Embedded Files
How I followed a trail of information to create a 21.3% increase in quote completions
7m Read Time
About the project
Context
1.5 Months
In-House Enterprise
Lead UX
3 Core Team
Deliverables
User Research, Analytics and Analysis
SME + Stakeholder Interviews
Journey Mapping
Wireframes + Prototypes
Looking for Clues
One day, the director of UX approached me with a challenge:
Web traffic to our insurance pages keeps increasing, but our quote submissions are more or less the same. What can we do to convert this new traffic into quotes?
Determined to get to the bottom of this, I started by reviewing our analytics and analyzing anonymized web visit recordings (like HotJar) to see if I could pick up a scent on some potential issues.
At the time, Hagerty.com included a landing page with a list of rows explaing all their collector car insurance offerings, and pages for each one that starred a quote call to action across the top. There was also this single, lonely page - Does My Vehicle Qualify? - that explained requirements and eligibility.
The data led to me a few potential conclusions and I set out to dive deeper into these.
Initial Clues from the Data
Main Insurance LP
The main insurance page may not be providing the information users were looking for
We were getting traffic from potential members, current members, and even our partner insurance agents
Does My Vehicle Qualify?
The Does My Vehicle Qualify page was used as a jumping off point, instead of the mega menu nav or landing page
A example of an LP for a specific insurance type
Quote conversation rates were lower for users who do not land on any insurance pages, meaning those that go straight to quote from the main insurance page
Users were perusing the insurance pages before quoting
Learning how members make purchase decisions
Before jumping into interviews, I surveyed people who had incomplete or partial quotes and those who had completed a quote within the last 6 months. The questions began to uncover what goes on in the mind of classic car collectors when they’re looking for insurance - lots of comparisons; good price; and reputation.
Using Tableau, a data visualization tool, I compared answers from the survey to respondents’ quote completions. When members compared Hagerty to another company, quote submissions were 36%. When comparing to 2 or 3 others, submissions were 17%, and when comparing to 4 or 5 companies, submissions were 0%.
Veryifing the Data
I wanted to dive deeper into the survey findings, so I set up 30 minute interviews with classic car collectors, a portion of which were already Hagerty members.
The interviews confirmed member comparison behavior. I went on to learn that members are interested in performing their own research, lack confidence in their insurance knowledge, and want to do business with a company that truly understands collector car people.
Connecting with Internal Teams and Stakeholders
Since I knew by this point that the insurance landing page needed a redesign, I wanted to understand what impact this would have on different stakeholders and what other opportunities existed that I wasn't aware of.
I chatted with subject matter experts and stakeholders and dug into all kinds of things – what questions clients are always asking, known pain points, and where each department sees itself in the next few years.
These conversations added a ton of business perspective to the project and helped me shape the redesign to fit user and business needs.
I started synthesizing the data to surface insights and make the research shareable with others. I created a journey map from the findings to pinpoint opportunities across different stages of making a purchase decision.
Crafting a Strategic Redesign
Now that I had a better understanding of what was going on, I developed a 3-fold strategy for the insurance landing page:
Position Hagerty as the leader they are in classic cars
Show that Hagerty is real about its classic car passion. Provide articles that speak to people where they are in their journey, regardless of their experience with collector cars.
Support people in their research
People are doing their own research, and being led primarily by price. Let’s get in front of that and make comparisons easy, and show the value behind Hagerty insurance.
Capture several user types
Meet the needs of the people who visit that aren’t first time visitors or in the middle of research, like someone looking for their ID card, as well as those folks who aren’t interested in a digital experience.
Positioning Hagerty
I worked with our content strategist, Erin, to put together articles and videos based on recommendations from the research. The strategy here was to create educational resources and provide basics for collector car insurance, as well as more lifestyle reading for our more expert classic car people - fun reading, specialist advice, and the like. We were able to leverage some existing articles from the media team as well, creating more link value across the site.
A component I created featuring 3 article topics (the spacing is a little tight 😬)
A component I created to showcase what makes Hagerty different. This is after a UI pass by our visual designer, Quillen.
I also designed a component that emphasized Hagerty’s classic car passion, and links over to the about us page for the history and make-up of Hagerty employees. Closer to the top, another component to showcase what makes Hagerty different.
Supporting Users
Since people were interested in deep diving during their research, I designed several concepts to support this user behavior. When I have time, this is how I prefer to work - churning out as many concepts as possible and vetting and discussing them. Eventually, I got down to two, created prototypes for each, and ran an unmoderated usability testing. The prototype came back around later in the process to help with development estimates and interaction design.
Key Findings
It was more difficult for users to reach product pages on the grid concept because the right sidebar was hard to see.
Users expected the page to appear on icon click and as a result, were more comfortable with the product slider.
I’ll be the first to say that I hate a carousel, and I was surprised to see how well this component tested and the level of engagement it generated. I did everything I could to make sure this carousel functioned as smoothly as possible, including more testing, especially on mobile.
As a result, I also tested a mobile prototype.
Capturing Return Visits
Taking into account analytics and stakeholder interviews, there are quite a few use cases for return visits.
Even though the larger goal of this page is to help people feel comfortable enough to create a quote, I also felt it was important to capture several other journeys:
Existing Members
Analytics indicated that we had a lot of existing members coming here to manage their accounts. I sought to make it even easier for them by pulling out the top tasks users log in to complete - Paying bills, viewing statements, getting an ID card.
Agents
Insurance agents have their own portal but because they don’t access it frequently, it’s hard for them to find. I recommended we look into this as well, but that in the meantime, we help the folks that land here. When I reviewed web recordings of agents, there were signs suggesting they were plenty frustrated, and spent a lot of time looking for this portal.
Returning Quote Users
Probably the most important unique use case - those users returning to look up a previous quote. At the time, the only way to access this was either through the mega menu or a small text link beneath the quote CTA, so naturally, it got lost. I pulled it out and gave it almost as much weight as the quote CTA.
You can probably tell - this project identified that we needed to review our navigation to get down to the root cause of why people were coming here instead. I followed up on that in a separate project.
See the Manage Accounts, Pay Bill, View Statements, Get ID Card, and Agent Login links in the middle of the image above.
Measuring UX Outcomes
I like starting with the HEART framework as a way to visualize UX outcomes with the team. There are other ways to do this, too!
HEART Framework
I wrapped up the project by setting clear goals and tracking relevant metrics to measure UX outcomes post-launch, which I checked in on regularly.
Impact
Empowering Users and Boosting Revenue
By discovering user insurance journeys and addressing pain points, I instilled confidence in users.
This led to a 21.3% increase in quote completions resulting in an incredible increase in revenue, a total of nearly $2 million in annual recurring revenue
Improved Brand Perception
The redesign efforts enhanced Hagerty's brand perception and recognition within the classic car community.
Showcasing Hagerty's passion for collector cars and providing valuable educational resources solidified Hagerty's reputation as a leading authority in classic cars, nurturing brand loyalty and advocacy among users.
Enhanced UX through Streamlined Journeys
Understanding visitor demographics and prioritizing key user tasks increased usability for prospective clients, existing account users, and agents.
My new design boosted user satisfaction and task completion rates, underlining the effectiveness of a user-centric approach.
Learnings
🎯 To build the right things, you need to know who you're building for. Understanding how people use your service is essential for identifying journeys and key tasks.
🔍 Analytics is the first clue, a piece of the puzzle that guides you toward uncovering the root of the problem.
🤝 Talking with stakeholders helps us stay on the same page, make projects successful, and grow together
🚀 When we listen to users and try new things, we can make products and services that anticipate and exceed their needs.
Google Sites
Report abuse