Project Objective
Explore natural behaviour, expectations and UX/Usability issues for websites offering Travel Insurance to the UK and Australian markets.
My Role
The Outcome
Over 60 findings identified, leading to a problem led A/B testing roadmap that increased win rates to 35% and provided over £10m in annualised revenue uplifts.
Project Background
As part of a wider digital optimisation initiative, this UX research project was commissioned to identify usability issues and friction points for a Travel Insurance brand operating in the UK and Australia.
Our target market was primarily retirees with pre-existing medical conditions, an audience not typically covered by Travel Insurance companies. The company were particularly proud of this proposition, as well as their award winning customer service centre that was designed to help this less technically proficient audience.
This project therefore came with a focus on not only improving online conversion rates, but also accessibility and driving more users to the call centre.
Our Approach
To meet these objectives, we employed a mixed-method research approach, utilising 4 research methodologies:
Stakeholder Interviews
UX Heuristic Review (with a particular focus on accessibility)
Moderated Usability Testing
Analytics Review
Insights gained through this research were then combined to create triangulated customer problem statements, that we then prioritised through a combination of issue severity and ‘reach’ of the issue.
We focused on the ‘Get a quote’ funnel during this project
We spoke with a number of internal teams including marketing, product, customer service, compliance and leadership. With a goal of understanding as much as we could about the companies proposition and objectives.
These interviews revealed key themes such as the company’s emphasis on customer care for individuals with complex medical histories, as well as a desire to elevate brand trust - particularly in a market rife with consumer skepticism. These insights informed our framing of user trust as a critical lens throughout the rest of the research process.
Our UX heuristic review followed a pre-defined list of UX heuristics that’s aimed at identifying issues we don’t expect to uncover in Usability Testing. Specific focus areas included; Accessibility, error prevention, help and documentation, system feedback, and visual hierarchy.
The heuristic analysis uncovered multiple friction points such as hidden error messages in forms, confusing call-to-action labels, inconsistent content hierarchies and a large number of accessibility issues.
These findings were later validated or challenged during usability testing, allowing us to differentiate between theoretical and actual user pain.
We ran Moderated Usability Sessions using a task based approach, with 10 UK users and 10 Australian users split across both Desktop and Mobile. A methodical recruitment process ensured that all participants met target demographics, were actively looking for travel insurance, and had a mix pre-existing medical conditions.
Trust emerged as a recurring theme, with users consistently arriving from aggregators with little brand familiarity and skepticism about the companies willingness to pay out in the event of a claim. This anxiety magnified the impact of other UX and usability issues we uncovered.
We adopted a task based, think aloud approach in Moderated Usability Testing
Analytics Review
Web analytics were used to quantify the scale and impact of certain usability barriers identified during qualitative research. Funnel drop-offs, form abandonment rates, in-page engagement and session recordings were utilised to add weight to help prove (or disprove) our findings.
This quantification also allowed us to prioritise and triangulate findings with the greatest commercial impact. Ensuring we went after the biggest issues in the ongoing experimentation programme and product roadmap.
With the findings finalised, a collaborative ideation workshop was held with key stakeholders from both the clients side and our internal team. Using the prioritised problem statements as stimulus, we co-created potential solutions ranging from low-effort UI tweaks to more complex reimagining of key journeys.
The ideation process generated a suite of ideas mapped against feasibility and potential business impact. Notably, several ideas directly addressed the trust gap—including persistent trust messaging, testimonial-based reassurance, and reinforcing the benefits of the customer service
This Ideation Session involved over 15 stakeholders from a range of teams, including leadership
The Outcome
We identified over 60 UX/Usability issues, triangulating these into 11 Customer Problem Statements which were prioritised and presented back to the client.
This research enabled the client to move forward with a clear, evidence-led digital optimisation programme. Helping them to move past a solutions first approach that was leading to a large percentage of losing or inconclusive test results.
As a result, in the 6 months following this research project, A/B testing win rates increased to 35%, and we provided over £10 million in annualised revenue uplifts.
A selection of winning A/B tests that I designed and have since been implemented