OBJECTIVES

1. Create a responsive e-commerce site that simplifies the insurance-shopping experience
2. Distinguishable product categories
3. New branding assets, such as logo, for KAUS
4. Focus on individual insurances, but scalable for future expansion of commercial insurance

RESEARCH

To confirm whether younger consumers would be acceptable to the idea of shopping insurance online, I first conducted user interviews with the target consumer segment. The goal is to learn the existing associations with insurance products and the common shopping behavior.

User Interview

The interviews were conducted with 3 people who fit the below criteria:

• Between 25 and 35 years-old
• Has online shopping experience
• Has insurance or is shopping for one

These criteria were formulated based on the hypothesis that the youngest consumer to purchase insurance is college-graduates or young professionals. Also, 26 years-old is commonly the maximum age a dependent can be under a parent’s insurance policy. A number of questions were asked, including:

• Can you share the last time you’ve thought about any of your insurance policies?
• Do the premiums and/or monthly payments of your insurance concern you? Why or why not?
• Tell me about a time when you’ve used your insurance and your experience during that process.

Empathy Map

The Empathy Map was made to gain deeper insight into the targeted customers. This helps align the design to the intended users. 

Persona

The goal of creating a user persona was not to represent every possible audience, but rather addressing the major needs of the most important user groups. In the case of KAUS, it was users like Jessica - an independent young professional who seeks to be confident in her choices before making them and irritated by un-friendly, un-intuitive websites or products. 

Card Sorting

Card sorting was conducted to understand how users categorize the different types of insurances. This further assists the organization and presentation of the Information Architecture. 

Key Insight

• Younger customers may value competitive pricing over coverage/service, due to the low frequency of insurance usage
• More mature customers value stability/security over temporary savings as they have experience interacting with insurance companies
• Instant response, hand-holding steps, and ease of use are keys to conversion

IDEATION

I began the ideation phase by deciding to create a responsive desktop site instead of a mobile app. Three reasons support this decision: 

1. Since KAUS is already late to the e-commerce landscape, it is better to first shape an online presence
2. Based on research findings, most insurance shopping (or quoting activities) takes place on websites. This is because the price and coverage comparisons are easier to complete on a computer 
3. The desktop site will also benefit existing customers of KAUS, who are much older than the new target segment   

Wireframes

Prototype

Prototyping took place in the span of two weeks. This includes an early mid-fidelity prototype's testing for IA and flow and a high-fidelity prototype for final usability testing. 

TESTING

Usability testing was conducted in-person and via shared screen feature on Skype to study each user's interaction with the prototypes. The 15-minutes test with the targeted users revealed the following areas of major improvements:

1. Call-to-Action (CTA) buttons on the homepage hero background draw almost all user's attention. However, all users anticipated the buttons to directly go to a more detailed page of an insurance type, NOT a shortcut to start quoting immediately. 
2. Include more text-based content on product pages as many users may not have to time or commitment to watch "tutorial" videos.
3. The name of "Tutorials" as one of the top navigation button did not indicate a direct association with "a space that offers free information about insurance". The name must be changed to something this is more relatable.
4. Quoting model can be further reduced, simplified. Include more ways for users to go back and correct entered information. 

FINAL PRODUCT

Style Guide

NEXT STEPS

Choosing insurance as a capstone project was with slight hesitation, most likely due to my unfamiliarity with the subject. However, because I had little experience with the industry and shopping process, I was able to take research data without bias and staying true to users' feedback and insights. This capstone has certainly pushed the boundaries of my current design skill set. At the end of this project, I am confident that I have (1) successfully met the objectives of the users' needs and (2) expanded my ability to produce design materials and branding assets around a complex industry that I had limited understanding of.

Within the four-week project timeline, I prioritized on the Minimum Viable Product. Should this project to continue, I would focus on the following:

1. Continue usability testing with existing KAUS customers that are 35+ years old. It would be ideal if the new design can also cater to existing customers. It is more economical and efficient to retain existing customers than to gain new ones. 
2. Develop a mobile application that would also encompass the features that an existing customer would expect to have. For example, online billing, filing a claim, claim progress tracking, renew/cancel policies...etc.