How I Generated 13K Insurance Conclusions In The First 6 Months!
— PROJECT NAME
Relaunch Premium Calculator
— ROLE
Project Manager
User Researcher
UX Designer
UI Designer
— Devices
Desktop
Mobile
Tablet
— DATE
2022 – 2023
1.5 years total
TLDR
• Successfully launched 600k CHF project on time.
• Generated 13K insurance conclusions in the first 6 months.
• Conducted around 40 interviews and usability tests.
• Our final product scored 86.5 (A) in the SUS.
• Created surveys and led workshops regularly.
• Did requirement engineering and stakeholder management.
Initial situation
The previous Internet Premium Calculator (IPR), in its ninth year, had undergone updates but was based on an outdated web service to our CRM and used the Silverstripe CMS.
The relaunch also presented opportunities to improve usability, boost sales, and standardize content management systems.
Welcome screen where the different insurance categories are introduced. Only the necessary information is required to start the journey.
Goals
• Increasing security
• Increasing usability
• Increasing insurance conclusions
• Revision of the integration and solution architecture
• Standardization of content management systems within EGK
Results
The project was overall a success, achieving all our goals and launching on time, although it was 10% over budget, which I anticipated and addressed with the steering committee.
Key changes for end users included:
- • Completing insurance applications online without a signature
- • Saving progress on calculations for later completion
- • Modifying existing quotes from either the user or sales staff
- • Enhanced usability and simplified insurance product names
- • Improved performance
- • Display of applicable discounts
- • Temporary storage and encryption of personal information
A short video snippet from one of the usability tests. Captions are translated from Swiss-German.
Research approach
Methods applied:
• A/B Testing
• Affinity Maps
• Ethnographic Field Study
• Prototyping
• Interviews
• Sketches
• Surveys
• Usability Tests
• User flows
• Wireframing
I started with usability tests on our current premium calculator, reviewed past research, and conducted interviews to understand where users get insurance quotes and what they like about those sites. I also surveyed EGK’s sales and office team for insights.
With this research, we drafted the specifications, and I developed sketches and wireframes. A low-fidelity prototype helped align the team, and after a few iterations, we began usability testing with it.
Working with our external front-end partner, we created a high-fidelity prototype and tested it. The final product scored 86.5 (A) on the System Usability Scale (SUS). We also ran an A/B test to settle debates on price display.
Throughout the project, I conducted about 40 usability tests and interviews, using Figma prototypes or the current build to focus on user needs and identify potential issues.
Project structure
The project team included members from four companies. Internally, it consisted of IT (myself, the head of IT, and two developers), along with representatives from marketing, legal, product, and sales. Externally, one company handled the frontend, another the backend, and a third the new CRM web service.
We used a mix of Scrum and Kanban and set SMART goals to measure at the project's end.
Workshops were key early on, and we held three main types of meetings:
- • Weekly project status: PM (me), lead frontend, lead backend
- • Bi-Weekly Integration & Operations
- • Bi-Weekly Sprint Review
Issues / Learnings
In no particular order.
• Lack of a budget buffer led to going over budget at the end.
• Scope creep was challenging. Prioritizing features was tough, but upcoming releases helped manage expectations by assuring future inclusion.
• The tight timeline, driven by the new data protection law and insurance sales season, meant not all features could be included in the first release.
• Delays from external companies led to missing deadlines, so we used a manual CSV upload to keep the project moving while the web service was finalized for the second release.
• Legal questions take a lot of time
• Some usability issues couldn't be addressed due to conflicts with the marketing strategy, but plans for a color-blind version were discussed for a future release.
• Writing test cases alongside the specifications would have saved time.
• Early QA planning is crucial. We had to rely on coworkers unfamiliar with testing, some of whom expected a flawless tool, resulting in inefficient testing.
As customers are selecting their products they get an overview of how the price is calculated. This is a feature that was positively received in the usability tests.
Customers can stop their calculations at any point and return within 30 days without losing any progress..
The calculator was optimized for mobile and tablet.
At the bottom of each step, the salesperson of the designated postal code area is displayed.
There customers can book an appointment, call, or email their personal salesperson.
To ensure the customer does not feel lost, the next steps after completion are listed and the personal sales person
Additionally, there is an email with the same next steps and the contact information.
Customers have the option to edit quotes, even if they already completed the whole journey.