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How I helped an imaginary company appeal to the millennial market
How I helped an imaginary company appeal to the millennial market
Kaus has been around for a while so they know what's up when it comes to insurance. Unfortunately, they were missing out on the younger subset of the market because they solely relied on agents and didn't have a website.
My job was to get them up-to-date with a responsive site and expand their reach, especially to millennials that prefer to make their purchases online. One major constraint was that Kaus kept costs low by offering minimally customizable packages.
Kaus has been around for a while so they know what's up when it comes to insurance. Unfortunately, they were missing out on the younger subset of the market because they solely relied on agents and didn't have a website.
My job was to get them up-to-date with a responsive site and expand their reach, especially to millennials that prefer to make their purchases online. One major constraint was that Kaus kept costs low by offering minimally customizable packages.
My research goal was to learn how millennials decide to choose and interact with their insurance providers in order to attract and retain them. But before I began, I outlined some assumptions:
My research goal was to learn how millennials decide to choose and interact with their insurance providers in order to attract and retain them. But before I began, I outlined some assumptions:
It turns out Millennials are actually h i g h l y risk-adverse when it comes to finances. Their tendency to save (instead of spending or investing) falls in line with not wanting to buy insurance.
But what happens when their rosy youthful assumption that nothing bad will ever happen to them is dashed to pieces on the cruel rocks of reality? A terrible tension between saving money and being prepared for the worst, that's what.
Some trends showed up in research and were repeatedly confirmed during interviews:
Purchasing takes a long time and is confusing, so it gets put off and stretched out over several days.
They dislike having to give their information and take multiple steps in order to see a quote.
They prefer to only purchase policies they see an immediate need for, usually related to negative outcomes from lack of coverage in the past.
They don't want to talk to anyone, especially because they might try to upsell them.
It turns out Millennials are actually h i g h l y risk-adverse when it comes to finances. Their tendency to save (instead of spending or investing) falls in line with not wanting to buy insurance.
But what happens when their rosy youthful assumption that nothing bad will ever happen to them is dashed to pieces on the cruel rocks of reality? A terrible tension between saving money and being prepared for the worst, that's what.
Some trends showed up in research and were repeatedly confirmed during interviews:
Purchasing takes a long time and is confusing, so it gets put off and stretched out over several days.
They dislike having to give their information and take multiple steps in order to see a quote.
They prefer to only purchase policies they see an immediate need for, usually related to negative outcomes from lack of coverage in the past.
They don't want to talk to anyone, especially because they might try to upsell them.
Emily is a cool conglomeration of research data: she's super careful with spending, likes making informed decisions, and doesn't want to be coerced into more insurance than she believes she needs. Designing a responsive website with her in mind, I knew she would appreciate informative copy that would come across as friendly and not pushy.
Emily is a cool conglomeration of research data: she's super careful with spending, likes making informed decisions, and doesn't want to be coerced into more insurance than she believes she needs. Designing a responsive website with her in mind, I knew she would appreciate informative copy that would come across as friendly and not pushy.
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Purchasing insurance felt like a laborious, confusing and deceptive process to my interviewees, so I wanted to address those pain points with two main goals:
Purchasing insurance felt like a laborious, confusing and deceptive process to my interviewees, so I wanted to address those pain points with two main goals:
During a card sort exercise, participants organized types of insurance into four main categories, which I later named Home, Auto, Wellness and Everything Else (a catch-all for random insurances).
Something that kept coming up during the research phase was that people were switching back and forth between mobile and desktop, with multiple tabs open, and having a difficult time keeping track of what they needed to know.
To calm the chaos, I made simplicity my goal and implemented a single resource page to keep all information centrally located. I wanted customers to easily educate themselves on risk so they could make better decisions, including how to ease the tension between saving money and being prepared.
I also added a chat autobot to help with any questions, for those that didn't want to call the help line. (Mostly everyone.)
Another move toward simplicity came with a Wizard Form for the complete quote and purchase process. The result was a customization page where they could adjust coverage amounts and see price changes in real time.
The major hurdle here was to provide enough customization capability to please the client, but not so much that I wouldn't meet the business parameter of keeping costs low. A benefit of this solution is eliminating the need for an agent middlewoman, which would potentially offset any potential customization costs.
During a card sort exercise, participants organized types of insurance into four main categories, which I later named Home, Auto, Wellness and Everything Else (a catch-all for random insurances).
Something that kept coming up during the research phase was that people were switching back and forth between mobile and desktop, with multiple tabs open, and having a difficult time keeping track of what they needed to know.
To calm the chaos, I made simplicity my goal and implemented a single resource page to keep all information centrally located. I wanted customers to easily educate themselves on risk so they could make better decisions, including how to ease the tension between saving money and being prepared.
I also added a chat autobot to help with any questions, for those that didn't want to call the help line. (Mostly everyone.)
Another move toward simplicity came with a Wizard Form for the complete quote and purchase process. The result was a customization page where they could adjust coverage amounts and see price changes in real time.
The major hurdle here was to provide enough customization capability to please the client, but not so much that I wouldn't meet the business parameter of keeping costs low. A benefit of this solution is eliminating the need for an agent middlewoman, which would potentially offset any potential customization costs.
When I tested the Everything Page and Wizard Form quote process prototypes, there was a 100% completion rate with minimal errors, though some folks were unsure where to find a section on the customization page. Clarifying categories could be helpful as customers navigate that section.
There was a lot of feedback about how friendly, easy and streamlined it felt to move through the steps. A few testers ruefully anticipated having to talk to someone or give their email before getting their quote, so I realized I needed to add copy explicitly alleviating that pain point ahead of time.
A few other iterations with the progress bar, condensing the homepage hero to encourage scrolling, and adding a comparison chart option helped improve the design as well.
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View UI kitWhen I tested the Everything Page and Wizard Form quote process prototypes, there was a 100% completion rate with minimal errors, though some folks were unsure where to find a section on the customization page. Clarifying categories could be helpful as customers navigate that section.
There was a lot of feedback about how friendly, easy and streamlined it felt to move through the steps. A few testers ruefully anticipated having to talk to someone or give their email before getting their quote, so I realized I needed to add copy explicitly alleviating that pain point ahead of time.
A few other iterations with the progress bar, condensing the homepage hero to encourage scrolling, and adding a comparison chart option helped improve the design as well.
With more time, I would build out more screens, add more educational copy, do some A/B testing, test on mobile, and test other quote processes.
I would want to see if easier access to information led to better decision-making and if feeling more control over the quote process led to purchasing differences.
If this was a real client, I would be interested in seeing if my theory of customer-as-agent really would make a financial difference allowing for more customization, as I believe that is one powerful way to bring in the Millennial market.
With more time, I would build out more screens, add more educational copy, do some A/B testing, test on mobile, and test other quote processes.
I would want to see if easier access to information led to better decision-making and if feeling more control over the quote process led to purchasing differences.
If this was a real client, I would be interested in seeing if my theory of customer-as-agent really would make a financial difference allowing for more customization, as I believe that is one powerful way to bring in the Millennial market.
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