Kaus Insurance

Introduction

This was my first end-to-end UX Academy project. The assignment was to create a responsive site for one of a few fictional companies offered. I chose Kaus, an insurance company.

A little bit about the fictional Kaus: They are a very large, established insurance company. They specialize in out-of-the box prepared insurance packages that cover a wide variety of needs. Kaus is looking to move their business to an e-commerce, self-service site to appeal to younger customers. Due to the complexity of their products, Kaus’ main priority is to have a website that’s easily browsable with the ability to filter by basic values.

Goals for this project:

• Build a responsive site that can be accessible from any device

• Show products from all existing types: property, motor, liability, marine, aviation, life, health, and protection

• Design a new logo for the brand

Research

I started with some industry research and identified traditional and popular competitors that offer a wide range of coverage and are known for an online presence. I also identified non-traditional competitors like those who have already made an impact on a younger audience. In my research on these companies, I found that most companies require getting an online personalized quote and speaking to an agent, so Kaus’ out of the box, self-service approach should be a differentiator

I conducted empathy interviews over Zoom with people who had purchased insurance within the last year. Respondents split between researching extensively and just wanting the job done quickly. Those who owned homes and had families were more likely to research. I found that most people were willing to pay more to feel safe that they were covered.

My takeaways were that the site should get people in and out quickly, but provide the resources for people to research answers to their questions. It should also provide transparency and detail in quotes and give an option to speak with an agent or chat with a human.

I created a primary persona based on empathy research. Chelsea - The Box Checker wants to get in and out of the insurance purchase process quickly. She is more likely to take shortcuts to get the job done, but ultimately pay for more coverage to know she’s covered. She’s inexperienced in buying insurance, so she needs plenty of resources to help her figure out her coverage.

Define

I identified key areas of opportunity by identifying where Kaus business goals overlap with user goals. I used these goals as well as the competitive and empathy research to inform a prioritized feature roadmap.

Common User Goals

• Offer/find plan that makes the most sense for my needs

• Provide/have purchase experience that customers/I rate highly

• Show/understand how Kaus differs from other brands

I identified the steps in both a task flow and user flow. The user flow shows two paths for different personas: Chelsea, who is looking to get insurance in as little time as possible, and Rosa, who likes to thoroughly complete her research.

Design

I did a Crazy 8s exercise to create sketches for the home page and landed on three options. I narrowed it down to the option that had the best hierarchy of the important elements: searching for plans and a plan finder to find recommended plans.

Then I created wireframes for the home page and browse plans page. These higher fidelity wireframes took some of the concepts of initial sketches I did, and combined them with real interactive patterns from other insurance sites. Additional features from the requirements document were included as well.

I resized the desktop homepage to tablet and mobile size. Challenges at this stage included deciding how the filters would function on mobile and how to do the plan finder without it popping up in a modal.

I sketched several options for the logo, inspired by the insurance industry research and the Chelsea persona. The arc represents a force field; the block is stability; the abstract version depicts a wide variety of plans; the check mark appeals to Chelsea’s desire to get the job done. Ultimately, based on peer feedback, I selected and iterated on the force field concept.

I created three distinctive style options for Kaus, based on current and aspirational brand attributes. I selected the first option because of the warmth and friendliness it conveyed while still being professional and reliable.

I created a UI kit and applied this to the wireframes I had built out for the home page and Browse Plans page. I also designed a flow for my plan finder tool. Finding the appropriate pattern to use for the filters remained a challenge at this stage.

Test

I built a prototype to use in usability test in Figma to achieve the task of selecting an insurance plan to enroll in.

I conducted remote usability tests over Zoom with three participants. They were asked to find an auto insurance plan they would like to buy, then add renters insurance to it. They were asked a series of follow up questions to determine ease of use of the site.

Key takeaways

• Overall, the site was easy to use and appealing. All users stated that they felt the site was easier to use than many and they would be able to find what they needed very quickly. They found the visual design to be fresh, youthful, and appealing.

• Function of the filters was not clear. When asked to edit their search, no users used the filters to do so. All did by accessing the top nav.

• Plan finder was not used. No users went to find a plan with the plan finder, which was designed for easy access to plan recommendations. This could indicate it is not necessary, or needs to be more clear about the types of insurance it is covering.

I made edits to the filter pages to capture these changes and tested again with a few people. This time they found the filtering process more clear.

Conclusion

As my first end-to-end design project, I was very happy with the result. I learned how to do the full design process. Responsive design is extremely important, so I was happy this was a component of the challenge. My biggest takeaway was how important it is to constantly study patterns so you have an arsenal of patterns to choose from that are common for most users.

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