As the insurance technology market has evolved, so have consumer expectations and interest in top-tier experiences that are on par with the likes of Uber, Airbnb, Instacart and more. As such, the transformation of consumer-focused technologies is forcing providers to adopt new tools to keep up. However, many of these tools are not built with user-friendly experiences that meet customer expectations, and therefore, they suffer from low engagement and adoption.
This is also true for the insurance industry.
For several years, the market and nearly every analyst has been discussing the digital future of insurance. There has been a healthy debate among the ‘traditionalists’ and the ‘digitalist’ within insurance companies. With COVID-19, the conversation has changed. The global pandemic has forced contactless solutions and accelerated digitization across all parts of the insurance value chain. Based on a recent survey from
The industry has cleared the first hurdle to new models of engagement with policyholders. However, for the insurance industry to realize the promise of digital, there are still challenges that must be overcome.
Digital strategies center around automating existing processes, rather than rethinking the experience from a consumer perspective with the best of today’s technology in mind. The result is that many of these technologies are not built to the standards of today’s consumers who make frequent use of consumer applications developed by world-class product teams. The user experiences are poor, with engagement and adoption lacking. This is especially prevalent in emerging solutions that utilize B2B2C models in support of underwriting and claims modernization. These solutions are often sold to a buyer that values product attributes and capabilities that differ from the end-consumer.
So, what does it take to deliver a next-generation experience for your customers and employees, while still improving your business workflow and/or generating the data that you need to improve business outcomes? Designing user-friendly tech requires a different mindset and approach that is traditionally used when building new platforms, systems, or apps.
Technology should be built with a focus on design, not just engineering
Understanding your workflow and/or data needs is just the beginning of the process, but many companies stop here.
For example, if your digital claims solution includes the ability for policyholders to collect data via a mobile app to support their claim, many times the solution will be sculpted entirely to satisfy the data needs of a claims organization. Arduous and repetitive forms are simply translated from paper into their digital copy with no convenience added. Satisfying your business’s data needs is important, however, it’s also important to consider the various methods and technologies often available for collecting this information in a user-friendly way.
By focusing on design and experience in addition to your data requirements and functionality, you’ll find yourself evaluating a broader set of key decisions that matter greatly to your users, for example:
- The optimal platform for your solution (mobile or web?)
- The optimal platform for communicating (text, email, live?)
- The most efficient data capture method (photos, videos, open-ended questions?)
These are just a few of the considerations to think through when designing an ideal product experience. Each of these choices has benefits and drawbacks from the perspective of data quality, user experience, and user adoption.
Technology should be evaluated through true market testing, not just market validation
In designing new solutions and platforms, the initial focus is often market validation. Product market validation focuses on understanding factors such as the product’s value proposition, market size, competition, and other factors. At the onset, it’s very easy to jump into execution mode after determining what solution should be implemented, without clearly understanding how the solution should be implemented.
B2B2C solutions come with additional challenges. In B2B2C, technology companies sell solutions to insurance carriers, and in turn, the insurance carriers deploy the solution to their customers. In many cases, market validation focuses too much on the buyer (the insurance company) with far too little consideration for the end-user (a policyholder or agent). When market testing occurs, the consumer’s voice is not heard.
Technology should be developed by listening to customers, not just by asking them questions
They say hearing and listening are different things. To listen to your customers, the first step is to identify and understand who the customers are. This frequently breaks down into various personas and user types. For example, if success means high adoption and engagement with policyholders, how can your product serve agents in such a way that they advocate for its distribution? Here, both policyholders and agents are the customers. Both must be heard, and the value proposition must resonate with each.
Once you have an understanding of who you need to talk to for market testing, nailing the 'how' of market testing is just as important. By all means, asking questions is a great start, but which questions to ask and how you ask them is equally as important. You should approach market testing with the idea of uncovering what you don’t know about your product, your customers, and your workflows, rather than validating what you already know. Foundational to this approach is letting your testers know that it’s okay to provide negative feedback and in fact, this is often what’s most constructive to the product process.
These feedback loops can’t end at product inception. Developing a systematic approach to collecting the continuous 'voice of the customer' after your product is in the market is critical to ensuring its success. The 'in the wild' feedback is often a bit tougher and harsher than pre-launch feedback. As such, it’s often considerably more valuable. At this point (hopefully) you’re being paid for your solution, the stakes are higher, and people will be forced into telling you how they really feel.
Technology should be focused on ease of use and delight, not just business adoption
Finally, a key area where we see insurers and solution providers struggle the most is an over-emphasis on the business user. Insurtechs can easily fall into the trap of catering more to their buyers than their users when they aren’t the same (most applicable in B2B2C scenarios), while carriers themselves often deploy technologies that scratch their itch at the expense of the customer. If the industry were to post-mortem the vast majority of ‘failed’ pilots, their failure would likely center around a well-intentioned approach to solving a valid pain point, delivered in the form of a user experience not conducive to achieving viable levels of adoption. It’s an easy trap to fall into.
Rather than starting from the business-need and working out to the consumer, businesses should start with the consumer and work in. What would customers say as a result of your solution working extraordinarily well? Write these statements down. Unpack the requirements that your product would need to satisfy to elicit those responses, and use these as your north star. They won’t lead you astray!
The insurance market is ripe with opportunities. Insurance solutions and products touch the vast majority of people in the world today, whether directly or indirectly. With product expectations on the rise, all businesses must evolve into technology companies with strong product design acumen. Those that don’t develop these skills will continue to struggle. Fortunately, product muscle can be developed with a healthy amount of thought and exercise. It’s exciting to think about how insurance will change and be consumed as we all continue to learn and improve.
