case studies: amica · • perceiving the importance and user needs, the tool has strategic...

CASE STUDIES: AMICA

NOTE: Respecting the sensitivity of data, no actual data is presented here. The numbers are indicative of the actual data.

These are few samples from some of my projects at Amica Mutual Insurance.

RESEARCH STUDY: FLOOD CLAIM TOOL

NOTE: Respecting the sensitivity of data, no actual data is presented here. The numbers are indicative of the actual data.

CASE STUDY 1: FLOOD CLAIM TOOL

PROBLEMDuring hurricane Harvey and Irma, Amica wanted to reach out to the customers to help them out with expedited claims process. A rapid solution was created to support customers from hurricane hit areas that enabled them to send in the photos of their automobiles and desk appraisal was done to release the claim for these cases.

However, it was observed that the adoption rate was very low accompanied by very high abandonment rate.

Of the customers that were sent the tool, only 43% opened the tool. Of these customers, 21% uploaded the 1st photo and only 8% completed and submitted their claim.

Note: The numbers shown are only representative of the magnitude.

CHALLENGEI had access to some analytics data to see how the numbers were dropping off the entire workflow. However, there was no indication of why people were not using the tool and those who started were abandoning the tool.

HOW I APPROACHED THE PROBLEM• I started with the analytics data that I had access to. Understanding the drop off rate from

different steps helped me get an idea where I could start the research.

• Identified probable issues in the workflow with data and preliminary usability study of the tool.

• Validated the results from the study with a follow up study with customers who used the tool.


WHAT I FOUND FROM DATA AND CUSTOMER INTERVIEWS• Tool:

• Users were required to submit all 6 photos to be able to reach the submit step. In the circumstances of flooded vehicles, it was not possible for them to take all the required photos to submit the claim.

• Certain photos (such as odometer readings) were difficult or impossible to take when vehicles were flooded and could not be started.

• Environmental factors: Poor to no connectivity to upload photos. Flooded garages and no power, discharged phones. Emotional distress and feeling of loss.

• Customer expectation:

• Their insurance to help them get back to normal life as soon and as less resistance as possible. Easier way to submit claims and faster settlement.

• Provide simple and fast tools and processes to assist them at the time of need.


ACTIONS TAKEN AND RESULTS• Perceiving the importance and user needs, the tool has strategic implications beyond

catastrophic situations.

• End-to-end customer experience was evaluated for a more strategic .

• Worked with the designers with identified problem areas to come up with a more streamlined and frictionless workflow for the tool.

• Presented the findings from the study and the proposed new design to the stakeholders.

• This project has now taken a more strategic place in the roadmap and is in discovery stage of research.

• Currently conducting interviews and user research on expedited claims process tool.


RESEARCH STUDY: AMICA APP UTILITY SUITE

These are a few of my current in-progress projects in various stages of research and design.

RESEARCH STUDY: AMICA APP UTILITY SUITE

OPPORTUNITY

Amica is venturing out in the app world with some app concepts; next few slides presents my involvement in the research and design of the apps in this suite.

I am leading the research initiative with the product team on this project.

CHALLENGE

Amica is perceived as an insurance company and its customer base mostly consists of older population that has been with Amica for long time (sometimes the only insurance they have had). Researching concepts and ideas that are not directly related to insurance brings challenges and insights to the projects.

APPROACH AND MY ROLE• As the principal researcher for this project, I ran an open customer online forum (signed up for

the Idea Community deployed through FlueCycle). The format of the forum was purposefully kept open and generative.

• The data collected from this forum was analyzed and selected potential abstract ideas/needs/pain points, were taken through conception and ideation phases with research using moderated interview sessions, surveys, usability and design validation studies.

• The app is in its final stage of research and design iteration. I am currently testing workflow and screen design for usability and interactions before it will be handed for development for its MVP version.

RESEARCH STUDY 1: HOME MAINTENANCE APP

• The app will be offered as a utility app to the customers for their home maintenance needs. It is targeted for homeowner policy holders but is not limited to that segment. The app will help homeowners to schedule and plan for their home maintenance needs.

CONCEPT

CONCEPT DESIGN TESTING

RESEARCH STUDY 1: HOME MAINTENANCE APP

Note:

• These are representative screens depicting one of the functionality of the app.

• The screens are not final and are going through iterative design and test cycles.

APPROACH AND MY ROLE• The idea for this app also came through the customer forum.

• Project is still in its initial stages of generative research. I am taking the concept through research cycle with customer interviews (online format). The participants are carefully screened for these interviews through targeted survey questions.

• I am collaborating with an interaction designer to ideate the workflow and screens.

• Next step in this project is to present 1st iteration of the workflow to participants for their feedback and stakeholders review.

RESEARCH STUDY 2: SAFE TEEN DRIVER APP

• The app will be offered as a utility app to the customers for their new teen drivers. The app will help parents to stay connected with their teen drivers, monitor their driving habits and usage. The app will inform and develop safe driving habits in teen drivers.

CONCEPT

APPROACH AND MY ROLE• I was involved in this project for its initial research needs:

• Technology exploration

• Benchmarking competitor Alexa skills

• Conducted listening labs with call center representatives to come up with the list of most frequently handled queries that could be integrated with Alexa.

RESEARCH STUDY 3: ALEXA SKILL

• Alexa and other AI platforms are rapidly becoming part of our daily lives. Keeping with the trends and needs of the customers, Amica Alexa skill is being developed.

• Amica’s Alexa skill is released however it is an on-going project and the skill set is being enhanced with further research.

• I am learning Alexa skill development as my side interest.

CONCEPT

DESIGN STUDIO: SELF SERVICE EDIT COVERAGES


PROBLEM

Come up with a design plan for self-service edit coverages on amica.com. With the increasing call volumes to our call centers and keeping up with customer expectations, self-service edit coverages capability is an important initiative for the company.

CHALLENGE

As the UX Research resource, I was tasked to lead the initiative. I decided to organize the design studio bringing stakeholders and designers together to come up with the design solution for the feature.

Participants included: SMEs, Product Owner, Tech Lead, Design Leads, Business Analyst.

http://amica.com

FORMAT OF STUDIO• Business Goals: Product owners to define the business goals for this feature. Defining value

and effort.

• User Stories: As defined in the Agile sprint planning and integrating with our personas.

• Empathy Mapping: Who are we designing for, what pain areas are we addressing.

• Pain-Gain-Value: What is the value proposition of the feature for customers and business.

• How Might We: How might we be able to address those pain areas for our customers.

• Success Metric: Define our success and measurement criteria.

• User-flows and wireframes: Arrive at the basic workflow and wireframes for the feature.


• The studio was run for 5 hours (two separate sessions) with the goal to arrive at a solid concept for view and edit coverages. Facilitated the workshop keeping the focus to build shared understanding of the feature and functionality, and come up with a solution.

MY ROLE

DESIGN STUDIO: GUEST PAYMENT


PROBLEM

As part of the roadmap, design and development team was tasked with guest payment feature. There was considerable friction between the stakeholders and designers due to timelines and functionality.

CHALLENGE

As the UX Research resource for this stream, I decided to organize the design studio bringing stakeholders and designers together to come up with the design solution for the feature.

Participants included: SMEs, Product Owner, Tech Lead, Design Leads, Business Analyst.

FORMAT OF THE SESSION• Business Goals: Product owners to define the business goals for this feature. Defining clearly

what problems will it solve for business and customers, what value will the feature brings to our business.

• Audience Analysis: Who are we designing for, what are the characteristics of this audience (age, education, technology skills, behavior, beliefs, goals and needs)

• Competitor Analysis: How our competitors are doing it, what can we learn from them and what do we need to avoid.

• Assumptions and Hypothesis: What are at the given tech limitations and assumptions.

• User-flows and wireframes: Arrive at the basic workflow and wireframes for the feature.


• The studio was run for 3 hours with the goal to arrive at a solid concept for guest payment. Facilitated the session introducing the concept of design studio and keeping the focus of the team to problem solving and build shared understanding of the feature and functionality.

MY ROLE

RESULTS

• This was the first time the team was introduced with the design studio method.

• Team participation was great and they understood the philosophy of collaborative design.

• Greater understanding of design principles for stakeholders.

• Greater visibility and less friction between designers and development team.

• Shared ownership of design.

• Clear pathway to the feature and functionality.

• Fast track workflow design ready with paper prototyping for 1st round of testing.


FIELD STUDY: FNOLS CALLS


OPPORTUNITY

Customer calls data can provide huge insights about the user experience with our services and products. To tap on this resource and understand customer behavior and expectations when in stressful situations, listened to FNOL calls for three months.

CHALLENGE

Listening the calls with reps handling the notice of loss from sometimes nervous and stressed customer. Analyzing this data and creating meaningful stories and relevant customer insights that could help ease the FNOL processes for both customers and the reps.

APPROACH AND MY ROLEListening Labs are an opportunity to directly listen to the customers’ calls and develop a deeper. The approach was to identify further research areas and surface opportunities to enhance existing or to identify new products and services that will meet the needs of our customers.

• Convince stakeholders to allow listening the calls.

• Three members of the UX team collected call details for a quarter.

• Compiled calls into themes and stories identifying customer pain areas and processes followed by reps.

• Created insights from the customer point of view.

• Presented insights to the stakeholders creating their interest in UX practices and willingness to adopt and work with the UX team.

• The insights invoked a lot of interests with areas and processes that can be improved for better customer experience.


case studies: amica · • perceiving the importance and user needs, the tool has strategic...

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