Client: AllState
Project: Consumer App - Add a New Driver functionality (WIP)
Deliverables: Research, IA, Wireframes, Visual Design
My Role: UX Architect
UX CASESTUDY
BACKGROUND
The Allstate Corporation is one of the largest insurance providers in the United States. This project was for their Auto Insurance Line of Business. Currently, Allstate has a website and also a mobile App for their customer to log in, access data, make changes and use in handy. Recently it is discovered that few important and relevant features are not available on the website and the mobile app, instead they have to do it through their Insurance Agent manually by making an appointment with them or by calling them which is time-consuming.
PROBLEM
One of the features that are unavailable in the App is the option to Add a new driver to the existing auto policy and it has to be done through an Agent. This is not something that has to be ignored, because websites and mobile apps can benefit the business in a very good way. The customers don’t have to rush to their insurance agents to get things done.
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As customers have already moved more towards relying on their gadgets, they find it easy in the comfort of their surroundings. Even for the business, it will be very easy to update their consumers about their new product and refinements, make the process easy for the customer and be in the same level as the competitors etc.
SOLUTION
The solution was simple and straightforward. To add additional feature in many sprints one by one. In the first Sprint we focused on adding a new driver in the mobile app and provide an option to get instant quote. Along with adding additional missing features, the research brought up the necessity of a feature to input the information quickly as it saves time and frustration for the user.
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The users wanted the Allstate auto insurance app interface to allow adding new drivers to an existing policy without talking to an insurance agent over the phone. The application has to be redesigned in order to make it easy to use and navigate for the users. The research helped to understand the user and the user needs. The following steps from an HCD point of view is to create Information architecture, wireframes, interactive elements and visual elements will be designed based on this research, persona, user stories and the findings.
RESEARCH APPROACH AND METHODS
Doing an individual research by myself was helpful to know the selling points along with discovering what features users are looking for. For the first phase of the sprint, I was focusing on collecting data through research based on conducting:
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User Surveys by conducting
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Stakeholder interviews
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Listening in on customer service calls
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Reading the customer reviews on google
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Reading AllState's existing app user’s reviews in Appstore and Google PlayStore.
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Evaluating comparators' Apps
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Creating User Stories
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Discovering goals and anti-goals
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Finding facts and assumptions
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Competitive Landscape Analysis
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Brainstorming to create innovative ideas
These research approach gave a clear direction to the solution. Listening to customer service call was a brilliant approach as it helped to know the real concerns of the customers and understand the most common issues. The online platform is where the users write their concerns about the company, it’s product and service. So just by going through the review, it’s easier to know what’s going on at the end of the customers. App store is the real hub. That’s where the users share the real issue and pain points of using apps. Most of the reviews will be genuine and important which should be highly prioritized for rectification. By evaluating comparators' Apps, was helpful to get good reference, inspiration, and ideas. Creating User Stories helped to find the requirements for the ultimate communication problem. The details behind the story came during the conversations with the product owner and the stakeholders. In the beginning, prioritization is not done.
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Goals and Anti-goals were discovered . Goals were the outcomes that we would like to see and anti-goals were the things we don’t want to see. One of the most critical goals were a feature to input the information quickly as it saves time and frustration for the user. Finding Assumptions was easier than finding Facts as facts had to be observed and verified. By doing competitive landscape analysis, we realized that the Features should be the main target as it will help to differentiate the company from the competitors.
FINDINGS
Detailed level research was conducted to find the underlying issues and discover solution. The main issue was the time limitation for conducting a deep research. Customer feedback was exceptional to learn the concerns. Customer complaints are identified and analyzed to establish underlying cause. Additional features has to be added in Customer satisfaction has to be checked regularly by summarizing information and confirming that objectives have met. Effective communication skills were used to build rapport with the customer. Appropriate options for improving the features of the website and app are identified and recommended to the business team.
PERSONA
While writing personas, the common pattern of writing common things in the profile was limited and was concentrated on value-added information such as what are their goals, need, habits, holistic view of their life, pain points etc. Not just the bullet list of stats that we already know about this. These personas helped while writing user stories too.
GOALS & ANTIGOALS
Goals:
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Reorganized Navigation
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Quick checkout
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Easy process
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Less time
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Not having details of the driver in handy
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Easy reference
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Less mistakes while inputting details
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Payment issues
Anti-Goals:
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No understanding of using an app by the user
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Language barrier
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Damaged driving license to scan
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No Smart Phone
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Bad connection
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Less bargaining power as Agent is not involved
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Camera not working for scanning
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Not having details of the driver in handy
NEEDS ASSESSMENT
The Needs Assessment helped to find the consequences of delaying the redesign of the app with an additional feature. It also helped to discover the upcoming loss in business and customers due to the incompetency to be in the same level as the competitors. We also realized that it will be a good strategy to adopt agile and scrum methodologies for the implementation of this project. Through research and the needs assessment we learned that Time and comfort are the key elements. So in order to address it, we are also adding a smart feature to the app to input information quickly and easily while adding the new driver information by scanning the new driver’s license using the mobile camera. This way the app auto fills the input fields with details such as name, date of birth, license number etc. This not only increase accessibility, but also avoid mistakes while typing personal information and also saved time
USER FLOW FOR SPRINT 1
USER STORIES AND IDEATION
