How UX design can improve digital journeys and deliver customer experience success

UX design is crucial in the digital insurance industry. Put simply, by understanding the needs and requirements of your users, you can enhance the usability of your digital offering to boost customer satisfaction and drive brand loyalty. 

That’s the theory, but how does it play out in practical terms and how can it help us answer the question how should we develop an insurance product? At iptiQ we have a dedicated UX team that plays an integral role in developing our digital insurance solutions for our clients. They continually analyse and cover user interactions and engagements across multiple digital touchpoints, including:

When a user lands on your website, it’s all about first impressions. In the insurance industry, we know some consumers have issues with trust. More recently we’ve also seen a willingness of customers to jump ship to new digital-first players in the market.

First impressions are therefore key, making landing pages essential to set the expectations for a smooth and effortless process, whether applying for insurance or making a claim. At iptiQ, our UX team conduct thorough interviews with users in different markets and countries to identify key elements users need to consult before jumping into the sales journey. By displaying these clearly and succinctly on your landing pages, you’ll hit the first step to ensure users’ expectations are met onsite. And if you analyse interactions onsite, learn and tweak your landing page offering it ensures you continue to meet your customers’ needs. Some examples of our teams work can be seen on the Mintley and IKEA product landing pages.

Through both data analysis and usability testing, UX designers can define any potential friction in the customer sales journey. At iptiQ, we place particular emphasis on: 

• Risk and underwriting questionnaires: Language, tone and the way you speak to users is key at this stage. It’s integral to provide enough in the way of an explanation about why certain information is needed using simple and reassuring language whilst avoiding complex insurance jargon. Other factors to promote a smooth journey include keeping the number of questions to a minimum, prefilling and populating information and if possible, making use of progressive profiling to gradually collect data. 
• Quote and coverage information: Throw too much information at a user at this stage and things can easily become confusing and potentially overwhelming. It’s the job of the UX design team to reduce the cognitive load by using behavioural and psychological principles. Key factors include helping the user to understand exactly how the price is calculated and how various decisions and selections can impact it. This gives them the flexibility to make an informed decision. Information should also be disclosed progressively via different stages on the webpage to ensure it is digested easily before moving onto the next piece.
• Help and support: This needs to be easy to access and in many cases instant – live chat is ideal for this – to help users understand key terminology to make informed decisions. If they're confused and can’t get the answers quickly, they’ll likely drop out. 

Speak to users and they’ll tell you that once they’ve put their insurance in place, they forget the exact extent of their policy. It slips to the back of their minds, until they need it urgently. 

A customer portal offers ease of access and engagement, enabling them to view, track and manage their policies and claims digitally. It also allows changes and updates to be made quickly and simply. It’s then the job of the UX team to keep the flow of information consistent and accurate.

If a user makes a mid-term adjustment for example, this can impact multiple areas and components internally for the insurer. But for the customer, the correct information needs to be updated and clearly visible. UX designers must ensure all details are displayed correctly across different policy sections and that the users are well informed about how the update will affect price and their policy in general.

When an incident happens and a user needs to report their damages, they may be worried and anxious about whether their claim will be accepted or not. It’s up to the insurer to allay their concerns and calm their anxiety. 

From a UX perspective, the following is essential:

• A simple and quick journey: Asking for just enough information and keeping the number needed to submit claims to a minimum is paramount at this initial stage.
• Easy access to support and help: Help needs to be easy to access and instant to ensure the claim reporting process can be done digitally. Again, web chat is ideal for this – with a real person as opposed to a chat bot.
• Simple uploading process: If a user has digital assets (photos or video) as proof of a claim, uploading these digitally should be simple and seamless.  

At iptiQ, we continue to analyse, learn and iterate the experience across all of these digital touchpoints to ensure the success of our clients’ digital insurance offerings.

Thanks to our colleague David Morales, UX Designer iptiQ, who contributed to this article.