Role:
UX Researcher
Team:
1 additional UX Researcher, 1 Information Architect, 1 Visual Designer
Methods used:
Diary Studies, Interviews, Mental Model, RITE, Storyboard
The Challenge
Determine what is lacking in current Renters Insurance online quote and purchase experience, and whether certain concepts would improve the experience.
The Approach
Diary Study
Twenty participants, who were all planning to purchase Renters Insurance in the near future, took part in a diary study. I sent them each their own online journal, and had them record their steps, challenges, and feelings over the course of one to two weeks as they shopped for, and potentially purchased insurance.
Follow-up Interviews
I held a follow-up interview with each participant, where we fleshed out further details of the experiences they had documented in their journals, including positive aspects and challenges. This conversation was facilitated by cards that I prepared representing each step they journaled about. We also discussed their knowledge of Renters insurance, and ideas of how to improve the experience.
Sales Recordings and Interviews
The team analyzed 11 phone recordings of prospects obtaining Renters Insurance quotes from call center agents. I then interviewed sales agents to gain a greater understanding of the current sales process on the phone, and to follow up on learnings from the call recordings.
Mental Model
We constructed a mental model of a customer's experience in buying Renters insurance (including pre-quote and post-purchase thoughts and activities). This was created mostly with information from the Diary Study and customer interviews, but was supplemented by learnings from the sales agent calls and interviews.
Rapid Iterative Testing and Evaluation (RITE)
I facilitated a RITE usability study with 11 participants, using a Wireframe prototype of a Renters Quote and Purchase experience created by the Information Architect. I facilitated one to three sessions a day; at the end of each testing day I made recommendations based on the user feedback received, and the Information Architect rapidly made changes to the prototype over the course of the next days or two. Testing then resumed, and the process was repeated for several rounds.
Storyboard
I took the finalized concepts from RITE, and using my knowledge from the customer's mental model, I created a scenario that depicted a user purchasing Renters insurance through our online tool. I used this to create the draft storyboard concept, which was then illustrated by the Visual Designer.
The Outcome
I delivered a detailed report which included the mental model, storyboard, findings from each stage of research, and final proposed concepts (created by the Visual Designer based on the final wireframes). This was used to inform future work on renters insurance at Nationwide.