Using video modules to increase understanding of insurance policies
Kaus Insurance has been in the insurance business for over 30 years. With the rise of the internet and personal devices, Kaus wants to start selling policies online to target a younger demographic: 25-35 year-olds.
High-Level Design Objective: Design a responsive e-commerce website that is pleasing to use and that allows customers to purchase a policy online.
Duration: 8 weeks
The problem area
Auto insurance can be very complicated with its large number of coverages and limits. Although insurers explain these terms to consumers on their site, most 25-35 year-olds are not fully understanding the information being presented. These customers are then purchasing policies without grasping what the policy covers.
This heavily impacts their experience when, later on, they find that their policy does not cover or only covers a percentage of their accident.
DESIGN CHALLENGE
How might we present Kaus’s policy terms in a way that makes it easier for our audience to understand what the policy covers?
Diving deeper into the problem
I watched two participants navigate competitor sites to learn more about their frustrations when reading policy terms and explanations.
Almost all the information online was communicated through text, separated by coverages and very concise. Although many steps were taken to simplify the information and eliminate insurance jargon, participants were still not fully understanding how they would be covered in case of an accident.
New ways of presenting the information
I began looking at how our target audience consumes information, and what sites they enjoy and use frequently when they want to learn new subjects. Sites included LinkedIn Learning, Coursera and Youtube, which all use short videos that break down complex concepts into easy-to-follow and engaging narratives.
Research also showed that using multimedia resources results in higher understanding because it presents the information in the different modalities in which people learn: visual, auditory and verbal.
I then chose to implement similar short videos (along with text) as our solution to help our audience better understand their policy.
Defining our user and flow
Based on our user’s goals, frustrations and behaviors, I created a persona that I could refer to throughout the project.
Based on competitor analysis and card sorting exercises, I created a site map to provide a skeleton for our site and a user flow to define how the experience will function.
Site map
User flow
Ideation
Once I had an idea of the pages that had to be designed, I started sketching out explorations of the key screens needed when purchasing an auto policy, as well as what the screen with video lessons would look like.
The solution: Video modules
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How it works
Once an user clicks to learn more information about a coverage, an overlay appears. It contains specific video lessons based on the most common and researched questions.
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The video content
The video lessons provide users with a deeper understanding of what the coverage covers, how the limits work and how they’re able to make changes to their policy.
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The user navigation
Users can watch the videos in order, or skip to topics they want to learn about. For more experienced users who just want to read the information, we included text below the videos that contains answers to the same questions.
Prototyping
Next came the development of the prototype, which would help us test our new site with users to gain feedback.
User testing
User testing was then conducted with 5 participants.
The hypothesis was:
“If we showed the information about coverages and limits in a way that our target audience consumes regularly and enjoys (video lessons), this will lead to higher understanding and retention.”
Because of time constraints, we were unable to make the video lessons fully functional. If further time allowed for it, the videos would then be developed to test retention and understanding level.
Objectives
The objective was to confirm that the multimedia video helped users better understand what the policy covers.
We also wanted to make sure that the quote and purchase process was intuitive, easy and enjoyable for users.
Tasks
Getting a quote
Finding out what a coverage means
Finding what limits they should have
Finding how to increase their limits
Purchasing a policy
Results
Completion rate: 100% (5 out of 5 participants)
All participants rated the tasks very easy to complete.
3/5 participants thought the progress bar was confusing
4/5 participants were happy about the videos, and the different way in which the information was provided about coverages and limits since in the past they’ve had to search Google to find more information.
Participants agreed that the videos helped them feel more confident in their buying decisions, and it led to a more positive view of the company.
Iteration and next steps
Changes were prioritized and made based on results from user testing. The ability to customize the policy and terms as a whole was the main addition to the prototype.
If further time allowed for it, the video lessons would be fully developed and we would go through more rounds of testing to confirm that the video lessons increase retention and understanding of how policy terms work.
Reflection
Having previously worked in the insurance field, this project was a favorite of mine. During that role, I had the opportunity to speak with clients and hear their frustrations. This project gave me an opportunity to spotlight a recurring problem of theirs, brainstorm ideas and come up with a new way to change the current process and make things easier when buying a new policy.
I also really enjoyed having the opportunity to dive deeper into the research side of things, and to read studies about how people can learn and acquire knowledge in better and more effective ways.
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