Root Inc

Business Problem

We were seeing a high volume of support tickets from new customers within their first week for policy changes that were ultimately resolved in the app when they contact customer service.

These included support tickets for things like editing vehicles, requesting documents, adding lienholders etc.

Usability Studies

When I initially joined the team, each of the functionality had a different PRD and I helped conduct usability tests for some on-going projects to evaluate individual features usability such as Editing Vehicles, Editing Financiers, Editing Coverages as well general navigation and discoverability of these.

I was the first UX Researcher on the team and this helped me prove value and build good relationships with my product stakeholders.

Edit Vehicle Functionality Usability Testing (snapshot of synthesis from Miro)

Taking a Step Back

While initially conducting some evaluative research, I realized that rather than looking at each of the functionality individually, it might be helpful to take a different lens and take a step back to understand why these problems were more prevalent in new customers.

Framing Research with Stakeholders

I conducted a research kickoff and framing session with my team to build alignment, map out what we knew and identify the knowledge gaps.

This session included all of the service design team; product manager, designers, engineers, quantitative researchers and analysts.

research framing with stakeholders (snapshot from miro activity)

Research Overview

In order to empower the policyholder to self-service, I sought to better understand their needs, as well as their perceptions and expectations of customer service and self service with Root.

I conducted customer interviews and internal research with my quant and analytic partners.

research overview (snapshot from final report)

Qualitative Interview Findings

Through my research I found that;

There was a sense of confusion of requirements imposed by their financing companies and state resulting in stress and urgency‍
There was a lack of confidence in new customers to self-serve because of past experiences
While there were some usability problems when using self-service functions, there was a larger theme of lack of awareness of functionality available to them

I demonstrated my findings through;

Mapping the service journey of a new customer
Sharing insights and problem areas for each stage of their journey
Identifying opportunities for new designs and improving existing ones
Identifying key experience shifts that were needed and metrics that could be tracked

Insights Summary & Service Journey of a New Customer (snapshot from final report)

Analyzing Support Tickets

I complemented the interviews with analyzing 40+ support tickets which helped;

Strengthen findings from qualitative interviews
Identify any customer problems that might have been missed in interviews because of not having spoken to those customer segments
Audit communication experience when contacting customer support through different modalities of call, chat and email

Support Tickets Analysis (snapshot from Miro)

Support Tickets Analysis Summary (snapshot from Report)

Design Opportunities

The identified design opportunities included;

Connecting disconnected experiences in a logical sequence to reflect customer needs e.g. following up vehicle changes with updated policy documents and financier information
Building confidence in self service by providing confirmation through preferred modalities and keeping customers informed through status updates
Building an onboarding experience to help customers meet their initial needs and increase their awareness of app functionality

Impact on Metrics (snapshot from final report)

Example Opportunities with PII removed (snapshots from final report)

In addition to the design opportunities, I proposed the different project directions we could take and worked with my product and design partners to evaluate priorities and decide on next steps.

Proposal for follow-up projects (snapshot from final report)

Stakeholder Brainstorming Session

Following my foundational research presentation, I conducted a group brainstorming session to solve the identified customer problems;

HMW infer and meet the needs of new customers and promote a sense of calm?
HMW help and educate new customers getting insurance for the first time?
HMW save customers' time and reduce need to contact support multiple times?
HMW adapt onboarding to different customer segments and archetypes?

Some of the ideas from the brainstorming session included; video tutorials, app tours, feature walkthroughs, new customer policy checklist etc.

Launching Quant Survey

I also worked with my quant partners to launch a survey to;

Measure customer interest in
Quantify findings from qualitative interviews
Recruit participants from varied experiences for concept testing

Opportunity Analaysis (Snapshot from Qualtrics Survey)

Rapid Iterative Testing & Evaluation (RITE)

I worked with my design partner, to sketch and prototype concepts to test and iterated to adapt the testing methodology and concept presentation throughout the interviews.

First Version of Concept Testing (Snapshot from Figma & Miro)

However this proved to be confusing for participants to understand and so I iterated on the research plan to clarify the context of the concepts and also include some element of co-design.

Competitive Analaysis & Internal Audit

In parallel with concept testing interviews, I also conducted a competitive analysis and internal audit for new customer communications and policy change experiences which helped;

Scaffold understanding of customers past experiences with other insurance providers
Identify gaps in our communications and benchmark against competitors

Insights Summary

Insights from quant survey, concept testing and auditing showed that;

Customers felt a lack in communication
There was a strong affinity for something that would help and guide customers through initial requirements

Reflection: What I Would Do Differently

I loved my first experience of leading a full cycle research in an industry setting. I got to learn a lot and identified areas to improve on as a researcher. Some things I learned included;

Initial Research Activity - While I conducted an analysis of support tickets in parallel and mostly after the interviews, I realized this would have been helpful to have done before so I could have spoken to an even diverse range of participants
Brainstorming - I realized that I had unintentionally written my ideation starters to be too prescriptive and this might have hindered creativity in session participants. I also realized that even though having different perspectives is helpful, it is important to breakdown groups to allow for more conversations and discussions during the session.
Concept Testing - While I iterated on my methodology during the interviews this was accidental as I had to adapt when I realized participants were getting confused by the questions and context. I realized that for any future tests, its important to do some test runs to see whats working and whats not.

What Comes Next?

Based on the research and findings so far, some of the next steps for this project include;

Finalizing a design direction and identifying one or two concepts to build in entirety as a single experience
Continued iteration and testing to build out the experience and refine the concept and design

Service Design Research

Root Insurance

Mixed methods research with foundational research to understand new customer experiences, evaluative research to improve usability and generative research to design new experiences.