of the navigation

• Test the overall ease of use and flow of the design

• Test how easily the user can find homeowners insurance and get a quote

• Identity pain points

Test Methodology

• In Person: the participants will go through the prototype using my laptop

• Remote: observe participants with prototype via screen share

Participants

• 5-6 Participants

• Adults (age 22-65) who have previously purchased insurance

AFFINITY DIAGRAM

TAKEAWAYS

I gained significant experience in conducting research to determine which solutions were best to meet the user needs. I based my designs off of well-established design patterns that allowed me to leverage their successes and avoid the failures of those who have attempted to solve similar problems. I learned usability testing is vital in discovering areas that are inconsistent with user expectations and working to correct these inconsistencies.

NEXT STEPS

After reviewing the insights and recommendations from my affinity diagram I will begin to implement priority revisions. Then I will update my high fidelity wireframes and prototype to continue running usability tests to discover any room for further improvement. And with those changes implemented I will use Invisions's Inspect tool to handoff the design to the developers.