Behind the scenes: User research for an online insurance claims reporting system

When a policy holder needs to submit an insurance claim, they want to do so in the simplest and most straight forward way possible. Some people still prefer the option to report their claims by phone, but for an ever-growing number of policy holders, the convenience of reporting a claim online at any time of day is becoming increasingly important.

Our client, a Swiss insurance company, strives to offer just that. They therefore commissioned the FELD M User Research Team to review the mobile reporting process and identify potential for improvement. A standardized user-friendly process is important for the insurer to give customers a sense of security and to reduce ambiguities in claims, resulting in a higher volume of queries for the Customer Service Team.

User research to identify optimization approaches: Insight into the test methodology.

At the beginning of the project, FELD M and the client collaboratively defined the objectives and method for answering the questions. The client’s main focus was to identify the points where users jumped-off the claim reporting process. In addition, the user research, should show which areas of the process require optimization in terms of usability, comprehensibility, and efficiency.

To achieve the objective, a qualitative test method was selected, in which the user completes a questionnaire at the end of the test. In collaboration with the client, FELD M defined the target group and selected 14 participants for the tests, based on various characteristics. These 14 test subjects were provided a pretend accident scenario and were asked to report the damage online using their smartphone. The participants were asked to describe their opinions on each detailed page, including any obstacles they incurred. The interviewer also asked various questions, using a standard list to ensure the results were as uniform as possible across all test subjects.

The interviews took place remotely, with participants sharing their smartphone screen and they were simultaneously filmed by camera. This made it possible to observe their facial expressions and posture, to obtain additional information about their state of mind. This complemented information gathered about what they were saying and doing on their smartphone. A virtual mirror room was set up for the client’s stakeholders so that they could watch the interviews live.

Mobile usability at a glance: Findings from the user research.

The results of the user research conducted by FELD M provided a comprehensive insight into the test subjects’ experiences with the claims process. The majority of participants were able to cope well with the tasks they were given, and rated the claims reporting process as predominantly positive.

Despite numerous positive aspects, moments of frustration and potential drop-off points were also identified. In particular, a lack of information and ambiguities in the process meant that some respondents chose the path of least resistance and opted to call customer services to report their claim instead of completing the report online. There was therefore a clear need for optimization in the provision of relevant information at the right time and improved user guidance at these neuralgic points.

Potential for improvement was also identified with regard to the mobile display, as the implementation of UX/UI standards on smartphones was inadequate in some cases. These shortcomings led to problems and impaired the overall user experience. This made it clear to the stakeholders how important optimization of the mobile display is in order to enable smooth interaction.